A couple months ago, when I sat to reflect on the past two years of life in the little house for our family of five (those reflections became a thirteen-part series on living less), I asked for your questions. What were you wondering about? What elusive detail were you dying to know about living small? Such thoughtful questions came through, and I was happy that I was able to answer most of them within that series of posts.
But some I thought deserved their own posts, their own space, their own spotlight. This is one of those.
A reader emailed me, explaining that he and his wife are nearing the empty nest phase of their lives, and are looking forward to living smaller in order to live larger. But they are also anticipating many future visits from grown children and eventual grandchildren in this phase of life as well.
His question? How do you live small and still have room for family and friends to come stay overnight?
I'm excited for the chance to write about this, because I believe one can comfortably and graciously host overnight guests while living his or her small-house dream. It just takes a bit of thinking outside the (big) box to see it. Grin.
When planning for anything, my first thought is: What are the essentials needed?
In this case, the bed is the obvious one. Another would be a place for hanging up garments and setting down suitcases. I like to provide a reading light and a clock, books and magazines, and a place to set a glass of water. Guests need access to a toilet, sink, and shower as well. But all of this doesn't have to require a separate room and bathroom in the house.
photo via
One of my favorite ways of tucking a bed into almost any room, is the bed nook. It's a lovely way to provide nearly all the comforts a guest might need, without taking up any more square footage than the size of the bed itself. Panels of drapery afford privacy and bring a visual softness to the space. A planned adjacent closet can be devoted to guest use for suitcases and garments.
photo source unknown
Built-in shelves hold the books, magazines, the clock, and a glass of water. A wall sconce provides light.
I appreciate how the bed nook can be tucked into almost any room in the house. The living room, even, like this one, with the closet right there.
This one is on the landing at the top of the stairs.
photo source by Markham Roberts in AD
Stacked bed nooks are a great way to add more beds without taking up more square footage. Smart usage of vertical space is often the key that makes a small space work.
Speaking of stacked bed nooks, they certainly nailed it here. A stack of three gets me every time (and I'll always remember that it was the sweet illustration in a Richard Scary children's book that showed a triple-stack of beds for Mrs. Bunny's children that made me realize that stacking beds more than two high was worth considering).
But what if you don't have bed nooks? There are other options...
This is the extra bed in our little house. Our convertable sofa is by Avery Boardman, and is quite comfortable - no bar-in-the-back, dipped mattress, or other woes often associated with sofa sleepers.
When we have overnight guests, my husband and I will often take the sofa bed and give our guests the master bedroom. This way our guests can have a closed door for longer sleep (especially nice if they've come from a different time zone), and I can still rise early, do my writing at the dining table, and get breakfast going without waking sleeping friends.
Taking our use of the bathroom at that time ensures that it's free for our guests when they need it. We leave our clothes in our drawers and closet (one closet empty for guests is nice), and just get what we'll need for the next morning before everyone heads for bed at night.
When our bathroom is shared with guests, I hang white guest towels and wash cloths on hangers, one for each guest, then I hang the hangers from the shower curtain rod. This way, the guests know which towels are theirs, and the hangers act as movable (and storable) towel bars.
Aside from the sofa sleeper, consider other furniture that can double as a bed, such as these mattress sofas in sunrooms or sleeping porches.
And if nothing else, simple folding cots with soft linen pads are a quick provision for a night's sleep. Fill the living room with them, dorm-style for the night. The kids will love it.
If, after considering all this, you decide that you do still want or need a separate room for guests, keep in mind that the space doesn't need to be large...
I love the diminuitive size of this guest room, and that there is another place for a guest to sleep across the way, there under the window in the landing.
photo via, source unknown
And this one? Goodness.
Another idea to keep in mind, is that any home office or studio space could also double as guest quarters, with a sofa sleeper, a murphy bed, or even a wide chaise lounge becoming the resting place. I once saw a brilliant stroke of genius in an entry, where a beautiful long bench was designed to fold down into a bed.
And, I'll add here, that you do not have to be confined by standard mattress sizes! There are companies who make mattresses to any specification for a reasonable cost (this one is awesome, call and talk to Jim), and I highly recommend this option when you find yourself in a place of planning sleeping spaces. A standard twin is 39" wide, but realizing that the sleeping space for each person in a queen size bed is only 30" can give you some liberated perspective.
Now, let's take these house guest thoughts one step further. When you think about it, the guest accommodations don't even need to be inside the house...
This is a former garden shed in Key West, Florida. It sits in the back yard of a sweet cottage that is large on style but small in size. The homeowners wanted to provide guest quarters for visiting family and friends, so they took the potential in what they had, and transformed their garden shed into a comfortable place for overnight friends. This one even has an outdoor shower just around the corner.
Can you tell this one is in Scandanavia? Love their simple style. Another one to look at is this barn loft guest room, done so well by my blog friend Catherine and her husband. Love, love.
Here's the inside of a shed-turned-guest-cabin. Perfect.
This one is an old springhouse that the homeowners converted into a guest cabin. This one gave me the idea that you could build a cabin over a hill, like this one, and have the walk-out lower level be one 'cabin' with it's own entry door, and the main upper-level cabin be another private accommodation, therefore getting two guest 'cabins' out of one.
Guest cabins don't even need electricity or running water. Hang oil lanterns on the wall, tuck a porta-potty into a closet, have a basin and pitcher full of water, and a tiny wood stove, and you may just find that your guests will come back again and again. A wood stove not an option? Run an exterior extension cord in for a space heater when guests are staying during the colder nights. It's all about thinking outside the box.
Of course, if you do want all the modern bells and whistles, that can be done. If your intention is to build a small house for yourself and have a separate cabin for guests, I would recommend implementing this idea into the site plan from the very beginning, so the appropriate permitting can be obtained, and the water, septic/sewer, and electric requirements can be met and laid underground. Then, even if the guest cabin isn't built right away, all the utilities are in place and ready for when it does go up.
