What should a guest room look like?

shoshina

Wed, Mar 30 2011, 8:35 am

DH and I are trying to figure out our guest room. Right now, it has a queen bed, because it was a gift, as well as a side table, comfortable chair, mirror, and empty closet space. We use the second closet for storage. There is a discreet air mattress under the bed complete with linens just in case, but there is not adequate room in the room for two twin beds. Just the queen seems to overwhelm the room.

What would be the best arrangement? Daybed with trundle? Great if its two un-related people, or a husband and wife when the wife is nidda, but what if she isn't? Squeeze two twin beds in despite the look? What does your guest room look like? What do you want a guest room to be like when you visit?

mamommommy

Wed, Mar 30 2011, 8:41 am

I think it's best to have 2 twins, even if it's crowded. I can imagine a lot of situations where guests could feel very uncomfortable walking into a room and seeing only one bed (even if you have the other bed available), much more than I can imagine people being upset by a lack of walking room. I think it matters less how roomy the room feels, than having the sleeping accommodations set up nicely. How much room do they need anyway? All you really need in a guest room is two twins and a small little night table.

suzyq

Wed, Mar 30 2011, 8:42 am

Our guest room has a high-riser, a mirror on the wall, and a dresser. I've usually seen frum guest rooms with 2 beds, because it just seems to cover a lot more bases than just 1. We keep the high-riser so it looks like 1 bed unless we are having 2 guests, so it leaves a lot of room most of the time (my husband also has his exercise bike in that room, but when we have guests, he moves it into his office).

obagys

Wed, Mar 30 2011, 8:43 am

We just renovated, and our old master bedroom is becoming the guest room. We have enough room in there for 3 twin beds (but will probably put 1 twin and 1 twin trundle bed as not to take up all the room if there are only 2 guests or a couple). Also will be putting a pack n play in there that I will also use when guests are not there or don't have a baby. We also redid (and enlarged) the master bathroom, so that should be really convenient for guest to have their own. There are also 2 large closets, and a chest of drawers. The whole room is being re-carpeted and repainted. I would hope this would be a comfortable set-up for guests, it will be WAY nicer when finished than it was when it was our room!

zaq

Wed, Mar 30 2011, 8:51 am

I want it to be neat, clean, uncluttered and with two beds of whatever size fits in the room. People should not be coming to anyone's house with the expectation that they will necessarily be able to sleep together in the kind of lavish environment they do at home, but they do have the expectation that they will be able to discreetly keep the laws of taharas hamishpacha.

A separate air mattress is really not so discreet, since it practically shrieks "we have to sleep separately" if it's used. I personally would go for two narrower beds, if space won't allow for two standard twin-size. A high-riser of the type that uses two mattresses the same size is a good compromise. Do not hook the two beds together, because this is still a problem for niddah. Leave the beds separate. It may surprise you to know that it is possible to have relations in a twin-size bed, even if the couple is used to a king. In any event, your job as hostess is not to make it possible for married couples to have relations in your home. They're not supposed to in any case, unless they bring their own linens. Just provide a place to sleep. If they want to sleep together, they'll find a way. Don't assume that all married people sleep together --I mean that literally, not as a euphemism--when not niddah.

I'm confused--if there's barely enough room for a queen-size bed, how is there room for an air mattress?

Everything else sounds wonderful. Closet space and a mirror are important. So is a lock of some sort on the door, even if it's just a hook and eye.

shoshina

Wed, Mar 30 2011, 9:01 am

Ooo thanks for the information that the air mattress isn't discreet!!! It is tucked away under the bed with its sheets, which I change every guest regardless of whether I think they were used because they live under the bed! Really I have no idea usually whether a guest used the air mattress...I'm now slightly mortified for them!

The trouble is the room is laid out extremely badly-- the air mattress can go at the foot of the bed between the foot of the bed and the wall, but a twin bed there would be so high as to block the window! Two twin beds either block the closets from opening, the door from opening, or the window from opening. Do beds exist narrower than twin? I think high riser might be the only option, though I will feel bad because we have hosted single girls for Shabbos before and they said having such a big bed to themselves is like being in a hotel and I was so flattered :/

obagys that sounds AMAZING and B'H one day I will have a guest bathroom...sadly my apartment does not have a second bathroom at all Sad

I hope you and your guests enjoy your new room!!! The pack and play sounds like a good idea but I would need to buy one because we don't' have children (soon, B'H!) Do people with babies expect a bed for the baby too?

I am slightly hesitant about removing the chair, as one of our most frequent guests is a family with a nursing baby and that is really the only place to go for privacy in our largely open apartment...

obagys

Wed, Mar 30 2011, 10:06 am

shoshina wrote:

I wouldn't go out and buy a pack n play specifically if you wouldn't get use out of the pack n play yourself. The only reason I'm putting it in there is because I plan on using it myself, and got a fantastic deal on it (comes with a full size bassinet and changing area also). I have a 11 month old and am due with the next one I"H right after Pesach, so I thought a pack n play would be useful on the main floor instead of having to go upstairs to give the new baby a nap every time. I don't think guests have expectations that you'll have a place for a baby to sleep, but I do know from the times we went away, it was SO nice knowing we didn't have to drag along our portable crib.

ChutzPAh

Wed, Mar 30 2011, 7:11 pm

My guest room-

2 twin beds
pack n play with optional bassinet
changing table with wipes and scented bags for dirty diapers
shaitel head
closet
hooks on back of door
mirror
plate of sucking candies and water bottles
that week's Mishpacha if I know guest would appreciate it.
Shabbos lamp since guests aren't familiar with room, may need to tend to baby in middle of night
digital clock
phone

(You have to keep it comfy if you want your married kids to come often Wink

)

Tova

Wed, Mar 30 2011, 7:18 pm

obagys wrote:

'Kay - when am I invited? LOL

Back to the topic at hand, we have a great area for guests - a separate apartment/suite with a highriser, full bath, kitchenette, fridge, range, separate entrance and parking spot BUT we rent it out. There are times I wish I had it available but it makes no sense to lose out on an entire year of rent (which covers 1/3 of our mortgage payment) for the couple times a year when I need it. What I do want to do this summer is have a bathroom put in in our side of the basement (the plumbing is already there) - then I feel like I can get a highriser and put guests down there instead of sharing our upstairs with us.

tweek

Thu, Mar 31 2011, 5:48 am

I love having guests and I want them to come back, so I go all out.
I have two beautiful 48 inch beds with coordinating linen, night table, sheitel stand, shabbos lamp, water and glasses, etc. I also have a nice tray with travel size toiletries (mouthwash, toothbrush, toothpaste, moisterizer, lens solution, shampoo, deodorant etc).
I roll up two large clean towels and put chocolate or mints on them for the finishing touch!
They definitely keep coming back, so I guess everyone is happy!

shoshina

Thu, Mar 31 2011, 6:41 am

Oh I do also have fancy little toiletries, I read a post here awhile back about using the soap in your hosts house being weird, so I made sure to get some nice soaps, shampoos, conditioners and lotions to put out for the guests to use-- the girls always ask if they can keep them because they smell amazing.

Tweek-- I am absolutely going to copy you on the sheitel stand and I WISH I could copy you on the 48 inch beds! DH and I stayed by a friend who had a guest room with a queen bed and a divan bed in beautiful matching upholstery (beds headboard matched divan) and I thought that was very discreet as well (and used the divan to read on!) but I don't know that the budget for doing the room will stretch to custom furniture.

amother

Thu, Mar 31 2011, 6:59 am

We live in a very small house; even the master bedroom is small. We all share one bathroom. So when you ask about our guest room, we go way out to try and fit two people in; we have a bunk bed so it just gets pulled out at bed time and there's more walking space during daytime hours. There's a bookcase filled with loads of Jewish novels and magazines, a Shabbos lamp, and an alarm clock. We all share the same bathroom and shower. I leave clean towels, a small toothbrush and toothpaste, mouthwash, deodorant, mini soap bar and shampoo available. That's the best I can do.

Chayalle

Thu, Mar 31 2011, 7:11 am

I finished a room in my basement so my parents could have a comfortable place to stay when they come (long Hashgacha pratis story about how that was funded by our insurance company following a burst pipe from our neighbor's house). It has two twin beds with a night table between. In the night table I put old Mishpachas/Binas for reading pleasure. There's a Kosher lamp and a box of tissues on the night table.

On the far wall there's a dresser with mirror, on that there's a sheitel head, towels, a plug-in fan, and a tray with candles. There's a pretty box that I fill with toiletries, toothbrushes, rainhat, etc... I also put water bottles and plastic cups on the dresser.

Near the dresser there's a comfortable rocking chair.

Since the room is mostly for my parents or for my FIL (though we do try to accomodate our neighbors when possible) I hung pictures of my kids for wall decor.

Off the guest room there's a bathroom with shower. The vanity in the bathroom contains personal items and more toiletries, shampoo minis, soaps, and perfumes.