Make your guests feel welcome despite limited space
Wall beds and bathroom space savers can add greater ease to hosting duties
When guests visit, it’s a common courtesy to say, “Make yourself at home.” But that’s not easy when you don’t have a bed for them to sleep in or a good spot to store their toothbrush.
Hosting visitors in a condominium puts a crunch on space that is already at a premium. The first step for many is to find an elegant sleeping solution that doesn’t gobble up important square footage.
“( A Murphy bed) makes it feel like a little piece of home, rather than just having things everywhere or feeling like you’re crashing on someone’s couch,” says Jennifer Van Teeling, a sales manager for California Closets.
Ten years ago, the company did only a few orders per year. Now, they handle a handful every month.
Condo owners often want to use a spare bedroom as a home office, craft room or exercise room. A Murphy bed allows that room to be a multi- purpose space that becomes a guest suite when needed.
A basic wall bed costs a few thousand dollars, Van Teeling says. Many clients, however, choose to add extras, such as cabinets and drawers to surround the panels that hold in the bed. Those extras not only add visual interest to the design, but provide storage for guests who can place their clothing or bags in the drawers.
Murphy beds can be designed on a vertical or horizontal tilt, with the latter offering more storage options above the bed. The beds can even be disassembled and re- installed in a new location, says Lyle Morley of the Kitchen Studio and Wall beds- Etc.
If it’s tricky to make condo guests feel comfortable with a temporary sleeping situation, it can be even trickier to make them feel comfortable with the grooming situation — particularly if there’s only one bathroom in the condo. Let’s face it, there must be some co- ordination when you’re sharing a bathroom with guests. To keep things tidy, personal organizer Nicki Parsons suggests keeping bathroom counters as clear as possible.
“That will encourage others to do the same, to tuck everything back in their bag when they’re through in the bathroom,” says Parsons, who runs Neat Organizers Inc.
To keep countertops clear, condo owners can complete small space- saving projects, such as using the “dummy panel” found in the front of many vanities. Some simple hinges and tote trays can transform that part of the vanity into a useful storage space for everyday items, Parsons said. And almost any bathroom can be outfitted with a medicine cabinet.
Installing several hooks on the back of the bathroom door is an even easier way to cleverly use space in a tiny bathroom.
If you suspect you’ll be hosting guests a lot — and doubt whether you can make it work in your own space — consider finding a condo development that includes a guest suite in the building.