Putting up guests
During the festive season lots of homeowners open their homes to visiting friends and family from the rest of the country.
Having a guest room to accommodate these guests is ideal, but even if you are short of space, there are still many ways of providing them with a comfortable place to sleep.
When it comes to designing and decorating your home, planning a guest room is not a priority in the same way as a living room for example.
Even so, almost everyone needs to be able to find a bed for a visitor at some time and it is as well to be prepared for such an event.
How exactly you set about this depends mainly on the size of your home and the needs of your own family, but also on how often you expect to have to accommodate guests.
If you are in the fortunate position of having more rooms than you need, then a separate guest room is a relatively simple matter. Putting up guests is also fairly straightforward if you have a hobby room or study that can serve a double purpose. But even if you are very limited for space, it is still possible to provide a comfortable bed and adequate privacy for the occasional guest.
Choosing a guest room
By the time you have satisfied all your own family’s needs, it is quite likely that the choice of guest room will have been made for you. Usually, this will be the smallest and least convenient room in the house – the one that nobody else wants. However, this need not present any great problems, and even a small or awkwardly shaped room can be made cosy and comfortable. Remember that your guests’ needs, even if they will be staying for several days, are small in comparison to the requirements of a full-time bedroom. On the other hand, if you have more than one room to spare or if you have guests to stay regularly, then you might want to consider choosing a larger room that can be more suitably adapted.
Ideally, the guest room should be in a quiet part of the house, away from children and the entertainment section of the home. However, if it is not an en suite, it will need to be positioned fairly close to the bathroom, or you might find uncomfortable and embarrassed guests wondering around your house in the middle of the night looking for the right door. A guest room does not have to be located near family bedrooms. There is no reason why it should not be a room on the ground floor among daytime living rooms, if that is the most convenient space.
Décor and furniture
Because they are not in constant use, guest rooms sometimes have an air of neglect that can be very depressing after a long journey. Get round to this problem by painting the room in crisp, clean colours and choose a cheerful wallpaper to create a more welcoming atmosphere. Co-ordinating wallpaper, curtains and bed linen looks pretty, friendly and inviting. At the same time, it is important to remember to keep the overall style of the room neutral so that it is suitable for guests of any age, whether they are male or female.
Do make sure that the door closes properly and that the hinges are well oiled. Check that the windows open and close easily, and to provide your guests with some privacy, it is always a good idea to make sure that they can lock themselves into their room if so desired – especially if you have small children that are prone to wondering why and entering rooms without knocking first.
The furniture does not have to be too luxurious. The most essential item is, of course, the bed. Twin beds are the most adaptable arrangement, although a double bed takes up less room. A bedside table with a good reading lamp is a must. Although a wardrobe is not essential, it is nice to provide a spacious hanging cupboard. If space is tight, however, hooks on the door, a moveable rail on castor wheels or an old-fashioned coat stand will all serve this purpose. Do not forget to provide coat hangers. A chest of drawers with a mirror hung on the wall behind it can double as a dressing table to cope with hairbrushes, make-up and other grooming essentials.
Double-purpose bedrooms
A room, such as a study or sewing room, which is not in constant use, can easily be adapted to double as a guest room. You simply need to plan the layout with both purposes in mind so that it is comfortable and practical in either case. Décor should be attractive and equally welcome for both purposes. Remember that opaque curtains or blinds are necessary when the room is to be used as a bedroom, even if not otherwise required for the room’s second purpose.
One of your main planning considerations is to see that the two aspects of the room do not interfere with each other. Good storage facilities will ensure that a sewing machine, photographic equipment or whatever can be stored away out of sight when guests are expected. Sliding doors, roller blinds or even simple curtaining can conceal work areas.
If there is room, a sofa bed provides the ideal solution, giving comfortable seating during the day and converting quickly into a bed at night. Otherwise, you will need to use one of the portable styles of bed that can be stored away. Probably one of the easiest arrangements is a sofa bed in the living room, though this does mean that whoever is to sleep there must wait until everyone else has left the room before going to bed. You will probably not be able to provide all the refinements of a separate guest room, but you can allow for at least some drawer space and somewhere to hang clothes.
A sleeping space
As well as specially designed guest rooms and dual-purpose rooms, there are quite a few more unlikely spots around the house where a bed might be put up for an overnight guest. Fro example, the space under the stairs can be fitted with a base and a foam mattress cut to size to accommodate an adult or a child depending on how much room there is. Split-level platforms can be installed in high ceilinged rooms, passageways and landings and fitted out with foam rubber mattresses. And of course, any floor space that is left over can be used fro the portable type of bed.
Folding beds that fold either horizontally or vertically against a wall are an excellent idea and are often designed so that they fold into a recess or pivot round to completely disappear from view. Some types of beds fold away to create other functional pieces of furniture like a cocktail bar or a bookcase. Other types of beds fold-up and away to become sturdy tables or chests. Portable beds are extremely convenient and may be stowed away in a cupboard until they are needed. These range from simple sleeping bags and inflatable airbeds, to canvas camping beds. – Antonella Desi
Readers' Comments Have a comment about this article? Email us now.