When friends and family travel miles to visit, you don’t want to stick them on an air mattress in the living room. Whether your home is a small cottage with just enough bedrooms to fit your family or a large estate with plenty of rooms, every space should serve your needs year-round. Here are a few unique dual-purpose spaces our team has created that include comfortable guest room solutions for even the most discerning guests.
Creating a New Space
The homeowners wanted to add an office and a guest room, but they couldn’t expand the footprint of their home. We added space by converting an unfinished attic into a sophisticated, yet secluded, loft retreat.
A spiral staircase provides easy access to the loft while taking up only a small footprint, and the elegantly modern design adds artful flair to the room below.
At the top of the stairs, an office nook is just the beginning.
A door separates the office area from a private and spacious bedroom with thoughtful details that increase functionality without adding clutter. Niches built into the wall serve as a night table with a reading light, or storage space, without taking up floor space. The rear wall is lined with a storage bench to add seating without adding extra furniture. We used narrow strip lights that look like thin skylights along the alcove ceiling to complement the picture window that frames a tree-top view. All of these carefully crafted elements work together to make guests feel nestled in a chic yet comfortable loft.
A Great/Guest Room
As part of a custom home in St. Michaels, MD, we included a great-room above the garage, detached from the main house. The light-filled space overlooks the water and includes ample relaxed seating and a wet bar which makes it ideal for socializing, playing games, watching movies, or escaping to read a book. Look closer and you’ll realize that almost every seating area can be converted into a sleeping area, from the oversized leather loungers to the two large window-lining day-beds, it’s the perfect bunk room for all the kids or guests to hide away. Our clients said they once had 8 people sleep comfortably in the great room.
Read more about this vacation home in Home&Design Magazine’s Chesapeak Views
Stylish Murphy Beds
In a small home office, we designed a custom built-in murphy bed that looks like a closet. Crafted to open easily with the simple pull of a knob, this murphy bed is a perfect way to re-purpose an existing space to accommodate visiting guests.
You would never guess this upscale modern living room is a guest room in disguise, but behind the custom-built wood cabinet a queen-size murphy bed is stored out of sight, ready for a guest at a moment’s notice.
