Tips For Hosting Guests Without A Guest Room
Do you love having people stay overnight at your house? Are you the one friends and family know they can count on when they need a place to stay? You can’t wait to prep the spare room for their arrival, and you make sure everything is just right. But what’s the best way to host guests if you don’t have a dedicated guest room?
A sofa sleeper doubles as a guest bed, or set up an air mattress and use a standing screen or curtains for privacy. Let guests know ahead of time about their sleeping arrangements to avoid surprises. Providing baskets or similar containers gives guests a place to keep their things and a clothes rack provides a spot for hanging clothes.
The holidays often mean hosting overnight guests for several nights or more. Having a guest room undoubtedly makes things easier for everyone. But if you don’t have one, don’t be too quick to send your friends and family to the nearest hotel. Instead, consider these tips.
Where Can Guests Sleep If I Don’t Have A Guest Room?
The most important thing you need to supply to your guests is a place to sleep, preferably something comfortable and as convenient as possible for everyone. Of course, a lot depends on your overall living situation.
For example, if you live in a small apartment, you’ll have fewer options than if you have a larger home. However, there’s always a way to make it work, if you’re willing to compromise your space a bit.
1. Reimagine Your Home Office
With the growing amount of remote work opportunities, home offices have become more prominent in many homes. Therefore, if you don’t have a guest room, perhaps you have a home office. This extra space can double as a guest room temporarily and give your guests some private space while they stay with you.
If you host guests often, adding a sofa sleeper, futon, or daybed to the office makes sense. However, if your office is small, consider changing things up a bit while you have guests.
Move the desk into your bedroom or another area for when you need to work. In the office, replace the desk space with an air mattress. A few extra touches to make guests feel at home help complete the picture.
This option also works with other spare rooms, like a craft room or even a home gym. The trick is to rearrange things a bit to make space for your guests and be willing to inconvenience yourself for a short time.
2. A Sofa Sleeper And Standing Screen
The classic way to give guests a place to sleep when you don’t have a guest room is a sofa sleeper. Invest in a good quality, comfortable sofa sleeper mattress to provide maximum comfort and support.
If the sofa is in your main living area, a standing screen that separates it from the rest of the room provides privacy. You can put the screen away during the day when the sofa bed is up. Then, put it in place in the evening when your guests are ready to go to bed for the night.
3. Use An Air Mattress
Set up an air mattress at night when it’s time for bed. An air mattress provides a budget-friendly place for guests to sleep and lots of flexibility.
You can set it up wherever you have some available floor space. Get a good pump to make inflating and deflating the mattress quick and easy.
4. Give Guests Your Room
If you’re feeling especially generous, you can give up your bedroom during your guests’ stay. Let your guests stay in your bedroom and offer to sleep on the couch, a sofa sleeper, or an air mattress. This option could help guests feel more at ease if they feel like they’re imposing on your shared living spaces.
It’s also a good option if you have older guests or those with health issues that could make unconventional sleeping arrangements difficult. If choosing this idea, make sure to get anything you need out of your room before everyone’s ready to go to sleep.
More Tips For Hosting Guests Without A Guest Room
Once you know where your guests will sleep, it’s time to figure out the other logistics. Where will they put their stuff? What bathroom will they use? What and where will they eat? Here are a few tips to help your guests feel at home, no guest room required.
1. Give Guests Storage
If there’s no guest room, then that likely means no dresser, closet, or other place to store items. Give your guests some storage baskets or bins to keep their personal belongings.
If you have a container with a lid it, can also double as a bedside table. Then guests can keep nighttime essentials within reach.
A standing clothing rack behind a curtain or room divider works well if guests need to hang up their clothes. You can also set it up in a hallway if you prefer to keep it out of sight.
2. One Bathroom? Create A Schedule
If you don’t have a dedicated guest bathroom, that might mean you and your guests are sharing a bathroom. If this is the case, talk with your guests about who showers when. Working out a schedule ensures everyone gets to do what they need to do on time.
A caddy with toiletry essentials is a nice gesture and also gives guests a place to store their personal bathroom items. They can keep it in their sleeping space and bring it with them into the bathroom as needed.
3. Provide Extra Linens
Give guests extra blankets, towels, and spare sheets, so they can do what makes them comfortable. If they get chilly or want an extra towel, they won’t feel like they have to bother you by asking. Providing a few extra pillows is also a nice touch.
4. Be Upfront About Privacy Expectations
If your guests stay in a shared living space, discuss expectations regarding privacy ahead of time. Respect their privacy by not coming into the space after a certain time unless there’s an emergency.
Likewise, make sure they know when you typically get up in the morning in case they’re expecting to sleep in. Being clear with each other about expectations will help keep the situation comfortable and avoid unnecessary tension.
5. Put Snacks And Drinks Where Your Guests Stay
To help maintain privacy, provide a few snacks and drinks wherever your guests are sleeping. If they’re sleeping in the living room, they likely already have access to the kitchen. However, if they’re in your room or the home office, provide a few goodies in the room.
Doing this allows guests to avoid creeping into your kitchen at night while you’re trying to sleep. Plus, your guests may feel more comfortable when they can stay in their own domain while the house is dark and quiet.
No Guest Room? No Problem. Make Your Guests Feel Right At Home
You don’t need a guest room to host overnight guests. A sofa sleeper gives guests a place to sleep and a standing screen provides privacy. If you need more flexibility or don’t have a sleeper sofa, use an air mattress.
You can also repurpose a home office as a guest room or let guests sleep in your bedroom during their stay. As you can see, you have more options than you might think when it comes to hosting guests. But it’s up to your willingness to compromise and sometimes requires thinking outside the box a bit.
Make sure guests have a place to keep their belongings and discuss expectations regarding privacy ahead of time. It takes some extra effort and planning, but hosting guests without a guest room doesn’t have to add hassles to your holiday.
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Stacy Randall is a wife, mother, and freelance writer from NOLA that has always had a love for DIY projects, home organization, and making spaces beautiful. Together with her husband, she has been spending the last several years lovingly renovating her grandparent's former home, making it their own and learning a lot about life along the way.
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