What should a guest room look like?

Chayalle

Thu, Mar 31 2011, 10:26 am

Pack 'n' plays are great because they are suitable for quite an age range, up to toddler I think. A baby basket wouldn't be appropriate for a child who can climb out, which happens pretty quickly. And they are likely cheaper and easier to fold up and store, and quickly assemble, than a fold-up crib.

I have a pac 'n play and besides for it being availalbe for my guests, it's easy for me to pack and take along when I am a guest and will be needing it.

I don't think you should feel obligated to purchase one....your guests could just as well buy one themselves and bring it.

sky

Thu, Mar 31 2011, 10:35 am

shoshina wrote:

There have been a lot of references to cribs/pack n' plays which makes me think I really should consider getting one...we do have a frequent couple-with-baby, which is why the chair stays. Are there OTHER options than pack-n-plays? Is a baby basket or a foldy crib also ok?

Pack n plays fold nicely and can be stowed in a closed.

I don't think you should feel like you have to buy one. I own 2 and they are always in use and not available for guests so I always ask them to bring 1. If they need 2 then I'll borrow from a neighbor.

Raisin

Thu, Mar 31 2011, 10:38 am

our guest room:

2 twin beds, which can be pushed together if desired. Plus a futon which unfolds into a bed and several mattresses. A pack and play (it's really a playpen we bought for our baby, I wouldn't buy one specially unless you very frequently have guests with children. some towns ahve gemachs which lend them out)

mirror (2) shelves and cupboards. a shabbos lamp gets put in there when we have guests - we take one from the kids room.

a pack and play is best becasue you can put any age child in. baskets are only for very small infants. A foldy cot is fine if you have storage space....pack and plays fold up very small and neatly.

I really need to tidy it up...it is full of storage boxes and stuff.

sky

Thu, Mar 31 2011, 10:40 am

BTW I'm getting some good ideas from here. I like the sheitel stand idea.
I should really also supply a full mirror I like that when I stay somewhere.
I don't have so much "counter" space to leave stuff out.
I have a guest bathroom in the basement with the rooms so I leave lots of sealed soap bars unders the sink, mouthwash, container of q-tips, contact solution, contact case, toothpaste, dollar store toothbrushes, etc.

mummiedearest

Thu, Mar 31 2011, 11:54 am

sky wrote:

sounds lovely, but PLEASE don't provide a contact case unless you sterilize it every time someone leaves. it's so dangerous to share eye contact cases. so many people don't care. I get so grossed out when women use the cases at the mikva. if they forget their cases at home, have some plastic cups available for them to use instead. I have a dixie cup dispenser in my basement bathroom fully stocked with bathroom cups. they'd be fine for soaking contacts overnight, and so much healthier than sharing a lens case.

shoshina

Thu, Mar 31 2011, 12:09 pm

!!! Contact case sharing terrifies me!!! I wear my glasses to the Mikvah so I don't have this problem, I have no idea how these women don't get eye infections.

I love these guest room ideas! A full length mirror is a much better idea than the half one I have-- great for checking on your Sheitel and makeup, not so great for making sure your skirt isn't staticky. I also keep extremely nice linens on the guest bed, is it easy to get nice linens for the 33 inch beds?

ra_mom

Thu, Mar 31 2011, 12:15 pm

shoshina wrote:

Depends where you live. Here in Brooklyn, the matching fitted sheets are made to order, according to how big your mattress is.

aidelmaidel

Thu, Mar 31 2011, 3:06 pm

Our guest room is also the room where my stepchildren sleep when they are here, my linen closet, storage for a gemach I run, and where we store all our board games! It's multipurpose!

We have a twin bunk bed. Under it I have a fold up army cot, and we keep a twin air mattress deflated in the closet. I tell all my couple guests where the air mattress is and that if they want they can put the top bunk bed mattress on the floor. I don't get involved in their business. Both beds are made up with matching dark beige linens from ikea. On the bed I leave bath towels, hand towels, wash clothes, and a set of white sheets.

Next to the bunk bed is a folding chair which doubles as a night table, and there is a small trash can. Next to that is a dresser. It has 5 drawers - two are empty for guests, the others have my step children's clothing in them. On top of the dresser is a sheitel head, a CD/Radio alarm clock with a sephardi dance CD inside, a shabbos lamp, a box of tissues, and two sets of negel vasser qvarts & shissels. In the top drawer of the dresser I keep an assortment of diapers and pullups, a changing pad, extra gloves and scarves, and a pair of knee high stockings.

THere is a bookshelf in that room that is where we keep all our secular books. The linen closet has anything they might need blanket, pillow, sheet, towel wise.

The Gemach closet has hanging space and there are hooks off the end of the bunk bed in case they want to hang something out.

The room has a ceiling fan light fixture, so we always tell our guests if they want to put the fan on but the light off for shabbos.

In the summer months I do put a few bottled waters and a stack of cups as well.

Edited to add, we have a relatively portable bed rail on the bunk bed in case anyone wants to sleep there with their baby. We had a portacrib but the last person who used it broke it. (it was also a hand me down from a SIL, and the child who it was originally bought for is graduating from HS shortly. I was sad to see it go, but I'm not missing it!).

ray family

Thu, Mar 31 2011, 4:03 pm

our guest room has 2 twin beds,
there's a small cabinet in there that the landlord won't let us throw our so on top I have a bunch of books
some closet space (though not much- even I dont have a closet in my room- just a hanging bar and the one in the guest room is multifunctional as a linen closet and storage for other items)
I put out a basket w/ fresh towels, miniature soaps, shampoo, conditioner, mouthwash, toothpaste, toothbrush, new disposable shaver, small sewing kit, tissues etc I try to remember to put in the things that I sometimes forget and need when I go away for shabbos
there's a sheital head, nightlight, water cups etc.

Ruchel

Fri, Apr 01 2011, 12:40 pm

aidelmaidel wrote:

"When there is room in the heart, there is room in the home."

Beautiful, but not necessarily true without much suffering on the guest's side. If someone wants to sleep in my apartment, they will have to sleep in the same room as a ton of animals who will make noise at night to attract attention and hopefully food, and the sun will make them up at 6 because the blinds are broken and the landlord doesn't care.
I had one of the most easy going carefree people sleep there, and still she said it was BAD.

shoshina

Fri, Apr 01 2011, 2:15 pm

DH and I did an experiment last night (he thinks I'm crazy but that's ok) where we packed an outfit and tried to be "guests" in our guest room. Lessons learned

1. We need better curtains. The blinds+curtains let just enough light in to be annoying, which I never noticed because I never try to sleep there.
2. We need a better selection of pillows. They're all brand new so they're just too high!
3. My guestroom sheets are nicer than my bedroom sheets. I will leave that be.

Thanks again for all the input!

amother

Mon, Apr 04 2011, 6:43 am

Interesting thread!

We're currently in a two bedroom flat and because the second bedroom is actually the biggest and nicest room of the house, we are planning to use it as a sitting room with a writing dest and PC desk most of the time but it has a lockable door and we were thining to use it for guests if necessary.

We were going to put a large sofa bed in there which would open out as a double bed, then when we have guests put either an air-matress on the floor or a single fold out bed. I totally see the point about this being awkward though and hadn't actually considered that before.

On the other hand, I'm wondering if it would still be OK to do this, making sure that the second bed was already made up to match the sofa-bed and somehow (!) mentioning that I'm going to strip both the beds when the guests leave. If the guests offer to stip the beds, even better because I can mention then that I will wash all the linen anyway. Would this still be awkward? What if I mention the set-up to guests before they decide to stay? ("You'd be very welcome to stay by us. We have a double sofa-bed plus an air matress in a lockable room")