What have you done with your spare room?

MaggieBaking

Our spare room is currently a storage/spare bed.

My friend has 3 bedrooms so she has one guest bedroom and the third (the box room) is a "sick bay" she has a fold out futon, a TV, cushions and throws so that when she wants to "veg" out she can curl up and watch TV if her husband is in the lounge watching football etc.

It's kind of a "snug" that can double as another guest room.

Hugbubble

Spare room has become a repository for junk, although it does have a wardrobe in there so could, if being very generous, class it as a dressing room Storage is at a premium as it's a flat, with little built in.

I have one of those rubbish fold out foam sofa beds. Can anyone recommend a good compact real sofa bed?

Also, any suggestions on how to maximise storage, or clever storage solutions would be gratefully received! (Sorry for slight hijack)

staffie1

Some great ideas there everyone, thanks. I do like that sofabed pinkteapot - looks really cosy. I am inclining towards a sort of reading room - somewhere just to chill out - and doubling for a guest room if required.

It will need a good size wardrobe and chest of drawers as my main bedroom is quite small too - so my double bed in there leaves little room for anything else! In fact my main bedroom has a large built-in walk-in wardrobe which I'm going to use as a storage cupboard for things like the vacuum cleaner, steam cleaner, ironing board, etc.

I have a relatively small 2 bed semi - and storage was not high on the designer's list of priorities obviously!

Hugbubble - the only 'clever' storage solutions I use are those big plastic stackable storage boxes, like these http://www.viking-direct.co.uk/a/pb/Storage-Boxes/Plastic-Storage-Boxes/Really-Useful-Box-84-Litre/pr=Q28&id=84CCB/;jsessionid=0000AjzvUwSjXy47GaKR6KukDN8:130mjlaff although I got mine from Wilkinsons quite cheaply. I keep all my tools and decorating stuff, etc, etc in seperate boxes, stack them and keep them in the shed outside. I always know where everything is!

Also these vacuum bags are pretty good for keeping out-of-season clothes in / spare bedding, etc http://www.amazon.co.uk/Original-Space-Vacuum-Storage-Super/dp/B000KOA420/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1313752955&sr=8-6 (you can also get these from Wilkinsons much cheaper).

staffie1

andrew-b wrote: »

Just try to avoid junking the spare room up..it's far far too easy to just dump stuff in there and before you know it you can barely get through the door!

This is what happened to me - I didn't realise my spare room had a floor!

I find it quite liberating taking a car-load of stuff to the council tip and dumping it. Now that my room is empty, it's surprising how big it is - it's a very useful space. I need to take on a more minimalistic attitude - when bringing something new into the house - get rid of something else at the same time.

Filing cabinet is also something I need. All my paperwork is in plastic carrier bags at the moment. Mind you I was looking for a decent wooden cabinet - have you seen the price of them??

ladylouise62

I turned mine into a photo studio, but if I hadn't done that then I would have made it into an arts room.

BargainGalore

I know some people who take in lodgers or foreign students. Once I get rid of my two grown up kids thats what I do to pay off rest of mortgage and have spare cash to treat ourselves for a change

scheming_gypsy

My smallest spare room (about 6x7) has a double bed in it for when people crash over. The next spare room (about 10x7) is now my bedroom and has a king size bed and a 42inch plasma.

The master bedroom is my dressing room / pet room. I don't like having loads of clutter in my bedroom and only really need a bed, tv and alarm clock so i moved things around and now i have more space where i need it

Waterlily24

We have 3 spare rooms too. One we use as a study, one I use as a craft room (we put our old kitchen units in there and painted them in shades of pink and blue lol. I love it!). The third is just a bedroom.

Norma_Desmond

We've got 3 spare bedrooms too; the smallest is our dressing room with wardrobes along one wall, dressing table, laundry stuff and the ironing board.

The biggest room is a standard guest room for when the inlaws (:eek:) come to stay; double bed, chest of drawers, bedside cabinets etc.

Now, the middle room is my 'fantasy' cinema room - I'm a big fan of really old movies so there's a French wrought iron daybed in there (which obviously doubles up as extra sleeping space) with silk throws and loads of cushions on it, movie posters, a massive Moroccan ceiling lantern and of course a big TV.
I've painted it in dark, jewel-like colours and it's really atmospheric!

Of course, any spare rooms are great places to hang art as well.

staffie1

Norma_Desmond wrote: »

We've got 3 spare bedrooms too; the smallest is our dressing room with wardrobes along one wall, dressing table, laundry stuff and the ironing board.

The biggest room is a standard guest room for when the inlaws (:eek:) come to stay; double bed, chest of drawers, bedside cabinets etc.

Now, the middle room is my 'fantasy' cinema room - I'm a big fan of really old movies so there's a French wrought iron daybed in there (which obviously doubles up as extra sleeping space) with silk throws and loads of cushions on it, movie posters, a massive Moroccan ceiling lantern and of course a big TV.
I've painted it in dark, jewel-like colours and it's really atmospheric!

Of course, any spare rooms are great places to hang art as well.

Wow, that sounds amazing!