A room built from memory, hospitality, and a little bit of home. We wanted this guest room to carry our Kentucky roots into Detroit — not as a theme, but as a collection of things, stories, and comforts that mean something to us.
Being from Kentucky is still an important part of who we are. Much of our family is there. Many of our oldest friendships are there. Over the years, we collected pieces that spoke to us — some because they reminded us of where we came from, others because they belonged to people we love. When it was time to make this room our own, those pieces finally had a place to live together.
The room was never meant to feel like a literal Kentucky-themed guest room. We wanted it to feel personal instead: horse imagery, small objects, art, family pieces, and things we had gathered over time because they meant something to us.
That is what makes the room work for us. It feels connected to our past without becoming a costume version of it. The references are there if you know the story — and if you do not, it still simply feels warm, layered, and lived in.
Both of our dads were big coffee drinkers. We originally set up the coffee station in this room so that when they visited, they could wake up and make coffee without wandering downstairs and searching through cupboards and drawers in someone else’s kitchen.
They have both since passed away, but the coffee bar stayed. It still does exactly what we intended for every guest who stays here — coffee or tea, right in the room — but now it also carries a quieter meaning for us.
The little chair in the corner belonged to Steve’s grandfather. It was once part of a pair that was eventually split between relatives, so having one of them in our home feels especially meaningful.
Draped over the back is Steve’s baby blanket — pink, blue, and white, still here all these years later. Neither piece is grand or precious in the museum sense. That is exactly why we love them. They are ordinary family objects that survived long enough to become part of another home and another chapter.
Our goal is less “guest bedroom” and more tiny hotel room inside the house. Fresh towels are placed where they can be seen. Bottled water is always available. Both sides of the bed have easy access to extra outlets and charging through power strips. And we leave a small tray of mints, lotion, hand sanitizer, and other little things guests are welcome to use — and keep.
Accessible power strips on both sides of the bed make phones, watches, tablets, and whatever else easy to charge.
Clean towels are left visibly in the room so nobody has to ask where they are or go looking through a linen closet.
Water is always ready, and the in-room coffee station gives guests a morning option before they ever come downstairs.
Mints, lotion, hand sanitizer, and a few useful extras are left out for each stay — there to use, take, and enjoy.
For friends and family coming up from Kentucky, the room has become their familiar place in our house. For us, it holds a surprising amount of history in one space: our roots, our fathers, Steve’s grandfather, a baby blanket, collected art, and the small rituals of welcoming people we care about.
That is really what we wanted from the beginning — a room that remembers where we came from while making the people who visit us feel completely at home.