Why Twin Beds Might Be the Guest Room Upgrade You Didn’t Know You Needed
Hey there!
Wow, did February go by fast! But the sun is out, the rain has stopped (yay!) and faux-spring in the PNW is here to get us all excited for change, which I just love the energy of so let’s go with it!
So what does this have to do with twin beds you are wondering? Well, you might be thinking ahead to having guests visiting over the summer or you might have kids moving out of the house and suddenly you have a room that is becoming a guest room and you’re wondering how to best utilize it. I think about guest rooms an inordinate amount. We design a lot of them. I have a couple of them in my own home and I stay in a lot of them so I have strong opinions (shocker).
Back in December, the trip I never got around to talking about, my perfect, adorable, thoughtful and clever baby (almost 50!) sister set up the smartest guest room for us. What made it so special you ask? It was set up with twin beds. Huh. That doesn’t sound awesome, does it? And truth be told I didn’t think so either when I first saw it.
Jeff and I travel with rolling refrigerators as luggage (I might find something cool, that’s why!) and he is 6’ 5” and the room was small with an awkward angle so I was like, this will never work. I. Was. Wrong. She made sure (because she’s so thoughtful) to have XL twins to accommodate Jeff AND the simple frames had legs that set them up high enough that we could open up our luggage, lay it flat and slide it under the bed and pull it out like a drawer so it was never in the way. It was genius.
The mattresses were super comfy too. This room is so small that a full or queen bed would’ve dominated the space. One of us wouldn't have had a night stand or a light and we would’ve had to crawl over each other to go to the bathroom 50 billion times in the middle of the night. But with how she set it up we each had our own night stand, light and quick escape to the bathroom.
An additional bonus is that when other people stay with her, who do not want to share a bed, they can do so very comfortably. She’s so smart. (She must get this from her big sister…she has three so let’s be clear it’s me! Ha! ) When you are traveling as a couple, you can stand to not share a bed for a while…in fact, it might help you sleep better. Just sayin’.
Just for fun, here are a couple of twin bed projects that we have done over the years: Not everyone is lucky enough to have this awesome original detail in their home (why did we stop building homes like this!!?) but here’s a fun twin bed situation we we got to decorate here in Portland. (Arciform did the project, we did the decorating, and fun fact, we are on our 5th house with these awesome clients who still have this amazing home.)
This was a playhouse that I did a million years ago, designed to sleep as many grandkids as possible. Man, this was fun! Thinking out of the box and having a client (I’m looking at you, Peggy!) who was as indulgent in your childhood fantasies as you were made it all the more magical.
Here’s a great space I found on Pinterest (no credit was given to the designer or the source at all, I’m afraid) how fun is this!? Also, I’m not just advocating for twin beds. If you have room for a couple of full/double beds or a couple of queens, that's great! (lucky you!) I am just advocating for dual beds for the flexibility of who can stay there and not have to share a bed if that sitch is just not going to work.
If you need further convincing, the blog Cup of Jo speaks to this subject and has some pretty pictures to enjoy, too! I also wanted to share with you guys that while we were visiting with my sister in Tennessee, we came across a place you need to put on your must-visit list. It’s a TINY town called Leipers Fork, and it’s just outside of Nashville. It’s known for its art, and it did not disappoint!
This piece in the middle photo spoke to me because it reminded me of summers at our neighborhood pool and the motley group of kids my sisters and I grew up with. We saw this work called “On the edge” by Clay Enoch at the Leipers Creek Gallery, which drew us in with this sign…I knew that these were my kind of people…
I’m telling you, this town is so freaking cute and inspiring you have just got to go. Nashville is great and all, but way more busy than it used to be. Going here in December, mid-week, we had the town to ourselves and had time to chat with people and look at and touch everything. It was such a blast. I hope you get to go someday!
On this trip, I did start to see a lot of things differently, like the quote above says. And maybe, just maybe, this letter will get you to think about your guest room differently…add some fun to that FUNction!
‘Til next time,
Arlene