Hellobee Boards Topic: How important is a guest room?

Hellobee Boards Topic: How important is a guest room? https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sat, 02 May 2026 13:01:13 +0000 auggiefrog on "How important is a guest room?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-important-is-a-guest-room#post-2463845 Tue, 16 Feb 2016 21:27:59 +0000 auggiefrog 2463845@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I haven't read all of the responses, but we live in a two bedroom house. We are converting our guest room into a nursery/ guest room. We are keeping the full sized bed, and working with the smaller amount of space. Our future LO can stay in our room when guests are over, and we are planning for a second child to share the room until we are ready to upgrade houses. We don't get visitors a ton, but I'm sure once grandchildren are involved it will be more than it was. daniellemybelle on "How important is a guest room?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-important-is-a-guest-room#post-2463464 Tue, 16 Feb 2016 16:12:16 +0000 daniellemybelle 2463464@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @T.H.O.U.: I think you're right. I'm starting to view the "nursery" stage when LO2 will be in a crib as short term during which we can make due with a nice air mattress / pull-out couch / hotel stays, with the long term goal of one of the LO's rooms doubling as a guest room when needed, basically what you described, except instead of bunk beds we will do LO1's existing twin bed with a trundle. T.H.O.U. on "How important is a guest room?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-important-is-a-guest-room#post-2463421 Tue, 16 Feb 2016 15:41:46 +0000 T.H.O.U. 2463421@https://boards.hellobee.com/ For us (with out of town family), its important but not willing to go out of our budget for it or impact our daily lives. I would really look at your two bedrooms from scratch and see what you can do. Your little one will only be in a crib for a short while. Maybe focus your plan on after that. Bedroom 1 - Queen size bed Bedroom 2 - Bunk beds Queen goes to guests when they are in town. and other child goes to the bunk beds. How big is your play room? Is it separated? I know my parents like a private space when they come to visit and they wouldn't feel super comfortable on a futon in the playroom. KayKay on "How important is a guest room?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-important-is-a-guest-room#post-2463415 Tue, 16 Feb 2016 15:37:42 +0000 KayKay 2463415@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @daniellemybelle: ok, so we have had a handful of different situations recently. In our 1st house, we had a bonus room over the garage, so the kids would've each had their own room (we only had one LO at the time), and then we could do a temp bed in the bonus room when needed. Our air mattress is a queen, double-thickness one, so it's actually not that low to the ground. And reasonably comfortable. In our furnished rental, LO1 had a room with bunk beds (twin over full), PLUS a trundle twin underneath. So it could sleep quite a few, if we really needed it. LO2 slept in a separate room that also had a reasonably-comfortable Murphy bed. After LO2 moved to her own room, any guests that we had would stay in her room on the Murphy bed, and we would just put her in our room in a PNP. It wasn't too terrible, but we did have one situation where DH's parents wanted to come for a week 3 months in a row, and I said that was too much room shifting for LO2. Especially in the 4-8mo old range where I really need consistency for her. So they got a hotel on those trips. In that house, we didn't have any extra rooms where we could've put an air mattress or similar. In our current rental, LOs each have their own rooms. We also have a (loosely) finished basement where we have a moderately comfortable full-size pull out bed OR our queen air mattress. I usually give guests the option. But it does feel a little dungeon-y in the basement, so I feel a little bad if guests had to stay there super-long. Their choice, though! And I don't think it would be worth it to have the girls share a room just for the few days here and there when we have guests (although there were a ton of guests Nov-Dec). I think any of the situations were do-able, so unless you really think it's great for kids to share rooms (I know some people do!), I wouldn't necessarily plan for them to share right away. You can always move them in together later if it seems like the better choice. A futon, pull-out couch, or Murphy bed isn't terribly uncomfortable for shorter stays, so would be a good option to have available somewhere! gingerbebe on "How important is a guest room?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-important-is-a-guest-room#post-2463304 Tue, 16 Feb 2016 14:43:24 +0000 gingerbebe 2463304@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We have a 3-bedroom plus den and expecting LO2 in May. The den is an office for DH that is necessary, so we can't touch that space. DS1 (17 months) has his own room and the 3rd bedroom is a guest room, which is furnished with a queen bed and a small table with a TV. My in laws prefer to stay at a hotel when they visit, but my family prefers to stay with us and we have company fairly frequently and like to have the visiting children watch TV in the guest room to stay quiet. While DS1 has recently started playing a bit more in his room, he mostly just sleeps in there. DS spends most of his time playing in the family room and I figure once the second child arrives, it will be the same. So we've decided there's no real reason to gut the guest room for DS when he's mostly going to just sleep there for at least the first year. Part of this decision is based on the fact that we don't want to buy a second crib. DS1 will be 20 months when DS2 arrives and it just seems like we can wing it just fine with the bassinet, RNP, and PNP + mattress combo we already own. Plus, 99% of the time, we do diaper changes for DS1 on top of the queen bed in the guest room because he's so squirmy, so I think we'd really miss having that surface! So for now, our plan is to just have DS2 sleep in the bassinet or PNP + mattress in the guest bedroom, do diapering on the guest bed, and have a comfy bed for either parent to sleep in for MOTN stuff. If we have guests that need the room, we'll just move the PNP to our master bedroom - we even have a walk in closet that will fit the PNP - and he can sleep there. LuLu Mom on "How important is a guest room?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-important-is-a-guest-room#post-2463289 Tue, 16 Feb 2016 14:28:11 +0000 LuLu Mom 2463289@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We have a 3 bedroom and would never have my girls share a room in order to keep a guest room. When someone stays it is usually my mom, and our oldest has a full mattress in her room that she sleeps on (which was the guest room mattress) and she makes a bed in the living room or in our room. PawPrints on "How important is a guest room?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-important-is-a-guest-room#post-2463199 Tue, 16 Feb 2016 13:30:46 +0000 PawPrints 2463199@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Since you have out of town grandparents visiting so frequently, it seems like having a guest room is a pretty big deal for you guys, more so than for most people. I say keep the guest room, try to figure out a way it could double as a play room, and have the two LOs share a room. I see a lot of people say that they love having their LOs share a room, so that seems like a fine way to go. Alba4 on "How important is a guest room?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-important-is-a-guest-room#post-2463195 Tue, 16 Feb 2016 13:24:25 +0000 Alba4 2463195@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We have a 3 bedroom house and we have grandmas spending the night 2x a week. We're expecting another son in June, so we are going to lose our office/guest room. We have a finished basement and plan on setting up a bed down there. We are open to having the boys share a room eventually, but we'd like to wait until LO2 has well-established sleep habits, so maybe once he moves to a bed. brownepiano on "How important is a guest room?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-important-is-a-guest-room#post-2463183 Tue, 16 Feb 2016 13:14:18 +0000 brownepiano 2463183@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We have a 3 bedroom house and will continue to have a guest room. It is the only room with its own bathroom but not big enough for a master. Ironically right now we have a single bed in there so when my parents do come they sleep in our partially finished basement anyway! So for us it is because we love having friends over. We all put the kids to bed and then have game nights. As we (all) keep having more kids, we at least want our two to be able to sleep in the same room. And when we visit my parents they'll need to sleep in the same room. I guess i see riom sharing as training! Someday they can each have their own room and maybe we'll actually get a bigger bed in one of the rooms for guests. ShootingStar on "How important is a guest room?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-important-is-a-guest-room#post-2463134 Tue, 16 Feb 2016 12:47:29 +0000 ShootingStar 2463134@https://boards.hellobee.com/ For us it was really important to have a guest room. My parents visit a lot and they're very helpful when they're here. In your situation, I would put a queen in your LO1's room and store the twin until your LO2 is ready for a big bed. I'd have guests sleep in LO1's room and have her sleep with her sibling. Or they could just share. Many many people grow up sharing rooms and they do just fine :). There was a point where we were considering 3 kids and 2 of the three would have shared and we would have kept our guest room. MOMTOLITTLEB on "How important is a guest room?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-important-is-a-guest-room#post-2462991 Tue, 16 Feb 2016 11:17:51 +0000 MOMTOLITTLEB 2462991@https://boards.hellobee.com/ For us it is not essential- we've only used it once in the 7 months we've lived in our house and even then we could have worked around it. My mom feels very strongly about us having a guest room so she doesn't always have to host everyone. I'll see how it goes over the next few years. We have plenty of space but I want to use it in the way that suits us best day-to-day and I foresee needing another kid room and an in-home office! yin on "How important is a guest room?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-important-is-a-guest-room#post-2462983 Tue, 16 Feb 2016 11:14:27 +0000 yin 2462983@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We have a 4 bedroom house, and each room is occupied (us, 2 kids, and my sister who lives with us). We might have the kids share a room in the future, but we would turn it into an office, not a guest room. It's not too important for us to have one because we don't have many visitors. All of our family is local, and I only have one friend who visits and spends the night. She prefers to crash on the couch, even though my sister's room is available. When/if my sister moves out, I may consider making it into a guest room. lamariniere on "How important is a guest room?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-important-is-a-guest-room#post-2462970 Tue, 16 Feb 2016 11:06:35 +0000 lamariniere 2462970@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I don't think it's essential. We don't have guests often, but when we do, they stay anywhere from 3 nights to 2 weeks (since they come from so far away). We have a 3 bedroom and so far we have been able to make it work. We end up putting my younger LO in the same room with my older LO and move the sofa bed to LO2's room so that the guests have their own space. looch on "How important is a guest room?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-important-is-a-guest-room#post-2462967 Tue, 16 Feb 2016 11:03:52 +0000 looch 2462967@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @daniellemybelle: Usually the trundle a twin size, so that is two sleeping spots. I plan to build a trundle for my son's room (his bed is a full size). Do you have space in one of the bedrooms for both a crib and a twin bed? If so, I'd set up one room like that and then give your current LOs room in a full sized bed with a twin trundle. erinbaderin on "How important is a guest room?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-important-is-a-guest-room#post-2462966 Tue, 16 Feb 2016 11:02:44 +0000 erinbaderin 2462966@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We just turned our guestroom into a nursery for #2, and are having this same debate. At the moment we have a good pull-out couch in the basement/playroom and when my parents come that's where they'll sleep - they've actually been sleeping down there for a while because (the reason we tell them) our son won't disturb them if he wakes up crying and (the real reason) they're SO LOUD, stomping around and slamming doors, and I don't want them to wake up B. My in-laws live in England and recently informed us that next time they come they'll probably stay in a hotel because they "don't fancy sleeping with the cats" (we have 3 cats) so we'll either relocate the litterbox (in another room in the basement) for the duration of their visit or just let them stay in a hotel, which is probably easier because then we don't have the "your bedroom is also our playroom" dilemma. You can get inflatable beds that have stands so older guests aren't trying to get up from the floor, that might be an option? snowjewelz on "How important is a guest room?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-important-is-a-guest-room#post-2462965 Tue, 16 Feb 2016 11:02:23 +0000 snowjewelz 2462965@https://boards.hellobee.com/ To us, not that important b/c families are nearby, and I also have a pull out couch in the basement so that can serve as a guestroom need be. Ree723 on "How important is a guest room?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-important-is-a-guest-room#post-2462950 Tue, 16 Feb 2016 10:48:58 +0000 Ree723 2462950@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We have four bedrooms and definitely need one for a guest bedroom! We plan on having our two DDs share a room sometime after LO3 arrives as we will not be sacrificing our guest room. We have family spread out across three continents and have frequent visitors, so the room is in regular use. We also are a big fan of siblings sharing rooms for a while when they're growing up as it teaches lots of important skills. So even though we will technically have enough room for each of our three kids to have their own room, we will not be going down that route any time soon. We'll keep our guest room and our children will learn the value of compromising, sharing, and having to get along as they will share a bedroom for at least part of their childhood! :-) cascademom on "How important is a guest room?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-important-is-a-guest-room#post-2462933 Tue, 16 Feb 2016 10:39:59 +0000 cascademom 2462933@https://boards.hellobee.com/ It's nice to have a guest bedroom. When we moved, the kids having their own bedrooms was more important to us than the guest bedroom. We moved into a 5 bedroom house. We have the master, kids have their own rooms, DH's office, and our third upstairs bedroom is a guest bedroom. My inlaws visited recently, so we moved our old bed in their and bought a new one. It was just nice to have a bed there for overnight and visiting guests. It wasn't one of our moving requirements, but it's been nice so far. Also, it staves off asking if we're going to have another kid. Our upstairs rooms are complete, so no more kids. Mrs D on "How important is a guest room?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-important-is-a-guest-room#post-2462929 Tue, 16 Feb 2016 10:38:09 +0000 Mrs D 2462929@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @daniellemybelle: For us, a guest bedroom is critical. For several reasons...1) lots of out of town guests 2) DH and I frequently have weird schedules bc of having conf calls with Europe and Asia 3) it gives us a choice when one or the other is sick... However - we up-sized to a 4 bedroom so we now have the extra bed...plus an office if we ever decided to have 3 kids (wont happen). Instead of swapping the couch you have you could get a nice inflatable bed. My mom had to get one recently when her husband suffered a fall and had to live on one floor (no stairs) - I think she got it from Frontgate or Ballard Design and it was around $300. She also invested in a great micro-foam topper. The thing is SO comfortable. Its about the size of a suitcase and fully sets up on its own - you just plug it in and push a button. DH and I actually plan to invest in one for our basement since many of our visitors now have kids...we can offer them two sleeping spaces (guest bedroom and basement) so they aren't stuck in the room with their children if thats not their jam! As others have said - I am not sure I would alter my kids 24/7 routine to accommodate guests. Its the kids house after all - they should come first in my opinion. daniellemybelle on "How important is a guest room?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-important-is-a-guest-room#post-2462926 Tue, 16 Feb 2016 10:37:21 +0000 daniellemybelle 2462926@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @looch: We could but isn't a trundle even smaller than a twin bed? Just seems like not the best accommodations to offer two grandparents - though I'm not saying a futon is any better! @hilsy85: We don't have room to store it so we would have to pay to store it. And I love the bed we got for LO! But considering that I am not even pregnant yet, it makes sense to use what we have. But I guess it is an option to get a full or queen for her once we have the need (LO2 is here and ready to take over the guest room) and store the twin bed. Right now I am leaning toward making due for the like 18 months that LO2 would in a crib in his/her own room, and then putting him/her in LO1's twin and getting LO2 a bigger bed that can be given to guests. hilsy85 on "How important is a guest room?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-important-is-a-guest-room#post-2462910 Tue, 16 Feb 2016 10:29:33 +0000 hilsy85 2462910@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @daniellemybelle: do you have room to store teh twin for the future in the garage or somethinbg? and get a full bed now? looch on "How important is a guest room?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-important-is-a-guest-room#post-2462904 Tue, 16 Feb 2016 10:26:02 +0000 looch 2462904@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @daniellemybelle: can you not do a trundle under the twin bed? That would give you at least two spaces in that room. daniellemybelle on "How important is a guest room?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-important-is-a-guest-room#post-2462899 Tue, 16 Feb 2016 10:24:34 +0000 daniellemybelle 2462899@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @skipra: That's a great question. I know my parents will be fine with whatever and when they come together, they prefer to stay in a hotel. I don't know how DH's parents will feel. They visit a lot which we appreciate. To be honest, their preference would be a 4 bedroom house in which they get a guest room and both kids get their own rooms. :silly: But they also lived modestly when they were younger so I think they will understand having to make compromises. Y'all, I am realizing the perfect solution would have been to have gotten LO a full or queen bed that we could give to guests and have her stay with us. But we JUST got the dang twin bed, mattress & bedding! Maybe we'll make due for the first few years and eventually move LO2 to LO1's twin and get LO1 a bigger bed that can be given to guests. mrsrain on "How important is a guest room?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-important-is-a-guest-room#post-2462894 Tue, 16 Feb 2016 10:22:33 +0000 mrsrain 2462894@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @daniellemybelle: ha! So funny! For what it's worth, we ended up keeping the guest room for the time being, but we are thinking about putting a Murphy bed in our den in the future for when we have guests. LO2 is going to be in our room for the first 6 months, after which we will decide whether or not they should share. My biggest concern is them keeping each other up at night. daniellemybelle on "How important is a guest room?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-important-is-a-guest-room#post-2462890 Tue, 16 Feb 2016 10:19:43 +0000 daniellemybelle 2462890@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @regberadaisy: The reason we can't do this is that LO has a twin bed. I am wishing now that we had gotten her a full or queen bed so that we could have her sleep in our room and give her bed up to guests when they come. @KayKay: Grandmas usually come for 3-5 days. We're thinking of putting a decent futon/pull-out couch in the playroom which to me is the same or better than an air mattress. @avivoca: Oh, that's definitely an option! I don't know what they run but we'd just get the best we could do on our budget. @hilsy85: No, the rooms are pretty small. If we ever move I would rather have 3 large bedrooms with more flexibility with than 4 small bedrooms! @looch: Yes, I definitely want to be as accommodating for the oldies as we can :silly: I think a pull-out couch set up would be okay for one grandma but if they came in couples they would have to stay in a hotel. @mrsrain: Thanks! I responded to your thread, haha! And said a guest room is really important to us because we have visitors so often :silly: Bah! skipra on "How important is a guest room?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-important-is-a-guest-room#post-2462872 Tue, 16 Feb 2016 10:12:33 +0000 skipra 2462872@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I think if you have a room for the baby it probably makes more sense to let the kids have their own rooms, at least until they are old enough to both be sleeping through the night/not disturbing each other. On the other hand, if it is really important to have visitors, especially when the new baby is first born, you might keep the baby with you and leave the guest room as is until things settle down a bit. We do not have a guest room and one of my sisters has pitched a fit about how she can't stay with us because of it. So I guess a lot of it has to do with who you would want to visit and how they will handle it. Will the IL's refuse to visit because of it or will they be more understanding? We are not going to rearrange our whole house because of my sister who would visit at most 1-2 days/year but might for someone who stays often or to help us out. Mrs. Lemon-Lime on "How important is a guest room?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-important-is-a-guest-room#post-2462867 Tue, 16 Feb 2016 10:10:37 +0000 Mrs. Lemon-Lime 2462867@https://boards.hellobee.com/ For us a guest room is only important because DH is not ready yet to part with his bachelor day's bedroom set. We only have overnight guests maybe four or six times a year. Having a home office space trumps a guest room, so if push came to shove we would just offer our guests air mattresses. At this point we have quite a few- one twin, and two queen sizes. looch on "How important is a guest room?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-important-is-a-guest-room#post-2462860 Tue, 16 Feb 2016 10:07:34 +0000 looch 2462860@https://boards.hellobee.com/ So, on the flip side, when we visit my husband's family, we have to deal with some craziness in order to stay at their home. I think especially for older people (heck my husband and I included) an air mattress is really not comfortable for more than a night or two. My 67 year old dad can't manage getting in an out of an air mattress and the guy works out 5 days a week. So, I'd get at least full sized beds for the kids and get trundles underneath. This way the kids can bunk together and the oldies can have the bed in the other room, lol. hilsy85 on "How important is a guest room?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-important-is-a-guest-room#post-2462858 Tue, 16 Feb 2016 10:07:29 +0000 hilsy85 2462858@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Do you have room for a bed in LO2's nursery? You could just have the baby room share with you when you have guests. I would really like a 3rd bedroom, and my 2nd LO is still in our room because I am so nervois about them room sharing, so I definitely say use the 2nd 3rd one for a nursery mrsrain on "How important is a guest room?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-important-is-a-guest-room#post-2462856 Tue, 16 Feb 2016 10:07:15 +0000 mrsrain 2462856@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <a href="http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/opting-to-forgo-guest-room" rel="nofollow">http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/opting-to-forgo-guest-room</a>