31 Days of Hospitality: Day 7 - No guest room? No Problem

Yesterday I talked about overnight guests.  Holly had a question about how to make an office with an air mattress and inviting guest retreat.

We all can't have that dedicated guest room.  What a luxury.  When we bought our house it was just my husband and me - and 4 bedrooms.  Plenty of room for a guest room and it was nice.  Then the guest room became a nursery and we had that, a master, a game room and and office.  At that point we moved the bed into the office.  Looking back I am not sure how we accomplished that.  But I know we didn't have as much stuff then so we had the room. Now the bed is in the shed and in it's place is 2 bookcases and scrapbooking cubbies.  What about our guests, you ask?  The guests now reside in the playroom (used to be a game room) on an air mattress.  How do we make that comfy?

The principles are the same as when you have a dedicated guest room.  Clean sheets, clean towels, blankets, toiletry basket.  When using an office as your guest room the first thing I do is put away all the stuff.  No one wants to see your bills, checkbook, etc. so put it away.  Make sure there is plenty of flat space for your guests to use for their personal things.  It's all about keeping the room clutter free, or at least making it that way for your guests.

Next, invest in an air mattress. They are fairly inexpensive so look around for a queen size one that fits into your space.  If not, a double will work.  Most of them are high enough now that you don't need the 'legs' but if you want one you can get a portable bed frame to raise up the bed.  Make the bed just like you would a regular one.   Try to have the bed close enough to a lamp so your guests don't have to get out of bed to turn off the light.  Sometimes office lighting is harsh so a nice small lamp is a good investment, even if you just take it out for the times your office becomes the guest room.

Finish off the room with a small bouquet of flowers.  This will soften the room a bit and take away a bit of the office-y feeling.

If you use your office as your guest room do you have any secrets to share?

If you've missed any of my 31 Days posts you can find them here:

Comments

Anonymous said…
I do something like this when we have guest. Recently we were able to set up a real bed in the office but until then it was an air mattress. In a box in the closet I kept an old cream sheet, small table lamp and a nice smelling candle. I used my filing cabinet and the things in the box to make a nice bedside table. I also set two towels, a face cloth and a basket with soap and travel sized bathroom goodies in it. Great post!
October 7, 2011 at 4:06 PM
Holly said…
Thanks for all the ideas, Debra! I will definitely be implementing your ideas next time we have an overnight guest!

We paid a lot of attention when we bought our air mattress. We actually found one that has an inflatable headboard, which I think is a nice touch.
October 7, 2011 at 6:32 PM
Sandy @ RE said…
Your series is great! Thanks for joining in! :)
October 7, 2011 at 9:34 PM
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