Guest Ready: Key Home Upgrades for Welcoming Holiday Visitors

Family gatherings and holiday visits are a special time, but they often show the parts of your Davis County home that aren’t quite ready for guests. Quality First Construction, based in Kaysville, helps homeowners plan smart renovations that increase comfort for visitors, improve home value, and make hosting easy. We focus on main spots like guest bathrooms, spare bedrooms, and comfortable living areas to make sure your home is ready all year long.

• Make Your Hozme the Place to Be 🤝
• Key Takeaways for Guest-Ready Renovations
  • 1. Focus on Private Spaces for High Value
• Questions About Making Your Home Guest-Ready
  • 2. Adding a Bedroom Boosts Home Value
  • 3. Comfortable Living Areas Make Hosting Easy
  • 4. Permitting and Planning are Essential
• What Home Changes are Best for Visitor Comfort?
• Why Should I Update My Guest Bathroom?
• How Can Adding a Bedroom Increase My Home's Price?
• What Makes a Living Area Perfect for Guests?
• Questions About Making Your Home Guest-Ready
  • What is the fastest and simplest change I can make for my guests?
  • Will I need permission from Davis County for these projects?
  • How much should I plan to spend on a guest bathroom fix-up?
  • What is the most important feature for a guest bedroom?
  • What is the fastest and simplest change I can make for my guests?
  • Will I need permission from Davis County for these projects?
  • How much should I plan to spend on a guest bathroom fix-up?
  • What is the most important feature for a guest bedroom?

Key Takeaways for Guest-Ready Renovations

1. Focus on Private Spaces for High Value

Remodeling projects that create or improve private and dedicated spaces for guests offer the best returns in comfort and home value. The top areas to focus on are bathrooms and bedrooms.

• Guest Bathroom ROI is Strong: Even a mid-range bathroom fix-up can give back 73.7% of its cost when selling the home.
• Target Key Bathroom Upgrades: Focus on a clean, modern look by changing old parts, putting in a walk-in shower, and installing a new vanity with better storage and lighting.

2. Adding a Bedroom Boosts Home Value

Adding a functional, legal bedroom is one of the biggest ways to make your home more valuable and appealing to buyers, especially by increasing your home’s bedroom count (e.g., from two to three bedrooms).

• Cost-Effective Conversions: Converting existing space, like an unfinished basement or attic, into a legal bedroom is usually more affordable than building a brand-new addition, with basement conversions averaging between $20,000 and $30,000.
• The Safety Factor: Every legal bedroom, especially in a basement, needs a safe exit window (egress window) and proper storage (a closet).

3. Comfortable Living Areas Make Hosting Easy

Renovations in the main living areas improve the overall hosting experience, ensuring guests feel relaxed when they gather.

• Kitchen Connection: Fixing up the kitchen to create a more open-plan layout is highly valued, as nearly half of homeowners prioritize kitchen remodels for better hosting.
• New Flooring and Lighting: Replacing old carpet with durable flooring (like LVP) and upgrading to brighter, adjustable recessed lighting makes the space feel cleaner and more welcoming.

4. Permitting and Planning are Essential

Most significant projects, including adding plumbing or making structural changes for a new bedroom, require building permits from Kaysville City. Working with a professional contractor ensures all work is done safely and legally, avoiding costly issues down the road.

What Home Changes are Best for Visitor Comfort?

The most important renovations for visitors focus on private, clean, and comfortable spaces, especially bathrooms and bedrooms. When people stay overnight, they need a dedicated space that feels separate and inviting. Improving these areas gives a high return for both homeowner happiness and resale value. The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) has found that projects like adding a new main bedroom suite and a kitchen upgrade get a perfect Joy Score of 10 from owners after they are finished (Source: NAR Remodeling Impact Report).

Why Should I Update My Guest Bathroom?

Guest bathrooms are one of the rooms owners fix up most often because they want better use and style (Source: Houzz Study).

A clean, current, and simple bathroom is very important for guests to feel good, and fixing one up gives a strong financial return. A middle-of-the-road bathroom fix-up can give back 73.7% of its cost nationally, based on the 2024 Cost vs. Value Report (Source: Modernize).

In Utah, the usual cost for a typical bathroom renovation is often between $10,000 and $15,000 for an average project. However, smaller changes can cost as little as $5,000 to $7,000 (Source: Rock Top Construction). For a bathroom just for guests, these are the main changes:

• Changing Old Parts: Replace the leaky faucet or old, stained sink. Simple, current parts make a big difference.
• Adding a Walk-In Shower: In a guest bath, changing a tub you don’t use into a neat, walk-in shower is popular. Buyers like showers without curbs and glass doors, which look modern and work well (Source: Northbuilt Construction).
• Fixing the Vanity and Storage: Guests need room for their toiletries. A new vanity with a quartz or granite top and drawers gives both style and storage.
• Making the Lights Better: Put in brighter, more natural light. Better lighting has a strong financial return, often between 75% to 90% (Source: Together Design & Build).

Example: Think about your Kaysville home’s small, hallway half-bath that has an old-style sink. By putting in a new vanity, adding modern lights, and painting the room, you quickly make the space better. This smaller project (a half-bath refresh) usually costs between $5,000 and $10,000 (Source: The Home Depot) and gives visitors a much better experience.

How Can Adding a Bedroom Increase My Home’s Price?

Adding a fully working, legal extra bedroom is one of the best ways to increase both the number of guests you can host and the price of your home. It changes how people see your home when you sell it and gives you more space for guests right now.

Adding a bedroom and increasing the size of your home can give back 50% to 75% of the money you spent, depending on the size of the project (Source: Kanna Construction & Remodeling). If you can change space you already have, like a finished basement or attic, it costs much less than building a whole new room.

• Changing Existing Space: Turning a basement or attic you don’t use into a legal bedroom is a good way to save money. Basement bedroom conversions can cost between $20,000 and $30,000, while building a room onto the house can cost from $20,000 to over $160,000 (Source: Clever Real Estate).
• Meeting Buyer Needs: Homes with three bedrooms are often the most wanted homes on the market. If you change a two-bedroom home to a three-bedroom, you get many more people interested in buying (Source: FastExpert).
• Adding a Bathroom with the Bedroom: If you can add a main bedroom suite with its own private bathroom, the financial return is even higher. An extra bathroom can add about 6% to the price of an average house (Source: Nationwide).

Example: Your home has a big, but unfinished, basement. By putting in walls, a closet, a window that meets safety rules (a legal need for a bedroom), and proper floors and finishes, Quality First Construction can change this space into a cozy, legal fourth bedroom. This project is a great investment for family life and for when you sell the house later.

What Makes a Living Area Perfect for Guests?

A comfortable, workable living space makes sure your visitors feel relaxed outside of their private rooms and gives a great spot for everyone to spend time together. The goal is to make a smooth flow, comfort, and good areas for talking and having fun.

• Kitchen Fix-Up (The Center of the Home): Since many social times happen around food, fixing up the kitchen is very important. A surprising 46% of homeowners say they would like to fix up their kitchens just to host guests better (Source: SalesFuel). A small kitchen remodel has a good financial return, often giving back 96.1% of its cost (Source: Fixr.com).
  • Try an open plan to connect the kitchen to the dining or living room. This stops guests from feeling cut off.
• Better Flooring: Old, stained, or out-of-date carpet in the main rooms should be changed. New, strong flooring like LVP is simple to clean, looks nice, and holds up well to many people walking on it.
• Better Lights: Nothing makes a room look older or less friendly than bad lighting. We can put in ceiling lights to brighten dark spots and add dimmers to set a cozy mood for evenings.

Questions About Making Your Home Guest-Ready

Ready to start planning your guest-ready home changes? Contact Quality First Construction in Kaysville, UT, today for a free meeting. We work all over Davis County and are ready to help you create the friendly, valuable home you want. Call us at (385) 382-4014