Should you have guests in a Small Space? And how?

Putting our wall bed away. captured by Modern Nest Photography

A topic that comes up again and again when talking about small spaces is whether you can or should accommodate for overnight guests. This is a complicated question as it means different things for different families. I think the first question to ask yourself is who is staying over and how often? I’ve met with families who have family members staying over and helping with kids multiple times a year and staying for extended periods. I’ve also met with families who only have guests once or twice a year for a night or two. Both of these families don’t need to accommodate for overnight guests in the same way.

Below I’ve broken down some options for overnight guests in a small space. Firstly, I would recommend having an honest conversation about how often you truly plan to accommodate guests.

How we have handled guests in our small spaces

For some context I’ll share how we have handled guests in the past. In our 600 square foot apartment we had family members spend a few nights here and there. Sometimes they slept on our comfy former couch. Or if my mom stayed she would sleep with me in the wall bed and Trevor would sleep on the couch. We generally didn’t have guests for more than a couple of nights as it was really squishy for everyone! In our new apartment we do have more space for overnight guests though I still don’t think it will be very comfortable. We have the opportunity for a sofa bed in our living room. I hesitate to buy one without knowing it is very comfortable and aesthetically pleasing. We also have room for a small fold out single bed like THIS or a convertible chair bed in the kids room or our bedroom. But I’m not sure a single bed is what we need? It would be nice to host friends and family for one or two nights but it would only be a few times a year and rearranging our entire small space for those few visits feels risky. I would much rather have a couch we love everyday and meet our friends/family where we are both on vacation together. Also no amount of beds changes the fact that we only have one bathroom. Hope that long-winded explanation might help you make sense of whether the space and expense of additional beds makes sense for your family. If my kids were younger and having an extra bed meant extra family-provided childcare then I can guarantee it would be more of a priority for us. ;).

Portable beds

There are quite a few portable bed options available these days, from air mattresses to folding frames and mattresses. Though it can be challenging to find room to store these in some smaller spaces. If you have the space in a closet or common storage space in your building, this can be a good option.

Kids Beds

Having a bunk bed or a bunk bed with an additional trundle bed can provide additional sleeping for overnight guests. Depending on how many kids you have, the amount of additional useful beds will vary. If you don’t want to make your guests sleep with your kids, you could always give up your bed to your guests and you sleep with the kids. Also we often use the trick of having our kids share a bed to free up a kid bed for guests. The kids sleep with their heads at opposite ends in the same bed to minimize fighting (interrupting fighting/silliness is minimally effective).

Wall Beds

I’m not sure I need to share my love of wall beds further on this site but I do know that a wall bed is an investment and requires a certain amount of guaranteed usage to justify the wall space and investment. Some great locations for a wall bed for regular overnight guests are in the kids room, office or den if you have these spaces available. Remember to always measure for clearance of pulling the wall bed down and knowing that you will need to clear the area below it when in use. (some previous posts about Wall Beds HERE, HERE and HERE).

Sofa Beds

Sofa beds are tricky. I have rarely heard of someone loving their sofa bed. It is usually an uncomfortable sofa and an uncomfortable bed. In a small space your couch is EVERYTHING so I hesitate recommending you invest in a sofa bed to not enjoy lounging on your sofa everyday. We did a reader round up of sleeper sofas HERE and it’s probably time for another one. I have heard of some sofas so wide and comfortable that they are fine for sleeping without actually being considered a sofa bed. Also if a bedroom is big enough to fit a sleeper loveseat or daybed or convertible ottoman I think these can all be good investments for overnight guests. Please share below in the comments if you have a sleeper sofa you love!

Hotel Stays

Ok hear me out, many of us are living in small spaces with our families because it is at the max of our budget. We truly don’t have the closet space for a foldaway bed or the funds to buy a new sleeper sofa. Yet by living small we are saving more on rent or mortgage and keeping our possessions small. If your out of town guests are few and far between and there may be family expectations that you provide a space for them, what about paying for the their airbnb or hotel room? In our city the cost of an additional spare bedroom is upwards of $200,000 or $500-1000 per month in rent. so what if you paid for their accommodations for a few nights or contributed to it? It’s still a much smaller cost than moving to a bigger place that is out of your budget. It also gives everyone a bit of extra room to breathe.

Or even better, coordinate stays for your family at nearby friends’ apartments when they are out of town!

me and our wall bed captured by Modern Nest Photography

Hope this was helpful and would love to hear how you make it work with your guests in your small space!