Do you have an office/spare room?

[BurstingSeams]

If you have an extra bedroom that you have turned into an office, do you still have people over to stay?

We're looking at two flats, both smaller than where we are now, both new-build.
Flat 1 - 142 square metres, looks on paper to be a better quality, three bedrooms
Flat 2 - 155 square metres, looks to be not as good quality e.g. floors as the other, four bedrooms

We're currently in a 3 bed, one of the massive plus points for DH being that there was no spare room so we couldn't have guests his IL's to stay. However, DH can now wfh and his office is set up in DS's bedroom. I think we should go for space over quality/location (views are better although shopping etc will not be).

If you have an extra bedroom that is an office, do you have it set up to let relatives stay or is it acceptable to have it only as an office and not make room for guests?

My office used to double as the guest room.

due to some medical issues, it is no longer a good idea for me to let guests stay in the house, so we don’t have a guest room anymore.

I’d absolutely want that 4th bedroom as an office to keep it separate to bedrooms. Eventually your DS won’t won’t dad in his room.

Whether you also use it as a guest room is a bonus (or not depending on the guests!)

Spare room? What's one of those? We never had that when I was growing up living in a shoebox, with a gutter for company on days when we were lucky!

Surely depends on the size of the room? Our office doubles up as a guest room as it's a good size. However our expectation is that it will eventually become DS2's bedroom, at which point the box room will become the office and there won't be space for guests.

Go for location always.
We have a box room which is my office. We couldn't get a bed in there as well as my desk. We don't have a guest room but could easily make the kids share as a one off. I prefer to discourage overnight guests though, plenty of hotels near by.

Our home office is also a spare room.

It has a study bed - bed that turns into a desk

I'm sure most people have neither. It's probably a minority who have a fully separate guest room.

Unless you already have a lot of space and a need to regularly cater for guests, most people will just squeeze them in when they visit, or at best, keep a 'guest bed' in a room that is primarily used for something else, eg a home office.

We did have a spare bed in the same room as my home office but it took up a lot of room and was used a couple of times a year if that, so we've got rid of it now, and it's allowed me to have a bigger desk and a run of Ikea Pax wardrobes for much needed storage, that are also accessible without having to shift a load of stuff around like before.

I certainly wouldn't be prioritising space for guests over day to day living. After all, in most cases, it's probably cheaper for them to stay in a hotel than you bearing the cost of having an extra room and furnishing it unless they stay very regularly.

We had a guest room which was converted to an office in lockdown. When guests stay, which is rarely the kids move bedroom and the guest takes a kids bed.

Our office is just an office. We have a couple of other guest rooms though. We often have guests staying.

Can you fit a desk and a decent sofa bed?
I think ultimately you need to prioritise your needs day to day over an occasional house guest.

My husband uses our spare room as an office, we made sure we put in a dressing table rather than a desk, but made sure it was a good height to work at etc, when we have guests all we have to do is move out the office chair and put the dressing table stool back in.

It depends on how big an office you need but yes, my spare room doubles as a WFH space. It's a lovely room and there's a small white desk and set of drawers in the corner. Rather than have an ugly office chair, got one in softer colours which is more in keeping with the room. When people come to stay, everything is put away in the drawers and you'd barely notice it was an office.

I guess if you need lots of files and 'work stuff' that's hard to hide, it's not as easy to do. However there are lots of clever 'hideaway' desks and storage you can buy to help disguise an office space.

He doesn't need lots of shelf space as he's not allowed to have physical copies of his work at home.
Ideally I would like to put a desk, computer, wardrobe (overflow!) and sofa bed. I'm thinking of a few years time when it's highly likely it would be just one of my parents visiting, and wouldn't come if had to stay in a hotel. I think it's unlikely both would come as, as far as I'm aware, one can't travel any more.

I would like a space I can go in the evening when the others want to watch something I don't.
I'd like space for Dc to invite back a friend. I don't know how it works, I'm thinking in say 5 years time when one wants to invite a boy/girl friend to stay we would need to have an extra bed. Or would you e.g. let your 17year old stay over if it meant they had to share a bed?
That we could still access the computer at the weekend if e.g. DS sleeps in.

@Landlubber2019 now, and if we opt for the 3-bed the Dc wouldn't be able to move bedrooms as there's nowhere to move to.

In the 4 bed, the three smaller bedrooms are all roughly the same size.

I do..but I have a 4 bed and there’s only 2 of us! Bought a 4 bed when we had DD hoping to have another DC but that didn’t happen. Then I split from DH and I kept the house (because I love it and the location). So I have a study with a futon. Don’t have loads of guests but it is handy. I didn’t want to put a full bed in there and take up loads of space.
I think it would be great if you could have a separate space so your DH isn’t working from DS’ room but it may be a compromise too much if you fall in love with a location.

@BurstingSeams - we have a study bed and have fixed a TV to it so you can put the bed up and watch TV so it is a spare room (the bed is v comfortable), a home office (big desk which isn't disturbed by being put down) and a TV room as well.

I promise I am not selling them but they are ace

I use the smallest bedroom as my study/ sewing room. I also use the big front bedroom, our spare room, for painting. But it is still a bedroom. It has twin beds in it and , yes, we have people to stay. Should have added that DH has always insisted on using the dining room as his workspace. When he retired I suggested the spare bedroom which already had a desk in it but he declined it.

Our spare room is my WFH space and doubles as a guest room. I have a desk, a sofa bed plus shelving and an electronic piano. It’s very much set up as my space but with a spare bed rather than a guest room with a desk to work from IYSWIM. But the only people who come to stay are my DPs who aren’t fussed about sleeping amongst my work and hobbies.

We have twin beds, a desk and a TV in our spare room. It gets used all the time, mostly by the kids wanting to watch a film with their friends, but sometimes by me WFH.

I'd like a spare room but don't have one. The intention was the girls would share if we had guests and I'd get a really good blow up mattress or two. Unfortunately ASD DD can't cope with moving out and DD2's room is too small for adults so we don't have people stay.

I think mine are beyond the age of sharing. I'm not sure one of my parents will be around in 5 years, and the other would definitely not come to stay if they had to e.g. get a bus back to their hotel every night.

I would definitely want it set up as an office with a sofa bed vs. guest bedroom with a desk in. We always seem on top of each other here. Living/dining/kitchen is open plan so if someone is gaming or watching tv everyone has to watch it. If someone DH doesn't want the lights on in the evening, everyone has to sit in the gloom.

I have a spare room that doubles as an office and guest room.

It has a desk, with drawers that are large enough to store away all my work things when not in use (so it doesn't look "officey).

It has a sofa bed and a TV, so it also serves as an extra room where someone can go to chill and watch TV away from the living room.

I have a sofa bed in my office but to be honest I just out it near the coffee machine for when I’m taking a break rather than for the possible future stay of a guest 😂

but I would let someone stay in my office if they needed too. I guess it also depends on who it is.

I would prioritise location over a spare room, but proper office space when WFH is really helpful.

If it's a small room you could just have it as an office, or put in a sofa bed so it's not too welcoming!

We have our smallest bedroom set up as an office for DH who works from home 2-3 weeks out of 4. It has a small sofa bed in it but is rarely used for guests as we’ve another spare room.

We have a spare room AND an office! The office is tiny but can just get a trundle bed or a cot in it, so we use it when the grandchildren come to stay. Ideally we would have 2 spare rooms now that both my children have their own children.... As soon as I retire I will change the room back.

Space is very important to me. I would probably go with the 4 bed.