There truly is no place like home.

Traveling for work always appeared to be so very glamorous. Fancy hotels, five-star expensed meals with clients, all the while feeling sorry for your co-workers who are stuck working at the office. Reality looks a lot different. Most of my “five-star” meals are a grab-and-go salad or an indulgent plate of fried appetizers at the TGI Friday’s. You’re forever trying to figure out how to achieve the perfect water temperature in the shower, or flipping through 100 channels before finding your favorite TV station. Even though it’s exciting to get on the road, I often wish I was back at the office, rather than trying to work in the back of an Uber en route to the airport.

Even when I’m on vacation, I often crave the creature comforts of home. When we’ve traveled with August, we no longer stay in hotels, we’ve been Airbnb-ing it, to try and replicate that home feeling, if not for him, than certainly for us. The routine of making coffee in the morning in a kitchen provides a touchstone of normalcy that I most certainly need these days.

Since both Joe and I travel a lot, I’ve found it’s been a good excuse to invite our parents to stay with us and get some quality time with their grandson. Since my parents don’t stay with us very often, I wanted to make them feel welcome and comfortable during their time with us. They’ve been sleeping on couches the past year and while they say it’s no problem, I know it’s tough to spend a weekend on the couch with a 5 am wake-up call (thanks, August).

Most parents have no problem making themselves right at home when visiting their children (August, I apologize in advance), but not my parents. Unfortunately, any extended visit they’ve made to our home has coincided with chaos. The never ending kitchen renovation of ’15, August’s first month, hell, during their initial visit, we immediately put them to work sprucing up the front yard and hauling in boxes to the storage unit. I’ve offered up a hotel room so they could escape the madness, but they insist they want to be helpful.

We’ve got a decent sized house, but after August was born, we no longer had a dedicated guest room. Our home office, currently used for storage (did you see the chaos that it was on my IG story last week?), seems unnecessary now as we both office out of the new studio space. All of this adds up to me getting to execute one of my favorite activities: a room refresh (details on the actual room refresh in an upcoming post).

After all the planning and design updates had been completed, we had a lovely guest room, but it didn’t feel finished. Knowing how much I crave the little pieces of home when I travel, I wanted to make sure that my guests felt welcome and appreciated in my home as well.

Recently, I learned about The White Company, a home and apparel brand based in the UK that will be opening up a store here across the pond (more specifically, in NYC). I had the extreme pleasure of receiving one of their iconic gift boxes last month. And within the box were layers upon layers of indulgent beauty and home items. Admittedly, upon receiving it, I was tempted to horde all of the items for myself. However, I wanted to ensure that my parent’s stay with us was perfect.

Simple and elegant, these pieces were the perfect inclusion into the new guest room. A Savoy Oxford Pillow Case made of Egyptian cotton felt smooth and cool to the touch, perfect for warm summer nights. My parents are early risers, and the Hydrocotton Robe is ideal if they want to get up and linger about the house and enjoy a cup of coffee before the chaos of a rambunctious almost one-year-old ensues.

While I love Airbnb and the comforts of home, I do miss staying in nice hotels, because of the chichi amenities that always awaited me in the bathrooms: small, travel-sized creams and shampoos. When work was footing the bill, these hotels would also have various specialty creams and masks, a little perk to look forward to after working 14 hours straight. I wanted to recreate this luxe feeling in my home, by having a small “spa kit” awaiting my mother.

In addition to the bedding and robe, the Icon Gifting Box from The White Company came with buttery lotions and balms; a full suite of products meant for pampering at the end of the day.

I’m excited to finally feel like we’ve got our feet (and house) under us to begin hosting guests again. As I continue down the path of motherhood, I want to include family in more moments, and not just the big milestones. I want a house that is ready to host guests at a moment’s notice, and for them to feel welcome and most importantly, to feel at home.

PRODUCTS 
Blanc 2 wick candle // 2 wick candle lid // Fine silver photo frame // Savoy Oxford Pillow Case // Cashmere travel wrap (Coming soon!)  // Cashmere socks // Hydrocotton Robe // Super Serum // Night Oil // Hand Elixir // Super Balm // Advanced Hydration Moisturizer // Eye Revive

Ed. note: This post was sponsored by The White Company. The compensation received in exchange for placement on Wit & Delight is used to purchase props, hire a photographer, write/edit the blog post and support the larger team behind Wit & Delight.

While compensation was received in exchange for coverage, all thoughts and opinions are always my own. Sponsored posts like these allow for the development of additional dynamic content to be produced, unsponsored. Thank you for supporting our partners!

Kate Arends

Kate is the founder of Wit & Delight. She is currently learning how to play tennis and is forever testing the boundaries of her creative muscle. Follow her on Instagram at @witanddelight_.