Guest Space

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with you. I don't think it makes sense to dedicate an entire space in a home for the rare occasion someone is going to come visit. I think it is great if it is your preference and it is great if you have the space, but if things make sense to have it function better for your family I think that is best.

Also, it is not going to be a playroom forever. Down the road when the kids don't need as much play space you can convert it into a traditional guest room.

I wouldn't be worried about ILs staying in a hotel. It makes sense they would feel more comfortable sleeping on a bed so they can stay in the hotel. It is ridiculous to try to dictate or request or guilt someone into how they should decorate and make their home function, especially for such infrequent visits.

+1. But I would get a Murphy bed to compromise and it's a win for everyone!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with you. I don't think it makes sense to dedicate an entire space in a home for the rare occasion someone is going to come visit. I think it is great if it is your preference and it is great if you have the space, but if things make sense to have it function better for your family I think that is best.

Also, it is not going to be a playroom forever. Down the road when the kids don't need as much play space you can convert it into a traditional guest room.

I wouldn't be worried about ILs staying in a hotel. It makes sense they would feel more comfortable sleeping on a bed so they can stay in the hotel. It is ridiculous to try to dictate or request or guilt someone into how they should decorate and make their home function, especially for such infrequent visits.

+1. But I would get a Murphy bed to compromise and it's a win for everyone!

You can also get a day bed with a trundle and put real (twin) mattresses on them. (Our trundle supposedly popped up to make a king when pushed next to the daybed, but it never worked). That was fine for us--the kids could sit on the day bed, and we had comfortable beds for two people when we had guests.

Any of the other solutions people have suggested are fine--get a sofa bed with an extra mattress or memory foam topped to put on top, get a fancy aerobed, get a murphy bed, or send them to a hotel. But don't give up a room in your house, esp. if you could use it for a playroom, if you only have guests 10% of the time.

[Anonymous]

Another vote for a Murphy bed!

[Anonymous]

OP - the new sofa beds come with either air or gel memory foam mattresses and are surprisingly comfortable. The ones from American Leather don't fold out, they slide out, so they don't have that uncomfortable bar that everyone hates. I would take your in-laws shopping with you the next time they're in town OR send them to some stores to try out sofa beds so they get a feel for them before nixing them altogether. With baby #2 on the way, our guest room is going to have to move down to our basement and we just bought a really nice sofa bed and plan to move our 3" memory foam topper down there when we have guests, it's as comfortable as our current guest bed.

[Anonymous]

It's just not a situation where you have to bend to MIL's will.

I'm a bit surprised MIL would bring this up as an issue. I wouldn't - not unless my son really pressed me to state my preference - but even so, I would have asked/wondered if he spoke for his wife as well.

[Anonymous]

There are sofa beds that don't suck. Google comfortable sofa beds. I've seen one that had an air mattress that popped out when you pulled the frame out and it auto inflated and deflated. There are other rock star sofa beds out there. No way in hell would I give up a play room, or whatever other room I wanted to use regularly, for a guest bed that very occasionally gets used.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How much storage do you have? We have a sofa bed in our guest room and we also have an extra mattress from our old bed, still in quite serviceable condition. When we open the sofa bed, we bring the mattress up from the basement and toss it on top of the sofa mattress. I've slept on it and it is pretty comfortable. None of our guests have had a problem (and believe me, my mother and mother-in-law would have said something if we needed to replace that mattress). It's a good compromise for us.

Not OP, but that's a great idea.