I need some room arraignment ideas from either a knowledgeable person or an interior decorator.?

Question

Essentially I have a 3 br town home. The bedrooms are quite small. I have one bedroom setup as a master (my wife and I) with a full BR set (Queen, dressor, mirror, nightstand and chest) and the 2nd bedroom setup as my daughters room (it's the smallest). I have another bedroom that is kind of inbetween the sizes of the largest room and my daughters room. I'm not quite sure as to what that room should be used for. My study is in the basement (computer desk etc...). My wife wants it for a guest room. But she wants to put another small BR set in there. I don't feel comfortable with a bed in each room. I kind of want to do a study/br/activity room. Kind of like a sleeper sofa on the longest wall with bookcases all around and a small computer workstation in there. Kind of like a multi-purpose room. What is the 3rd and no use room commonly used for?

Answer 1

Are you happy with your office in the basement? If not, I'd turn the 3rd room into a study. You could always put a fold out sofa in there, so it could be used for guests when they come too, as an extra bed. But when you don't have guests you could actually USE the room. You could then use the basement for a gameroom or an awesome media room if you do that...

Answer 2

My husband is a designer. He finds that most households don't want a dedicated guest room, because they don't have guests often enough to make it worthwhile. (Sometimes they want to discourage people from staying over!) It sounds like you haven't come up with a purpose yet -- that is, you don't feel a pressing need for another room right now. The most common thing is for an extra bedroom to be an office (which you don't need) or a place to watch TV. Other times, it's for a quiet room for reading or hobbies, or just a place to hang artwork or display collections if people enjoy those things. One woman had long rods and shelves installed and used the extra bedroom as a closet/dressing room.

If you put a bedroom set in there, you're pretty much guaranteeing that the room won't be usable as anything but a guest room. I don't know how old your daughter is -- if she's young, you might need that space when she's older, for her use or for her to watch TV shows that you don't feel like watching.

Talk with your wife about how frequently you have overnight guests, and who those guests might be. Is a sleep sofa okay for them to sleep on, since some are pretty uncomfortable? Would air mattresses be a better way to go, since they are comfortable and easy to store?

Even if you really do need a place for someone to sleep now and then, a bedroom set isn't really needed. When I'm a guest, I never use the dresser (except to put things on top). A surface next to where I'm sleeping isn't even really necessary, though it's nice to put a book and lamp on. But a guest doesn't really need a night table with a drawer.

Also, consider a trundle bed. This looks like a single, but it has a second single mattress that slides out and lifts up to create a big bed when needed. Or you can use them as separate twins.http://www.humbleabode.com/Duralink-Twin-High-Rise-Trundle-Frames?category=2036