With Halloween around the corner, it's worth giving some thought to how traditional guest house furniture can help you to add some spooky 'haunted house' style to your rooms, creating a ghoulish theme to help attract seasonal trade.
Although Halloween is technically just one night, it can support special offers spanning several weeks, from those first early dark nights of October, through until Bonfire Night on November 5th, which many people perceive as being part of the same general holiday period as Halloween itself.
Making the most of the business benefits of such events doesn't have to mean investing in an entirely new set of guest house furniture; even just a few statement pieces can help to add an authentic touch to 'fright night' furnishings.
Cast iron tables are a great starting point, with their timeless ironwork easily made much more atmospheric with the addition of some fake cobwebs - and once Halloween is over, simply clean off the special effects and you've got elegant furniture that will continue to keep your guests happy all year round.
One venue adopting this approach - admittedly in line with a generally ghoulish year-round brand identity - is The London Dungeon, which is being transformed into a B&B for the Halloween period.
Hosted by Sweeney Todd's sidekick, Mrs Lovett, the theme night takes comfortable furnishings and disguises them as a night of discomfort and terror, but all with a healthy dose of humour.
General manager Hywel Mathias jokingly says: "She's made her pie shop a roaring success with her innovative recipes and I am sure this new venture will be just as successful."
Offered uniquely via 'social accommodation' site Wimdu, each booking consists of one bedroom, suitable for two occupants, with 'en suite' bathroom which comes in the form of a chamber pot.
The pumpkin-surrounded iron-framed bed is fitted with a horsehair mattress, Mrs Lovett will read guests a bedtime story, and if you make it through the night, porridge is served at 7am.
With prices from £86 a night and a landlady who's "not too keen on vegetarians", it's an experience for over-18s only, but it could provide inspiration for other venues on how to make the most of the Halloween period with even a modest investment in some new but classically styled guest house furniture.