The holiday season is about spending time with friends and family … and if you’ve got loved ones living out-of-town, oftentimes, that means doing it under one roof. If you’re planning to host holiday guests this season and your spare room is looking a little, well, spare, here are a few tried and true tips for turning it into a space worthy of good company.

Make a cozy bed

The bed is the hero of the guest room, both from a style and functionality standpoint, and one of the deciding factors as to whether or not guests enjoy their stay. That doesn’t mean going out and splurging on a new pillow-top, though. Make a cozy bed with fresh sheets, two pillows per guest, and blankets that are easily layered so guests stay as warm–or cool–as they like. If the room’s design needs refreshing, a new duvet set, sheets, and a single accent pillow can be enough to give the entire room a new look.

Add reading lamps or sconces.

For practical purposes, reading lamps add ambient light (and prevent guests from having to turn off the overhead light and crawl their way back to bed in an unfamiliar room). From a design perspective, they’re an opportunity to add symmetry to the space without spending a fortune. Station a lamp on each nightstand, or flank the headboard with plug-in sconces for a polished look.

Don’t forget the walls.

In secondary spaces like guest rooms, accents like wall art tend to get pushed down the priority list. But don’t skimp on your walls. Art is one of the easiest and most effective ways to turn a boring or cold room into one that feels inviting and finished. A simple mirror hung above the bed or a pair of prints over the nightstands are enough to give the room style and warmth.

Keep guest rooms simple.

While you certainly want to offer your company a nicely furnished room with all of the comforts of home, don’t fret about pulling together a complicated decor scheme. In fact, there’s a good chance your guests don’t want to worry about how to arrange a dozen throw pillows on the bed every morning, or whether the vase on the nightstand is fragile. Once you have the basics in place–a bed, nightstands, a pair of lamps, a few accents pieces–keep everything else simple.