6 Multifunctional Guest Room Ideas Any Guest Would Stay In

A guest room is a vital addition to any household, particularly when family and friends converge on your home during the holidays or summer vacation. But how do you keep the guest room from becoming a waste of space when your overnight guests are gone? Instead of devoting space to a rarely used bedroom, consider these ideas for adapting your guest room into multipurpose spaces.

1. Install a Murphy Bed in Your Home Office

If you’re like millions of Americans who have permanently shifted to working virtually, you’re likely still adjusting to your needs for a home office—and now is the perfect time to adapt your private workspace into a multipurpose room that can sleep guests when needed. Investing in small wall-mounted desks, rolling chairs and shelves (as opposed to clunky cabinetry) makes it easy to clear the space for an air mattress or a Murphy bed when needed.

Installing a Murphy bed—which comes in twin, full, and queen sizes—in your home office offers plenty of flexibility. The convertible design makes it simple to fold out the bed and tuck it out of sight when not in use. A space-saving wall bed system will give you the versatility to host guests when they’re in town and still use the room when they’re not.

2. Stack Twin Beds to Make Room for a Home Gym

For a flexible multipurpose guest room, you’ll want to forgo a king bed in favor of a Murphy bed or a more compact layout. With a set of bunk beds, you can stack a pair of twin beds and tuck them into an unused corner of the room. This will enable you to easily house families with several children, as well as accommodate groups of friends who are not married but perhaps don’t mind sharing a room (just not a bed).

A multipurpose guest room is also a great excuse for any dedicated fitness enthusiast to take the opportunity to create a home gym and save on membership fees in the long run. Go light on the heavy equipment and focus more on mobile pieces, like kettlebells or yoga mats, that you can push out of the way or store in a closet when your guests are in town.

3. Let Your Guest Room Double as a Kids’ Playroom

A guest room that converts into a playroom—with all the blocks, toys, and forts your kids can imagine—is a fun way to creatively reuse any space. If you have young children or teens, you’ll want the multipurpose room to grow with your family. Look into a large U- or L-shaped couch layout that is comfortable both for sleeping and lounging as a group. If your space is more limited, you’ll likely want to purchase a sofa bed or futon instead.

4. Finish Your Attic Into a Guest Room and Craft Room

Do you have a finished attic that can serve the dual purposes of a guest room and a craft room? Attics are often underutilized spaces that, when given the attention they deserve, can help you maximize space while increasing the value of your property.

Even if your attic is unfinished, it’s worth considering an attic conversion. Think about the access point before deciding what furniture can fit up there. Does your attic have actual stairs or just a pull-down ladder? 

Attics create a lot of creative avenues to explore as they typically have vaulted ceilings and at least some sunlight filtering in (and if not, you may want to consider hiring a local skylight installer).

5. Turn a Basement Guest Room Into a Bonus Room

Taking the basement of your home to the next level is on many homeowners’ bucket lists. If you already have a basement guest room, converting the space into the ultimate entertainment cave or media room is another way for you to use every available square foot of your home. Adding game consoles and Foosball or Ping Pong tables is one simple way to enhance the space. Or allow your creativity to flow and budget out what it would take to build a home theater with a projection screen and individual loungers for the whole family.

6. Build the Dressing Room of Your Dreams

Have a love for clothing and need somewhere to store it? A multipurpose guest room could be the perfect solution—particularly if you are going the Murphy bed route. Add bright lighting and plenty of mirrors to give the illusion of more space, design your own built-in furniture and shelving, and you’ve got yourself a dressing room that can easily serve as a guest room when needed. If you’re not comfortable with DIY, find a local cabinet maker near you to create the custom built-ins that will complete your vision.