With the economy down or kids moving on, many are downsizing these days to smaller homes. Whether moving from a larger house to a smaller home, or moving from the suburbs such as Long Island to settling into a small New York City type apartment, it becomes a challenge to decorate for a smaller living space with rooms that will now have to serve double duty.
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Steal a space for overnight guests from the living room.
Living rooms can be designed for a guest's comfy night's sleep as well as entertaining visitors or watching TV. Depending on room dimension, ceiling heights and requirements will help to determine what the needs are to accommodate both living and guests within the same room. Prepare floor plans in order to lay out furnishings for several different ideas.
High ceilings provide room to create a "guest room" over the entertaining space.
Standard ceiling heights are 8-feet high, but there are space that provide nice tall airy ceiling heights. Many apartments in older buildings in New York City one will find ceilings soaring upwards. Perhaps you are in a new space with a vaulted ceiling reaching up to the sky. These are the perfect spaces to steal extra real estate from to use to create a loft bed for guests.
- The loft bed can be fashioned to serve as a grownup full size or even a queen size bed.
- Instead of a ladder create a staircase up to the bed to add a bit of sophistication.
- The room under the loft bed can now solely be used for entertaining and relaxing on a sofa.
Pull-down beds and pull-out beds create an entire new room within a room.
The new pull-down beds are not the old Murphy beds that one sees in the old movies. Pull-down beds are a fantastic way to have a comfortable place to sleep and then create a nice space to sit when not in use. Pull down beds also have the advantage of always being made up and guest ready, just simply store the bed back into its upright space hidden away for a quick clean up.
- The beds can be designed to meld into cabinetry and bookcases and out of site when not in use.
- New pull-down beds are designed with sofas or desk tops that disappear or create a base for the bed when it is pulled down.
Use a daybed nestled against a window as a sofa by day and a bed at night.
Create a pretty niche using a twin daybed with bookcases on either side. Add formality to it with slip-covered bolsters and matching bed-cover. Add attractive throw pillows to create a beautiful sofa by day. At night undress the sofa and you have a bed for a guest. Add a trundle below to pull out for additional multiple overnight company.
Be creative using multi-use furniture.
Whether using furniture modules that fit inside each other and pull out for a variety of uses, or a sofa bed or futon, multi-use furnishings are perfect for turning a living room into a comfy space for guests to sleep.
Add a decorative screen to the living room decor that can double as a privacy screen to partition a sleeping guest. With imagination the home can be decorated for optimal use increasing its actual size by letting rooms serve as multiple purpose rooms.
Let your creativity flow and never be afraid to dance!
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