How to Set Up a Office Guest Room Combo

VIDEO TUTORIAL

We have a three-bedroom house and so we have a master bedroom, a guest bedroom, and an office. That’s all we needed for the past year but now we have some rearranging to do.

With a baby coming into the picture we need to convert the guest bedroom into a nursery.

This leaves the bedroom that is currently used as an office as the only option for the guest bedroom.

We don’t have guests come that frequently but with family living out of town, we do need a guest bedroom to be set up. It’s not something that we can put away in storage and only bring out when we need it.

So our office needs to be converted into a multipurpose room. It needs to function as an office space for me throughout the week and a guest bedroom for when friends and family come into town.

In this step-by-step tutorial, I’m showing you how you can flip any room you have into a functional and beautiful modern guest bedroom using what you already have.

1. Set up a bed.

2. Make the bedding appropriate for the season.

3. Add a floor rug.

4. Bring in a nightstand and lamp.

5. Add a seating bench.

6. Install room darkening curtains.

7. Free Printable 

8. Video Tutorial

the before

Gray painted office with espresso brown desk and a hanging pathos plant

1. set up a bed for the guests

This is a temporary multipurpose room. In a perfect world, we would build a murphy bed into the wall so that we could hide away the queen bed when we didn’t have guests in town. Unfortunately, this won’t always be an office guest bedroom combo because it will turn into a kid’s room one day. So this is a temporary solution for our current situation.

Gray walls with sheer window curtains in an office that is also a guest room

2. Make the bedding appropriate for the season

Since it is now summer, I switched out the heavy white winter comforter for a thin duvet and a thin duvet cover from Amazon.

I did add a white cozy blanket at the foot of the bed in case our guests got cold.

TIP: If you have an extra basket, you can add a few small blankets to it so that guests have options to choose from.

I also added 2 king pillows and 2 queen pillows to the guest bed. For each person, I bought a fluffy king pillow and a flatter queen pillow so that the guests had options. Everyone has such different preferences for how they like their neck supported and so I wanted to provide two options.

Gray guest bedding from Amazon with white cozy blanket and white pillows

3. Add a floor rug

I bought this gray, beige, white medallion rug from Home Depot a few years ago on clearance.

It’s too small for our current living room so it’s perfect for the guest bedroom.

If you don’t have an extra rug laying around your house, skip it. It’s not necessary for guests to have a rug but it is a cozy touch.

Gray guest bedroom with a gray medallion rug

4. bring in a nightstand and lamp

Gray guest bedroom office combo with a espresso nightstand and gray lamp

5. Add a seating bench

If you have the space, any extra seating that you can provide will be appreciated.

I found this navy blue ottoman at Aldi for $8 and couldn’t pass it up. The inside can hold a good amount of storage so I can use it for sheets or blankets. The weight limit for sitting is 250lb.

Gray guest bedroom office combo with a blue ottoman pillow and silver lamp

6. install room darkening curtains

When guests travel to your home from long distances, they are almost always physically and mentally drained. Traveling is exhausting, whether they drove into town or they flew. To feel like their best selves, guests want a good night’s sleep before having to go to or participate in social gatherings.

Just like in hotels, curtains are really important! To have the best night’s sleep, no one wants the sun shining in their eyes before their alarm goes off. Guests want to sleep soundly in a place that isn’t their home and I believe that curtains are so valuable to help them get their sleep!

Depending on the height of your extra guest room, I would suggest getting curtains that go up to the ceiling and touch the floor. This way, when the blinds are closed, the amount of light coming into the room is minimal.

WHERE TO BUY THEM

Walmart and Target don’t sell very long curtains, so I found these 95-inch curtains at HomeGoods for $25 each.

Tuesday Morning is another store that usually has longer lengths that are affordable. I looked on Amazon but they are so much more expensive! Try looking at HomeGoods or Tuesday Morning before spending $80 on Amazon.

CURTAIN ROD

I also bought this room darkening curtain rod from Target for $29. I liked how they are curved on the edge so you can pull the blackout or room darkening curtain all the way over to the wall.

Usually, some light does come in through the edges of a curtain but with this curtain rod that problem is solved.