How to Prepare for Guests This Holiday Season With a Murphy Bed
Even if you can’t get enough of the holiday season, you have to admit that it can be a lot of work. All the decorating, food preparation and shopping can add up to a lot, and if you’re expecting family or friends from out of town, you have to get ready for guests, too. That can be the most difficult part, especially if you’re not sure where you’re going to put them.
It doesn’t have to be so much of a challenge if you know the right strategies for making sure the visit goes smoothly and accommodations, such as a Murphy bed.
- Installing a Murphy Bed
- Getting the Guest Room Ready
- Decluttering the Guest Closet
- Adding the Finishing Touches
Learn how to get your home ready for guests without the stress this holiday season.
Installing a Murphy Bed
A guest room with a spare bed is not always the most practical thing to have year-round. You may have an extra room, but you may be using it for a sewing room, a craft room, a playroom for the kids, a study or home office, or just for storage. You may be wishing for that extra bed when your kids are refusing to give their rooms up to grandma and grandpa or when you just can’t face sleeping on the couch for a week while your sister-in-law sleeps in your bed. Airbeds and sleeping bags aren’t always a great solution either.
It may be time to consider installing a Murphy bed. These beds can actually add useful space to your room when they’re not being used by a guest. The installation is a unit with storage spaces like drawers or shelves that also include a bed that can be folded out. When it’s not in use, you’ll have extra shelves or drawers to store things related to however you’re using the room. When out-of-town guests arrive, you simply unfold the bed from the unit, and you instantly have a comfortable guest bed to offer them.
Getting the Guest Room Ready
With the bed taken care of, you will have to get the room ready for your guest. Consider stocking your guest room with furniture that can do double duty, like an ottoman or bench that has hidden storage space Your guest will have in-room seating that’s not the bed, and you’ll be able to stash things like toys or skeins of yarn out of the way for the duration of the visit. A decorative trunk can help, too.
It's important to remember that your guest will need places to store their belongings, especially if they’ll be with you for more than a night or so. At the same time, you need storage space for whatever you currently keep in the room. If you make sure that you have a lot of storage solutions in the guest room, it’s easy to provide both, and when the guest leaves, you won’t have to drag a bunch of items back from another room.
Decluttering the Guest Closet
Even if the guest bedroom is mostly empty, guest room closets often become storage space for things that don’t go in other rooms in the home. However, your guest will need to be able to hang and put away their own items, and this is the most logical place for that. Go through the closet and see if there are things you can get rid of. After you’ve purged, move anything remaining to the highest shelves or to one side of the closet so you can leave plenty of space for your guest.
Take the time to stock the guest closet with things they’ll need. For example, make sure they have bath towels, hand towels, washcloths, an extra set of sheets, extra blankets, and maybe some extra pillows. This way, they don’t have to come to find you if they want to take a shower, change the sheets, or bundle up more at night.
Adding the Finishing Touches
There are little extras you can add to help make your guests feel more comfortable and welcome. For example, adding scented sachets to the closet and drawers that your guests will be using is a nice touch. You buy them or make your own from aromatic herbs and essential oils. Add some small holiday decorations to the room so they feel included in the household celebration. Make sure that the furniture arrangements leave easy access to electric and USB outlets so they can charge their devices easily.
Make sure that your guests are safe as well. You may not have thought about it before, but the holidays are a time when fire risk is high. There are a lot of reasons for this. The National Fire Protection Association says that Thanksgiving is the peak day for home cooking fires, followed by Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Other causes of fire during the holiday season include lights on Christmas trees, the use of candles, and other electrical holiday decorations. Make sure that your smoke detectors, including ones in or near the guest room, are in good working order and have fresh batteries before the visit.
Conclusion
A Murphy bed can be a big help when preparing for guests. Making sure that the guest room and closet are clutter-free and taking the steps to ensure your guest’s comfort and safety can also help make the visit a success.