Over the last year, I've been renovating my home, and having recently completed the bones of a total renovation of our old kitchen into a spare bedroom/home office, it’s time to start looking at how we furnish and layout the room. However, I honestly didn't know where to start.
Guest bedrooms can be notoriously difficult spaces to navigate, as they either end up a waste of space 80% of the time, or so overcrowded with furniture or storage that it is difficult to use them for anything else, and no amount of paint will make them feel like a pleasant space to visit.
So, I asked three interior designers for their expert opinions and advice on how best to organise a spare room, especially when it's doing double duty as an office, hobby room or dressing area.
Meet the experts
Augustine Atobatele founded London-based interior design practice Studio Auguestine in 2021.
Paula's interior design studio is based in South West London and Surrey.
With more than a decade of experience in interior design, Debbie works at Lawrence Walsh.
1. Carefully consider the furniture
Form should always follow function in design, so ensuring your furniture fits the needs and size of the room can offer a good sense of flow and can fulfil a strict purpose. If any of these things is forgotten, the space can quickly turn into chaos instead of a relaxing or productive area. The first decision should be choosing between the best sofa bed and a standard bed, with the former helping to create a more flexible space.
'Foldaway furniture is a great option, and increasingly in our projects, we have installed Murphy beds or sofa beds,' says Augustine Atobatele, founder of London-based interior design practice Studio Auguestine. 'The space can be a hobby room by day and transformed into a bedroom by night.'
'If the room is primarily an office or dressing area, a fold-away bed is often the best solution,' agrees Paula Morrison founder of Paula Morrison Interior Designs. 'Modern iterations are brilliant; they fold up completely flat against the wall and can be disguised as sleek cabinetry. This gives you maximum floor space day-to-day. When guests arrive, the desk chair is tucked away, the bed comes down, and the room instantly feels like a dedicated bedroom.'
'A desk does not need to be obtrusive, it can be within a wardrobe or built into a bookcase - or it can be a freestanding piece of furniture that can also be used as a dressing table,' explains Debbie Clifford.
2. Zone the space for real-use optimisation
'The exciting element of a guest room is how much flexibility there is in creating a wonderful multi-purpose room,' explains Augustine Atobatele. 'When designing a room, we consider the functions of the room and create zoning and the flow, which helps to organise the layout of the room. The bed and storage can be pushed to one shorter wall to leave the central area clear. A desk by the side of the bed that can also double as a bedside table.'
'In a spare room, the optimal layout completely depends on a 'percentage of use' rule. You must identify what the room is used for most of the time, and give that function spatial priority,' advises Paula Morrison.
'If it is a home office 90% of the time and a guest room 10% of the time, do not let a static double bed dominate the centre of the floorplan. Instead, position your desk in the prime spot—ideally facing the window or looking into the room to command the space. Keep the centre of the room as clear as possible to create a sense of flow,' adds Paula.
'A fantastic layout for a room is creating an 'L-shape' zone: place a desk and storage along one wall, leaving the perpendicular wall free for a flexible sleeping arrangement. Only once this functional zoning is established do we look at using rugs, lighting, and paint colour to visually separate the 'work' area from the 'rest' area.'
'The layout will depend on the room configuration and its primary function but there should be enough space for a bed, a wardrobe and a desk,' says Debbie Clifford. 'Ideally, the bed would be positioned on the wall facing you as you enter the room and the desk area facing the window to give natural light, but the aim is to keep the room adaptable, with a layout that can evolve over time.'
'It is not a problem to have a spare bed against a wall, it saves space and is ideal for a single guest,' she continues. 'However, it is not ideal for a couple to use and can also make changing the bedding more difficult - but it all depends on how often the bed will be used.'
'Practically, it depends on who is staying. For children or single guests, it is absolutely fine. However, for a couple sharing a double bed, pushing it against the wall creates "the clamber"—where one person has to climb over the other to get out,' adds Paula Morrison. 'That being said, in a small room, you often don't have the luxury of leaving 60cm of walkway on either side of the mattress. If you must push a bed into a corner to make the layout work, the trick is to make it look intentional.
'Instead of dressing it like a standard bed, style it as a luxurious daybed. Run an upholstered headboard all the way along the long edge of the bed against the wall. Add an array of large, comfortable cushions and bolsters. This completely shifts the visual narrative; it no longer looks like a bed crammed into a corner, but rather a bespoke, cosy lounging nook that happens to be perfect for sleeping.'
3. Don’t leave storage to the last minute
Storage should be considered alongside the layout, to ensure you have space to hide everything you need in the spare room. But also to give guests space to breathe and put their things.
'Freestanding wardrobes can feel incredibly bulky in a 9m² [average size UK spare room) room, eating into valuable floor real estate and blocking light' says Paula Morrison. 'Unless you have the budget for bespoke floor-to-ceiling built-ins (which blend seamlessly into the architecture), I highly recommend looking at the bed itself for storage.
'Divan beds, and particularly ottoman bed frames, are an interior designer’s secret weapon. An ottoman bed lifts up to reveal the entire footprint of the bed as storage space—perfect for hiding away winter coats, suitcases, and the guest bedding itself. It offers the storage capacity of a large chest of drawers without demanding an extra inch of floor space.'
If you have chosen to go for a sofa bed, you could consider a storage sofa bed like this one at Next. Alternatively, you can hide extra storage in a storage stool.
Augustine Atobatele adds: 'Bespoke joinery can come in very handy, going full height to allow for maximum storage space. Finishing the doors in a gorgeous colour that can have a dramatic effect on the feeling of the space. Having a mix of solid doors, mirrors, finished insert doors, and some open spaces so that crafted items can be easily accessed. This is great for a room that functions as a guest bedroom and a hobby room.'
'In a room that needs to perform multiple functions, built-in wardrobes or shelving gives you the opportunity to design furniture to your specification to make the most of the space available,' concludes Debbie Clifford. 'To maximise the potential of the room the desk can be used as a dressing table, the bed could be a sofa bed or have hidden storage, and the wardrobe can accommodate shelving and hanging for clothes.'
Spare room essentials
If the main purpose of a spare room is as an office, a sofa bed is all you need for overnight guests and this one has a hidden storage drawer in the base.
If you don't have space for a full wardrobe, but want to give guests a space to hang clothes when they come to visit, this clothes butler is a great option.
If you don't have an ottoman bed, or a bed in your spare room at all, a storage ottoman is the next best thing for squeezing in extra storage without impeding on the floorspace.