Karen, if you rarely use it do you need it at all? What do your guests expect on the rare times they visit? Would a convertable sofa bed in the family room be enough?

I’m strongly of the opinion that a house should suit the occupants first and guests a distant second.

If you set up your daughter’s room to be transformable, won’t that tell her that it’s not really her room? I think making a few guests ‘make do’ (when they decide to not pay for a hotel room and get free accommodation for you) is infinitely better than making your daughter feel like she is a guest in her own home.

And Erin, I also can’t believe that people’s guests have rifled through their office stuff! Crazy! I’d sooner throw out the guest than redo my office/guest room configuration!

I would like to use the room as a sewing/craft guest room, and plan on storing my sewing, knitting, and stamp supplies in a wardrobe that would also house a television and perhaps some clothing storage for guests (I don’t have a vast collection of fabrics and notions, so hopefully my supplies would only take up 2 drawers, leaving a drawer empty). So far we haven’t had family stay for more than a week, and they’ve had to live out of their suitcase. The desk I would use while actually sewing/stamping would double as a writing desk/nightstand for guests. Our guest room is actually the biggest bedroom in the house, so it has plenty of floorspace for a queen bed, desk, wardrobe, and room to spread out fabric or leave a couple of suitcases open on the floor.
As a guest in other’s homes (mostly family) it hasn’t ever bugged me that I’ve had to live out of my suitcase, or that someone might occasionally need to retrieve something from the closet, but it has annoyed me that they don’t clear out the room enough of their own junk/clutter to leave much room to actually open the suitcase and spread out a bit!

<a href=”http://unclutterer.com” target=”_blank”>LINKTEXT</a>

(Erin, you probably already know this, but if you DO want to make links open in new windows and your blog software doesn’t offer it as a direct option, add target=”_blank” inside the anchor tag, like this. Some love it, some hate it.)

@EngineerMom, thanks for mentioning to set the guest-room radio station — I don’t think I’ve done that!

@Elizabeth, maybe a mirror would be a great present for your sister’s next birthday.

@Leah, I’ve slept in guest airbeds and they’re great. One caveat: If the air in them gets cool it can suck body heat much like an unheated waterbed, so putting a layer or two under the bottom sheet (mattress pad, blankets, whatever) can help ensure comfort.

* we are in employer-provided housing, so we didn’t get to pick our apartment nor the room arrangement. I likely wouldn’t pay to rent our apartment, even tho we make it work for us.

It’s a particularly sore topic for me because my sister and husband (who have a six bed house so no probs finding guest rooms) use one room as the main guest room and while it is beautifully furnished, the one essential it is missing is a mirror. Every time I stay there there is nowhere for me to check my outfit or makeup without going into one of the other bedrooms or standing in front of the downstairs mirror in the hall.

I’ve mentioned it to her sooo many times you wouldn’t believe it and she always says she’s going to get one but the task just gets lost in all the other stuff that comes up

If the wardrobe doesn’t have a mirror then a nice freestanding full length one or a wall hung one to at least see the face and top half is brilliant.

My sister and I sometimes shared a room and sometimes had separate rooms while growing up. One room had twin beds; one had a double. Which one moved out for guests had everything to do with which bed configuration was better for guests. (we would move the beds around if we got bored with the arrangement.) For example, some people will not sleep well in a double (full) size if they are used to a king, but will sleep better in twin beds. This arrangement worked well for us as a family. Whenever I had to give up my own room, I did resent it, but no more than being told to clean my room or take the trash out. Having separate rooms was more important in our teenage years than it was in childhood. If you don’t completely re-decorate and buy entirely new furniture to set up rooms (we didn’t– we just moved stuff and that was it) you can always try it out for a while and see how the girls like it. Hopefully this is somewhat helpful in your thought process.

The items that make it so relaxing also make it very guest-friendly:

– Fresh flowers when our garden is blooming
– Pleasure books (Harry Potter, Narnia books, some of my favorite sci-fi books)
– Candles and low-light lamps
– a private half-bath (our house has only two bathrooms, one on each floor, and the full bath is generally shared by everyone)
– a small radio tuned to the classical station
– a bed that stays made, and a floor that is clear of toy clutter!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/c.....485756360/

So many wonderful comments here! Thank you, everyone!

The plundering guests made me cringe too. That is NOT cool!

@Mletta – I don’t know if I’d be comfortable staying with friends, but in a hotel-like room like you described. I would obviously appreciate a good bed with comfortable linens. I’d be grateful for storage (one drawer and 2 inches of hanging space is plenty), but don’t mind living out of a suitcase either. But an in-room fridge and coffeemaker would put me off and make me uncomfortable. I rarely stay with friends, and I rarely have people stay over at my place, so when I do, it’s usually only family or very close friends. Giving them hotel-like accommodations just makes them feel like strangers. I think if you’re comfortable enough to let someone stay with you, why can’t they use your fridge or coffeemaker?