Spare room

When we are lucky enough to have a spare room in our home, most of us turn it into a guest bedroom. We place a double bed and some undesired furniture into the room and wait for the guests arrive. This is all very well if you have regular guests or run a B&B. But if you only have to put up the occasional guest, the room is wasted most of the time. So why don’t you give it another function?..

One of my new spatial obsessions is the chill-out room. It’s a space where one can relax, meditate, exercise, read or just be and not be bothered by anything or anyone. So it’s important that the room should be natural and neutral – no décor statements or reminders of family life or work responsibilities.

The double bed must go. Invest into two single beds and create an L-shaped couch or seating arrangement. Obviously don’t have them made up as beds – keep the bedding  and linen under the bed in drawers or boxes. Dress the beds with gorgeous and comforting cushions and throws – and just fall into them when you feel spaced out. If you have guests and they want to be cosy just move the beds together, and voila you have a double bed!   Some other furniture such as a chest of drawers, a wardrobe, a chest, or a sideboard could also fit, as long as they are not full of junk or put in here because they no longer suitable  for the rest of your home. Simplicity, tranquillity & clean lines are the keywords – qualities that your guests will also appreciate.

You can also use the guest room as your home office. If you decide to do that, you’ll need to be disciplined. Use the same bed arrangement as above, but you’ll need a desk and some shelving or cupboards. Alternatively you could buy or make cabinets that fold out into a desk or hide a built-in work-station. These kinds of home office units are very effective in double-functioning rooms. You can just close and lock them when you have guests around – they won’t feel like they’re sleeping in an office.

The new must-have home spaces are home-cinemas. Some people make their living room into a home cinema – I think the traditional guest bedroom might also be suitable for this new media room, particularly if the room is in the basement or in the attic. You can make seating arrangements out of single beds or mattresses – a round bed could also add some funkiness. When you have guests around, having showed off your state-of-the-art multimedia system to them, the chill-out seats and beds can be converted for sleeping.

You can also successfully combine a library & guest bedroom.  A craft or storage room could also act as a guest room – as long as things are stored behind cupboard doors!

Of course some of us don’t have the luxury of a spare room – I’m sure most of us have crashed out on someone’s couch or floor at some point in our lives. Wasn’t that fun?