Guest Space

[Anonymous]

So, we just moved to a new house. I had decided to turn one of the spare bedrooms into a playroom and one into an office for DH. Knowing that our family lives out of town and would like to visit, I thought getting a sofa bed in the playroom would be perfect. It would still allow the kids plenty of space to play, would give them an area to veg and read a book, etc. But, it would give our out of town family a place to sleep for the one or two weekends a year them come. The room has an attached full bath so it would also give the guests a nice private bathroom when they were in town. The kids would just have to stay out of the playroom at times during these visits.

Anyway, I thought this was a great plan until last night when DH tells me he was chatting with his mother about this idea and she said due to her husbands back they would likely stay in a hotel if we had a sofa bed. Now DH thinks we should get a bed to accommodate our aging parents need for a comfortable place to sleep.

I feel like we might have overnight guests 2 nights a month on average.. and that is being generous. If it is that uncomfortable for two nights, perhaps we could just let them sleep in our bed that weekend and we take the sofa bed. Or, if they really would prefer it, they can get a hotel... we don't have to feel guilty because we did offer a space for them. I would rather use the space every day all year as a dedicated playroom for the kids than make it virtually unusable (aside from storage) for the majority of the year.

Thoughts? If your family is out of town, do you make sure you have guest accommodations that are sufficiently comfortable? Is it rude of us to forgo purchasing an actual bed for our guests but offer a sofa bed?

[Anonymous]

Well we went through this and nixed the playroom. Guest room was top on our list. Can your playroom be somewhere else? Basement? Make the kids share a room and make the other a playroom?

I would never visit my in laws if they made me sleep in a pullout. My MIL made me sleep on a blow up mattress until we were married. I had a little fit when she tried to pull that out after we were married.

[Anonymous]

We have a combined office and play room. You take the pull out and give your inlays your bed. Or get a murphy bed... lots of options

[Anonymous]

Give the old guests your bed and you sleep on the sofa.

[Anonymous]

My kids play in the guest room all the time, even though most of it is taken up by the bed. They play on the bed.

[Anonymous]

I like your idea but sofa beds are really hard to sleep on. Would you consider an airbed like this one? They're usually much more comfortable and it's easy to inflate and deflate as needed.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Intex-Deluxe-Pillow-Rest-Airbed-with-Built-in-120V-Pump-Multiple-Sizes/20552668

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

What about a twin with a trundle that pops up?

[Anonymous]

My DD has a queen-size bed, so I generally just put her brother in there with her for the night when guests stay over. They can use DS's room, which is right next door to the bathroom. For a couple, I move the kids from her bed and have them pile in with me.

Is there space enough to give one of the kids a larger bed so that it can serve as an available space for monthly visits? I think the children would think of it as a treat, being pulled into bed with you guys when the grandparents come to visit.

There's another thread re larger beds for young children. I've posted there. There are benefits (conveniences) to having this kind of set up.

[Anonymous]

American Leather makes a sofa bed that is actually quite comfortable.

[Anonymous]

Hotel sounds great! I didn't want guests upstairs so we put a bed and full bath in our basement. It's the next best thing to a hotel (which my inlaws wouldn't do.)

[Anonymous]

There are really comfortable futons now. That is what we have in out play room and no one has complained yet.

[Anonymous]

We have an Ikea day bed that is a twin and pulls out to a king, it's very comfortable.

[Anonymous]

We have an American Leather sofa and have slept on it ourselves for weeks at a time. It is quite comfortable. (I actually think it is more comfortable as a bed than as a sofa). So that's been our solution for our guest/playroom.

[Anonymous]

How about a wall bed?
http://m.costco.com/wall-beds.html