Author Topic: What do you have for a guest space?  (Read 11794 times)

meerkat

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 4214
What do you have for a guest space?
« on: October 11, 2016, 12:35:59 PM »
Looking at the thread asking for advice on setting up a (frequently used) guest room and my own current household situation had me wondering what other mustachians had for a guest space. A dedicated room? Couches? Hotels? Also, how often do you have guests coming to stay and how long are their visits?

KCM5

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 881
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #1 on: October 11, 2016, 01:04:49 PM »
Nothing! And we're trying to rectify it.

Options:

1) Partially finish the basement. Cost: $3,000? (We'll do it ourselves) plus a lot of work
2) Buy a pull-out bed for our large dining room. We already have a sofa in there, which I know makes us weirdos, but whatever. Add curtains to openings to kitchen and living room for privacy.
3) Buy pull out bed for weird 5x8 nook. I think we can fit a bed in there. Add some curtains for privacy. But it would be way claustrophobic.
4) Buy bunk bed for kids room and make guests sleep in there. But who really wants to sleep in the same room as a 4 year old for 3 months?

Reasons we need a guest space: long-term visiting family (think months, not days). Previously when guests visited for weeks/months our child was still sleeping in our room, so they had a whole room to themselves. Now we need a new solution.

We have other guests that stay for the weekend and we've always made that work with a inflatable mattress or, in the case of grandparents, sleeping in the kid's room.

Zikoris

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 4536
  • Age: 37
  • Location: Vancouver, BC
  • Vancouverstachian
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #2 on: October 11, 2016, 01:05:25 PM »
Nothing now - in a 400 square foot studio, it's not really practical. Someone could theoretically sleep on my kitchen floor, but it would have to be someone I really liked, and my cat would almost certainly harass them all night. When I've had larger apartments, I usually had a couch or sofabed for guests.

The only out of town people who visit us are my parents, who stay in hotels or bed and breakfasts. My boyfriend's relatives visit from Asia once in awhile, but they just stay with other family members who have space.

ketchup

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 4323
  • Age: 33
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #3 on: October 11, 2016, 01:18:34 PM »
We have a small guest room.  It's our third bedroom, with the first two being our real bedroom and our home office respectively.

It's nothing too exciting, just has a twin bed and a dresser, both of which were roommate-leftovers after our last move.

It's probably used about five times a year for real guests, and about once a week by my brother-in-law that commutes to school near our house and sleeps here sometimes (it's not weird even though it sounds weird).  We also shove stuff in there occasionally for temporary "storage."

DecD

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 298
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #4 on: October 11, 2016, 01:22:04 PM »
We have a fourth bedroom that does double-duty as a guest room and my office- I work from home somewhat frequently. 

We have parents/siblings/friends that come and stay several times a year, for a night or a week or longer.  It's nice to be able to have them over without disrupting the house.  An unnecessary but appreciated luxury.

FLBiker

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1786
  • Age: 47
  • Location: Canada
    • Chop Wood Carry FIRE
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #5 on: October 11, 2016, 01:36:31 PM »
We have a small bedroom (~11x11).  Personally, I'd happily have nothing, but my wife likes having a guestroom.  And, since we have a 4 bedroom house and just one kid, I can't really argue.  We would have bought a smaller house, but in our area, the smaller houses were in worse neighborhoods.  Our house is 1800 sqft.

Actually, I end up sleeping in there most night because our daughter is still nursing at night and likes to sleep horizontally and kicking. :)  I guess I should be grateful that we have it.

Also, the room also serves as my meditation room.  It's nice having a dedicated space for that.

redbird

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 546
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #6 on: October 11, 2016, 01:41:00 PM »
I don't. But I live literally right by an airport. There are hotels of all price ranges very close. There's multiple hotels within easy walking distance of where I live. If people really want to visit, they can stay there. More privacy for everyone, I don't have to own a second bed that will be lucky to get used once a year, and I can use all rooms productively.

There are 2 things I personally find to be wastes of space in a house, since DH and I don't use or care about them. One is guest room(s) and the other is a formal dining room.

Dollar Slice

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 9613
  • Age: 46
  • Location: New York City
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #7 on: October 11, 2016, 01:45:23 PM »
I have a small 1BR. 2BR/1 bath apartments in my building are anywhere from $600-$900/mo higher rent. Paying $7000+ annually just to have a guest room is not happening :-) So, if someone wants to stay with me I have a really deluxe/deep twin-sized air mattress with some of those foam egg crate things to make a "pillow top". I also have a couch but it's not a great one to sleep on (too short, and too soft). I have to really like someone to have them as a guest as they will be sleeping in the living-room/dining-room/kitchen and I have to walk through their room to get from my bedroom to the bathroom.

frugaliknowit

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1686
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #8 on: October 11, 2016, 01:47:30 PM »
Nothing formally (600SF condo).  A sofa (not pullout, but amazingly comfortable) and an air mattress:)

mandy_2002

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 291
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #9 on: October 11, 2016, 01:49:38 PM »
Note - I never had a long term visitor in my adult life.  When I was still in the US, my apartment had an extra bedroom for guests.  I furnished it, cleaned it, and heated/cooled it.  The 18 months I lived there, I had 1 visitor 3 times.  When I realized the money I was wasting on that guest room and a sweet, cheap option opened up, I moved in with a roommate.  If I had had visitors, I was willing to pay for hotel/AirBnB.  When a married couple came to visit, my roommate happened to be out of town, and she let them stay in her room.  When another friend visited, I let her take my room and I slept on the non-pull out couch.  In 1 year living there, I didn't need any guest space. 

zephyr911

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3619
  • Age: 45
  • Location: Northern Alabama
  • I'm just happy to be here. \m/ ^_^ \m/
    • Pinhook Development LLC
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #10 on: October 11, 2016, 01:54:38 PM »
We host a lot of visitors and we put a high value on being able to do so. However, we also want to live small and cheap. Here is our current solution.

Our offices double as guest space. House is 1144SF, 3 bedrooms, and each of the extra rooms serves as an office (1 for each of us) and a guest room (one with a full bed, the other with a futon). They also double as extra storage and one has some entertaining space (TV, games etc). This enables us to pack more functionality into this house than our previous one, which was much bigger. This is still big and wasteful compared to a lot of MMM'ers, but in our LCOL area, it's hard to get much cheaper or smaller without living in a super shitty neighborhood, and it was an ideal intermediate step that also got us in walking distance of all kinds of things (vs. suburban hell and 5 miles to anything worth doing/buying).

When we move again, we may even reduce space further. In that case, we'd probably have at least one guest room (whether dedicated or mixed-use) as well as using common areas - fold-out couches, air mattresses, or something else.
« Last Edit: October 11, 2016, 01:56:11 PM by zephyr911 »

boarder42

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 9332
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #11 on: October 11, 2016, 01:56:48 PM »
i own a 3800 sq ft mcmansion with enough space to sleep a small army. 

bedroom 1 - full size bed 2 adults
bedroom 2 - queen size bed 2 adults
bedroom 3 - king size mattress on teh floor - 2-3 adults
bedroom 4 - loft bed desk / futon - 4 adults
main living room - couches to sleep 2 adults
secondary living room - couch for one adult
basement - couches to sleep 5 adults

enough floor space to have 4 air mattresses for - 8 more adults

26 adults can sleep in our house plus my wife and i in our room. 

we should start renting rooms on airbnb

LeRainDrop

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1834
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #12 on: October 11, 2016, 01:59:44 PM »
I have a small bedroom that has my office desk/related and a twin-size bed, and I have a full guest bathroom.  I don't host overnight guests often, and when I do, it's typically my mom or my dad or one of my brothers.  Oh, and my condo building also has a very nice, full guest suite that's available for a very low nightly cost.
« Last Edit: October 11, 2016, 02:01:40 PM by LeRainDrop »

redbird

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 546
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #13 on: October 11, 2016, 02:04:11 PM »
i own a 3800 sq ft mcmansion with enough space to sleep a small army. 

bedroom 1 - full size bed 2 adults
bedroom 2 - queen size bed 2 adults
bedroom 3 - king size mattress on teh floor - 2-3 adults
bedroom 4 - loft bed desk / futon - 4 adults
main living room - couches to sleep 2 adults
secondary living room - couch for one adult
basement - couches to sleep 5 adults

enough floor space to have 4 air mattresses for - 8 more adults

26 adults can sleep in our house plus my wife and i in our room. 

we should start renting rooms on airbnb

Wow. And I thought my in-laws, with their 2 dedicated guest rooms, a study that easily converts into a 3rd guest room, and a really comfy couch in the living room, had a lot of space. Maybe you should use AirBnB!

zephyr911

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3619
  • Age: 45
  • Location: Northern Alabama
  • I'm just happy to be here. \m/ ^_^ \m/
    • Pinhook Development LLC
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #14 on: October 11, 2016, 02:06:50 PM »
i own a 3800 sq ft mcmansion with enough space to sleep a small army. 

bedroom 1 - full size bed 2 adults
bedroom 2 - queen size bed 2 adults
bedroom 3 - king size mattress on teh floor - 2-3 adults
bedroom 4 - loft bed desk / futon - 4 adults
main living room - couches to sleep 2 adults
secondary living room - couch for one adult
basement - couches to sleep 5 adults

enough floor space to have 4 air mattresses for - 8 more adults

26 adults can sleep in our house plus my wife and i in our room. 

we should start renting rooms on airbnb
WHyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

LeRainDrop

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1834
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #15 on: October 11, 2016, 02:07:54 PM »
WHyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

+1

galliver

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1863
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #16 on: October 11, 2016, 02:15:56 PM »
1BR apartment in the L.A. area. Our living room couch is a (full-size) futon. If we have more than two people visiting, one sleeps on the floor.  When bf's family visited, they stayed at a hotel down the street (but they also tacitly disapprove of our living arrangement, so I'm not sure if comfort or ideology drove that decision).

When I was a kid, our family of 5 had a 2BR apartment and my parents would often give up their room for guests; especially if the grandparents visited from out of the country for a month. Parents would sleep in the living room.

My parents, since my youngest sister went to college, have been dealing with a constantly-revolving list of residents (bf and I might come up for a weekend; youngest sister might come for a 1-2 week school break, grandma might come for a month; and that's not mentioning other friends/family that might come through...) They enjoy the visitors, so that's not a problem, but they've developed a stash of older mattresses to deal with sleeping arrangements. It can get pretty campy but they can sleep 9 in a pinch (in a 2-bed+family room, probably 1300SF). No hope of privacy anywhere but the bathroom, though. :D

2Birds1Stone

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7916
  • Age: 1
  • Location: Earth
  • K Thnx Bye
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #17 on: October 11, 2016, 02:28:27 PM »
A shed, or my livingroom floor.

StarBright

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3270
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #18 on: October 11, 2016, 02:29:07 PM »
We now have about 300 sqf of finished basement and have guests at least once a month. My folks visit at least once a month and usually stay over a night or two. My MIL visits a couple times a year, usually 7+ days each trip.

We also host the occasional sibling and out of town friends a few times a year.

A guest space was pretty essential for us when we bought our home.

boarder42

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 9332
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #19 on: October 11, 2016, 02:34:47 PM »
i own a 3800 sq ft mcmansion with enough space to sleep a small army. 

bedroom 1 - full size bed 2 adults
bedroom 2 - queen size bed 2 adults
bedroom 3 - king size mattress on teh floor - 2-3 adults
bedroom 4 - loft bed desk / futon - 4 adults
main living room - couches to sleep 2 adults
secondary living room - couch for one adult
basement - couches to sleep 5 adults

enough floor space to have 4 air mattresses for - 8 more adults

26 adults can sleep in our house plus my wife and i in our room. 

we should start renting rooms on airbnb
WHyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

options to live lake front in the community we live in are limited.  a deal came up on this place and its about 25% cheaper than what we could buy and build a much smaller home on one of the vacant lots.  not a ton of options to be lake front in our community so we bought WAY more house than we wanted but it was cheaper than buying a lot and building.  not mustachian yeah ... but waking up walking out my backdoor and jumping on a paddleboard whenever i want to slash the views.  simple trade IMO.

FIRE Artist

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1070
  • Location: YEG
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #20 on: October 11, 2016, 02:51:18 PM »
I have a spare bedroom which used to be 2 separate bedrooms joined into one by the previous owners.  It has a queen size bed in it, which basically takes up the entire space of one of the original bedrooms.  I use the rest of the space for home gym equipment which is easily moved out when I have guests.

pdxbator

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 229
  • Location: Portland, Oregon
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #21 on: October 11, 2016, 02:58:46 PM »
I've seen a couple people mention getting some sort of pull out couch. Personally having slept on those they are awful. I recently slept on an Aerobed at my sisters. She doesn't have much space, but this thing inflated really quickly, and it doesn't take a whole lot of space to store. The thing was REALLY comfortable! It wasn't like sleeping an an old fashioned air mattress that loses air and shifts during the night. It held firm and was not too cold.

TravelJunkyQC

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 466
  • Age: 37
  • Location: Québec City, Canada
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #22 on: October 11, 2016, 02:58:57 PM »
We live in a loft. Pretty big size (+750 sq feet), but no closed rooms or extra beds.

For youngun's, our L-shaped couch fits two medium-sized adults without difficult backs. We also have a camp bed that can be placed in the living-room side of the condo.

For older folks who might have difficulty sleeping on such surfaces (such as my parents, or my pregnant sister), I don't have anything, so it's mostly AirBnb around the neighbourhood.

Since my family lives a ways away, and my sister and her husband don't exactly have a shit-ton of money to spare (and are very careful with how they spend it, but always welcome us with open arms, room and food when we come down), I would love to be able to accommodate them and return the favour. Also, staying under one roof with family during the holidays isn't the same as having to go back to a hotel or rental. That's why I tend to be the one to go visit them, instead of the other way around.

I'd love to have just one spare room/office to accommodate them, but it'll have to wait until I have a house.

galliver

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1863
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #23 on: October 11, 2016, 03:16:34 PM »
For older folks who might have difficulty sleeping on such surfaces (such as my parents, or my pregnant sister), I don't have anything, so it's mostly AirBnb around the neighbourhood.

Since my family lives a ways away, and my sister and her husband don't exactly have a shit-ton of money to spare (and are very careful with how they spend it, but always welcome us with open arms, room and food when we come down), I would love to be able to accommodate them and return the favour. Also, staying under one roof with family during the holidays isn't the same as having to go back to a hotel or rental. That's why I tend to be the one to go visit them, instead of the other way around.

Unless you have a difficult back, etc: give them your bed, sleep on  the couch/air mattress/etc. It's only for a few nights, and you get to have breakfast together.

ketchup

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 4323
  • Age: 33
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #24 on: October 11, 2016, 03:23:13 PM »
I've seen a couple people mention getting some sort of pull out couch. Personally having slept on those they are awful. I recently slept on an Aerobed at my sisters. She doesn't have much space, but this thing inflated really quickly, and it doesn't take a whole lot of space to store. The thing was REALLY comfortable! It wasn't like sleeping an an old fashioned air mattress that loses air and shifts during the night. It held firm and was not too cold.
Fold-out couches vary a LOT in terms of comfort.  We used to have one (thrift store find) in a previous living arrangement and the person who slept on it nightly loved it.  She also has all kinds of back problems and was therefore super picky about what bed she sleeps on, so it was actually good (she wasn't just tolerating it).

La Bibliotecaria Feroz

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7124
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #25 on: October 11, 2016, 03:30:21 PM »
+1 for office doubling as guest room. Especially if you have a laptop, it's easy to clear out. We used it pre-kids when we had a 2 bedroom apartment, and post-kids in a house with a basement nonconforming bedroom.

Now I live with my two kids in a one bedroom apartment. I could still accommodate 1 guest by putting both boys in the bottom layer of the twin-over-full bunk bed, freeing the top mattress :-). Or 2 on the air mattress.

Clean Shaven

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 821
  • Location: Wild Wild West
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #26 on: October 11, 2016, 03:36:22 PM »
We have camping pads (and a lot of floor space), and kid beds (put guests in kid rooms, kids on camping pads), and couches.  Also picked up this "chair and a half" sleeper from Costco this summer, which is in the living room.  It's surprisingly comfortable as a bed -- the fold-out bed part is memory foam over spring.  I usually hate fold-out beds, but this one is decent.  It's exactly a twin-size mattress.

http://www.cochaser.com/blog/synergy-home-twin-sleeper-chair/

ketchup

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 4323
  • Age: 33
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #27 on: October 11, 2016, 03:43:36 PM »
+1 for office doubling as guest room. Especially if you have a laptop, it's easy to clear out. We used it pre-kids when we had a 2 bedroom apartment, and post-kids in a house with a basement nonconforming bedroom.

Now I live with my two kids in a one bedroom apartment. I could still accommodate 1 guest by putting both boys in the bottom layer of the twin-over-full bunk bed, freeing the top mattress :-). Or 2 on the air mattress.
I would actually vote against using a home office as a guest room, at least depending on your use case.  I wouldn't want to be unable to get some work stuff out of the way while my guest is asleep five feet from my desk.

gggggg

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 428
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #28 on: October 11, 2016, 04:01:57 PM »
I have a spare bedroom, but I use it for storage. I sold all the furniture I had in there; I don't want folks "hanging around". When I had furniture, I had people wanting to crash too much. People know my furniture is gone, so they don't ask to stay anymore.

GhostSaver

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 86
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #29 on: October 11, 2016, 04:19:20 PM »
Nothing! And we're trying to rectify it.

Options:

1) Partially finish the basement. Cost: $3,000? (We'll do it ourselves) plus a lot of work
2) Buy a pull-out bed for our large dining room. We already have a sofa in there, which I know makes us weirdos, but whatever. Add curtains to openings to kitchen and living room for privacy.
3) Buy pull out bed for weird 5x8 nook. I think we can fit a bed in there. Add some curtains for privacy. But it would be way claustrophobic.
4) Buy bunk bed for kids room and make guests sleep in there. But who really wants to sleep in the same room as a 4 year old for 3 months?

Reasons we need a guest space: long-term visiting family (think months, not days). Previously when guests visited for weeks/months our child was still sleeping in our room, so they had a whole room to themselves. Now we need a new solution.

We have other guests that stay for the weekend and we've always made that work with a inflatable mattress or, in the case of grandparents, sleeping in the kid's room.

In your shoes, I would finish the basement, despite it being the most money/work. If you've got house guests coming for months, everyone will appreciate the privacy. Plus, if you sell your house, you will get added equity. Additional finished square footage is always worth something to home buyers.

Our current situation: an IKEA sectional that converts to a sleeper sofa in our basement den/tv room. One bedroom is a dedicated office for me, but I work from home full time at a somewhat-intense job, so we can't have the home office pull double duty right now.

MsPeacock

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1571
  • Location: High COL
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #30 on: October 11, 2016, 05:13:08 PM »
I have a large very nice finished basement w/ a bedroom, kitchenette, and bath. I started renting that out - so no more guest room.

I don't really have visitors all that much. My plan if there is one person visiting is to put them in my son's room and have my son sleep in a cot on my room. If two people visit I will probably give them my room and sleep on the couch or in my sons room on the bed (and he gets the cot again).

Alternative is to borrow an Aerobed from a friend and put it up in the living room.

La Bibliotecaria Feroz

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7124
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #31 on: October 11, 2016, 05:17:35 PM »
+1 for office doubling as guest room. Especially if you have a laptop, it's easy to clear out. We used it pre-kids when we had a 2 bedroom apartment, and post-kids in a house with a basement nonconforming bedroom.

Now I live with my two kids in a one bedroom apartment. I could still accommodate 1 guest by putting both boys in the bottom layer of the twin-over-full bunk bed, freeing the top mattress :-). Or 2 on the air mattress.
I would actually vote against using a home office as a guest room, at least depending on your use case.  I wouldn't want to be unable to get some work stuff out of the way while my guest is asleep five feet from my desk.

Guess it depends what you mean by "office"--we both worked away from home. More like a computer room/quiet place.

LeRainDrop

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1834
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #32 on: October 11, 2016, 05:21:47 PM »
+1 for office doubling as guest room. Especially if you have a laptop, it's easy to clear out. We used it pre-kids when we had a 2 bedroom apartment, and post-kids in a house with a basement nonconforming bedroom.

I would actually vote against using a home office as a guest room, at least depending on your use case.  I wouldn't want to be unable to get some work stuff out of the way while my guest is asleep five feet from my desk.

Yeah, it depends on how the home office is actually used.  For me, it was there for night and weekend work, rather than having to be in the main office.  I still went into my firm's office building for regular work hours.  Thus, the home office only had whatever I took home with me from work that day.  If I had a guest, I probably would not take any work home that night, or if I had to, I would put it in my own bedroom, not the guest/office room.

ETA:  Ha, posts crossed in cyberspace -- agree with frugalparagon.

HappierAtHome

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 8015
  • Location: Australia
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #33 on: October 11, 2016, 07:00:35 PM »
Nothing! I guess if someone was desperate they could sleep on the couch, but it wouldn't be comfy.

Interestingly when we bought this house (bigger than the last one by quite a bit) a friend who lives in our city asked when we would set up a guest bedroom. We said we weren't planning to. She asked how she could stay at our house after getting too drunk to drive home if we didn't have a bed for her? I said that we weren't planning for her to stay over and if she was planning to get drunk, a taxi or an uber is a good option.

That conversation made me realise that if we had a guest bedroom, there are people in our lives who would feel entitled to it. Without a guest bedroom, there is no assumption that friends or relatives can just stay over when it suits them. Which works for us. We like boundaries.

Jaguar Paw

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 146
  • Age: 38
  • Location: Texas!!
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #34 on: October 11, 2016, 09:37:28 PM »
two spare bedrooms with queen sized beds. My wife and I both had houses when we got married so we combined furniture. Assuming that we'll have one more child, which will leave one bedroom for guests. We may have people stay with us one weekend per 3 months or so but it is awesome to have the spare space as all my family lives way out of state.

PDM

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 569
  • Location: Australia
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #35 on: October 11, 2016, 09:58:24 PM »
Side note: my guilty pleasure is watching those "House Hunter" style shows (which come in different flavours - island, overseas, just in the US) etc. They ALWAYS, without fault say one of they main needs is plenty of room for guests. I really want to yell at the tv every time they end up spending hundreds of thousands more so they can accommodate their potential guests.

expatartist

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2270
  • Location: Hong Kong/Paris
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #36 on: October 11, 2016, 11:11:51 PM »
Two multipurpose bedrooms in my three bedroom rental apartment work as guest rooms, in a city that's routinely called "the most expensive in the world" for real estate. It's a one- to two-year experiment. I will probably downsize afterwards. The rooms are set up in different ways:

* to house AirBnB guests who pay half- to most- of the rent
* for visiting friends and family
* for art installations/exhibitions related to urban challenges in this city that result from overcrowding/expensive housing
* hopefully, starting next year, they can also serve as space for artists residencies or mini offices for artists/designers/others interested in these issues

All beds are multipurpose:
* Room 1: I use a single spring bed that folds into a padded cube which is comfortable to sit on, like an oversized ottoman
* Room 2: two single tatami mats for Japanese-style floor sleeping, one side firm, one side softer. Together they make a double/queen sleeping mat that folds into Japanese-style seat cushions for daytime
* Room 3: Sofa that opens to double-sized bed
* Living room: Japanese fabric sofa bed, generously-sized for one, and single-sized foam mattress covered in fabric that folds into a chair

KiwiSonya

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 274
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #37 on: October 12, 2016, 02:30:55 AM »
We have two kids and a 2 bedroom, one bath house. We have visitors for long weekends about once a month. We give up our room and sleep on mattresses in the kids room. The kids love it because it's like camping. It's cosy but bearable. Not so luxurious that you'd stay a week and we're fine with that. An extra bedroom in our suburb is worth about  $300,000NZ and no guest is worth shelling out that much money for.

MoonLiteNite

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 411
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #38 on: October 12, 2016, 03:41:06 AM »
An (or two depending on roommate tenants) empty room with wine stains on the floor.

And before they come over i tell them to bring a pillow, i only have a spare sleeping bag.

TravelJunkyQC

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 466
  • Age: 37
  • Location: Québec City, Canada
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #39 on: October 12, 2016, 07:47:30 AM »
For older folks who might have difficulty sleeping on such surfaces (such as my parents, or my pregnant sister), I don't have anything, so it's mostly AirBnb around the neighbourhood.

Since my family lives a ways away, and my sister and her husband don't exactly have a shit-ton of money to spare (and are very careful with how they spend it, but always welcome us with open arms, room and food when we come down), I would love to be able to accommodate them and return the favour. Also, staying under one roof with family during the holidays isn't the same as having to go back to a hotel or rental. That's why I tend to be the one to go visit them, instead of the other way around.


Unless you have a difficult back, etc: give them your bed, sleep on  the couch/air mattress/etc. It's only for a few nights, and you get to have breakfast together.

That's what I do when my sister and brother-in-law come to town (although, she wasn't always pregnant, so sometimes they would sleep on the couch, or vice-versa before the pregnancy). However, my parents find my bed too soft (I agree), as well as too small, and they also snore absolutely horridly. Actually, one time I found them a lovely rental in the same building as me, which was great. Since then though, my Co-op outlawed Airbnb rentals, so we're back to square 1.

As a note, even when I used to sleep on the same floor as my parents years ago, their snoring would keep me up at night (even with ear plugs). I love my parents dearly, but not sleeping an entire night is difficult.

Spork

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 5742
    • Spork In The Eye
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #40 on: October 12, 2016, 08:10:45 AM »
We have a traditional dedicated guest bedroom.  Long term, I'd like to convert it to a murphy bed and make the room more useful, but that is probably years off.

We also use it occasionally ourselves: We have one dog that is extremely storm phobic.  One of us will take her up there and try to sleep.  (It's better than both of us not sleeping.)

I'm a red panda

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 8186
  • Location: United States
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #41 on: October 12, 2016, 08:14:46 AM »
Right now we have 2 dedicated rooms,  because our house is way too big. One of the rooms was supposed to become a baby's room last year, and will hopefully become one in March...  that room has a twin bed (upstairs- our main living space) in it, the other has a queen bed (downstairs) in it.

We have guests maybe 3 weeks a year? 

The queen room is the first  guest room, then we put people in the twin bed room. If needed, we also have a futon in the office, and we can put a blow up bed in the downstairs living room.   

So for Thanksgiving, for instance.  We will have a toddler and a baby (in pack and play) in the twin bed room, their parents in the office, they get a bathroom.  We will have a preschooler and elementary schooler on the blow up bed, their parents in the queen bed room, along with a baby in a pack and play, they all get a bathroom.
And we get to stay in our room.

KCM5

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 881
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #42 on: October 12, 2016, 09:01:59 AM »
Nothing! And we're trying to rectify it.

Options:

1) Partially finish the basement. Cost: $3,000? (We'll do it ourselves) plus a lot of work
2) Buy a pull-out bed for our large dining room. We already have a sofa in there, which I know makes us weirdos, but whatever. Add curtains to openings to kitchen and living room for privacy.
3) Buy pull out bed for weird 5x8 nook. I think we can fit a bed in there. Add some curtains for privacy. But it would be way claustrophobic.
4) Buy bunk bed for kids room and make guests sleep in there. But who really wants to sleep in the same room as a 4 year old for 3 months?

Reasons we need a guest space: long-term visiting family (think months, not days). Previously when guests visited for weeks/months our child was still sleeping in our room, so they had a whole room to themselves. Now we need a new solution.

We have other guests that stay for the weekend and we've always made that work with a inflatable mattress or, in the case of grandparents, sleeping in the kid's room.

In your shoes, I would finish the basement, despite it being the most money/work. If you've got house guests coming for months, everyone will appreciate the privacy. Plus, if you sell your house, you will get added equity. Additional finished square footage is always worth something to home buyers.

Our current situation: an IKEA sectional that converts to a sleeper sofa in our basement den/tv room. One bedroom is a dedicated office for me, but I work from home full time at a somewhat-intense job, so we can't have the home office pull double duty right now.

Yeah, that's where we're going with it, too. I'm just feeling like I don't want to do all that work! But we'll be happy with it when we're done and it will be a good winter project.

meerkat

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 4214
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #43 on: October 12, 2016, 11:34:34 AM »
We used to have a dedicated guest room (well, also a storage room) that was used maybe two or three weeks total in the year. When we had a baby it became the baby's room - he actually never slept in our room, my husband is way too light of a sleeper. Now that we have the baby, though, we have a lot more family visitors and no guest space. My mom just doesn't like the idea of sleeping on the couch and chooses to get a hotel room most of the time. My dad has a bad hip so sleeping on the couch isn't an option for him, he can afford a hotel but I think he'd prefer the convenience of being under the same roof. If my MIL stays overnight she's happy on the couch. Another complicating factor is that the baby likes to wake up at 5am so the on-duty parent usually entertains him in the tv room ... where the couch is. Thankfully my MIL is happy to take over the 5am wake up when she's visiting.

We're already planning on redoing our kitchen (I'm hoping to tackle this in 2017), it wouldn't take much work to convert the tv room into an additional bedroom and move the baby to that room. Then his current room could become an office/guest room. The only issue is that we'd have to divide up our current living/dining space into two rooms. There's definitely enough square footage but the windows and front/back doors make it awkward. This idea just occurred to me this week, we've been planning on doing the kitchen reno for a few years. The kitchen reno is going to be a full gut job (our cabinets are literally disintegrating because they're old, cheap particle board) and we've talked about tearing out the carpet in that half the house while we're at it and putting down ceramic wood-look tile or else wood floors, so this half-baked idea of changing the rooms/layout shouldn't cost too much extra in terms of a little framing, drywall, and a few outlets.

mamagoose

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 354
  • Location: FL
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #44 on: October 12, 2016, 11:46:38 AM »
We currently have a guest bedroom that gets used about once per year, so we are downsizing (rightsizing) to a smaller house next year. When folks come to visit, we have a couch bed & multiple air mattresses. If the visitors need a real bed (our parents have back/knee problems), my husband and I will take the couch bed and offer the real bed in our master bedroom to the guest.

jamesbond007

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 754
  • Location: USA
  • One penny at a time.
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #45 on: October 13, 2016, 03:42:13 PM »
Nothing. We have 2 bed rooms. One master bed and a smaller room where I have my workstation. We sleep on the floor everyday (We were brought up that way and it is much better than sleeping on a bed for us) so my queen bed is available for any "guests". The only guests that I entertain are my close friends who don't care where they sleep. So this is really not a concern for me.

Mtngrl

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 319
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #46 on: October 13, 2016, 04:09:56 PM »
I have spent plenty of nights sleeping on friends' sofas or on an air mattress on the floor. My focus is on visiting my friends, not on how nice their accommodations are. I have a friend in New York City that I visit every other year or so and I sleep on her admittedly uncomfortable sofa. But she lives in a tiny Harlem apartment and I am so happy to see and spend time with her that I love that she is willing to host me.

We have a dedicated guest room (which doubles as my sewing/craft room) and it probably gets used a few weeks a year, but I love having it available for when we do have company.

Rural

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 5051
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #47 on: October 13, 2016, 08:22:10 PM »
Nothing dedicated, but two pretty comfy couches in the living room and two double airbeds plus a twin air bed, with floor space in my office, his office, the living room, or the library. We rarely have guests but when we do, it's generally a big pile of friends from too far away in for a long weekend of D&D. We've piled in six for sure, maybe more, and more than once in good weather we've put a guest with cat allergies in a tent with airbed on the porch or out by the barn.

lthenderson

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2252
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #48 on: October 13, 2016, 08:28:33 PM »
For the best guest comfort for value, I highly recommend a Murphy bed. It folds up out of the way when not in use so doesn't dedicate a room to being a guest room and can fit in virtually any room of the house. It also has the same comfort as an actual bed unlike inflatables, futons, fold out couches and such.

Hotstreak

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 838
Re: What do you have for a guest space?
« Reply #49 on: October 13, 2016, 09:25:51 PM »
I have a queen sized futon in my 2nd room/storage.  Usually I wouldn't be able to use it, but if I clean up then up to two people can sleep on it.  I have a set of sheets for it and some blankets and pillows, so it is fairly comfortable.


I also have a sofa in the living room that one or two people could sleep on.  It's not very comfortable, but if somebody is just too drunk to go home or whatever, that's where they sleep.


If I ever were to need to house more people than that I would get a queen sized inflatable mattress with sheets (less than $100) and lay it out on the floor.


If people want more privacy than is convenient for me to provide, they can pay for a hotel.  Not. My. Problem.