Ghost bedrooms

When we moved in here, I appropriated the smaller upstairs room as my study. but we have realised that it is reallly not convenient not to have a guest room.

So we are going to move my books downstairs into the front room that has the rest of our books, and use the shelves from my room in the kitchen, so DH's cookery book collection can live there, and my books in with the other books in the second front room.

That way I can still have my desk and sewing machine up here, but the wall that right now is occupied by my books can have either a fold-away bed along it, or a sofa that converts into a double bed for visitors.

It will only be needed once or twice a year, but as neither we nor our friends are getting younger, we can't expect them to go on sleeping on an air mattress.

Four bedrooms, usually just for me, but once a year XH comes to stay so 2 of the ACs need beds. One room has a double couch-settee, one has a single which slides out from beneath the other single but the last spare room is my workroom. No floor space for a bed, so XH sleeps in what used to be our bedroom & I sleep on the floor in the workroom. This absolutely horrifies nearly all of my friends, but it makes for a pleasant visit & I believe it’s what hospitality is about. Also, lying on the floor does my back a bit of good sometimes (although it’s getting harder and harder to get up off the floor!)

I have 2 double and one single bedroom and I live on my own. I decided a few years ago the cat did not need a double bedroom so I moved the single bed into the 3 rd bedroom and she did not "speak" to me for a week! She is no longer with me but the next cat can take it over.

The remaining double is a bit of a junk shop but that is because I do not know what to do with it. I may make it a bedroom again in case I ever need live in care- marginally cheaper than a care home.

I still blush when I remember this!
I was 20 and working as clerk/secretary in firm of solicitors. After a few months I got promoted as secretary to newly qualified solicitor. He was young, well over 6 ft, thick set and came from a ‘county’ family. (Very posh!) I could not do enough for him.
One day when he was out for lunch I polished his office, mended his huge feather cushions and cleaned everything I could apart from the ceiling.
His three rather important clients were due at 2:15 pm, and it was a very sensitive and important issue. I need to stress that. I wanted everything perfect for him.
He kindly collected his clients from waiting room on way in from lunch. Within a couple of minutes of him passing me in corridor and entering his office, my phone range. I was called to his office “you won’t need your note book” he said.
When I walked it I could hardly see across his small office. All four were all sitting frozen and very white in a large storm of tiny white feathers. Everything in fact was covered. Both large, ancient velvet cushions had exploded when he sat down. Remember I indicated he was quite big.
I had done an extremely good job of sewing up every little gap in those plump beauties. Oh boy had I!
I was not sacked. I’m now 73 and remember it as clear as if it was yesterday. Thought it might make some of you smile.
I’ve done several, rather a lot actually, embarrassing things in past but this was a doozy. Hope you enjoyed this and would love to hear yours.

I think I’ve added that in wrong place!!!!
Typical me.
I’ll try and post correctly.
Consider this an another embarrassing moment.
How do I start a fresh post? Oh darn.

Instead of a nice comfy chair, why not make it a sofa bed, s you can still welcome guests, should you need to

I think lots of us find suddenly we are keeping space for people that don’t come (same with moving or picking a car size). You have to ask yourself realistically how often do you have visitors/give people a lift etc. I think using bedrooms for another purpose is a great idea. We use our smallest one as a dressing room - I love it and it saves having wardrobes in the bedroom.

We have four bedrooms smallest room was used as an office and workroom for our business. Now retired I will convert it eventually.
I revamped both son and daughters rooms when they left. I sleep in my sons room now as my husband gets restless and wakes and disturbs me.
Our daughter will be here with our GC who will sleep with me for a couple of days a week for the near future.
I like to see the rooms being used otherwise it’s wasted space.

LynneH

Instead of a nice comfy chair, why not make it a sofa bed, s you can still welcome guests, should you need to

We will still have one guest bedroom and I think that two guests at a time is enough. Gone are the days when I could cope with both children and four grandchildren all together.

OH has a hobby room, we have the smallest bedroom as an office/study, a big guest room (not much used now, family being closer) and I have a lovely room with a view as 'my' room where I watch DVDs that OH is not interested in, iron, do Yoga, and just generally have filled with my things instead of cluttering up our bedroom with them. I realise we are so lucky to have all this space - it will have to go one day in the not too distant future as the upkeep of this house is probably going to be too much for whoever is left! However, we enjoy it while we can.

As others we have 4 bedroom house: I for us, 1 dbl for guests ( which I use to stretch fabric out for my quilts and for additional wardrobe space), 2 small sgl rooms 1 OH office and the other my sewing room ( has bed if we need it - but haven't for about 6 yrs) and I have an office just off the kitchen in .. works so well for us! But we are now about to open up kitchen diner as we really don't need separate room and change conservatory ( either too cold or hot and sinking ) to integrate into dining space!

We have two spare bedrooms but the one is home for my desktop as well as sharing space with my DH's train layout where he comes to play trains, oops, I mean do engineering work or electrics on engines and carriages. The other room has become a bit of a dumping ground but both rooms can easily be sorted out should GCs want to stay but they are all so much older now and those visits are becoming rare. Other guests seem to like the train layout!

We have a 3 bed bungalow, and the smallest room is used as an office. Husband and I both use the big desktop Computer and almost equally large printer/photocopier. We also have a four drawer filing cabinet, a two drawer filing cabinet and two large bookcases in there, plus DVD/CD storage cabinets.

I have just purchased a small sewing machine, as there does not seem to be any alteration services locally, and I have garments that need altering. I'm going to have to find space in our "spare" bedroom, that's already full of my clothes, shoes, jigsaws, books and bedding (plus double bed)!

Dare I get rid of the bed and use it for myself? We live over 700 miles from our nearest relative now - so people are unlikely to visit.

I am saving up for a Conservatory, as the back of the house has the best views of the coast and castles (two of the latter, one ancient and almost ruined, the other still lived in) and Husband has nowhere to put his Telescope (no comments please!). We moved from a larger house which had a very large garden room built across the width of the entire house - so feel very short of space here, despite the fact that there is just the two of us (plus two cats).

Maybe I could get rid of the bed?

We only have two bedrooms, but since I started sleeping in the smaller, spare one, I do get a strange feeling that I am sharing it with a ghost.

I agree with everything said so far about utilising the additional bedroom space for other activities etc.
The trouble is I am a bedroom designer freak and I miss all our past bedrooms where I could go wild on different styles. I must have been a decorator's dream because I used to love changing décor along with curtain fabrics and bed linen across the bedrooms. The more the better, and even if the doors remained closed I would be busy in my mind planning a new colour scheme or new mood. It would feel totally incongruous to me to put a sewing machine, an exercise bike or a train set in a spare bedroom, but I am weird like that.

Annsan

This idea of having a lot of bedrooms is a very British idea, I think. In other countries people tend to use their rooms much more sensibly and tend not to keep bedrooms empty. We use our two spare “ bedrooms “ as studies with facility to put people up there when the need arises.

So are you saying that ‘in other countries’ people never end up after their children have left home with empty bedrooms, which stay empty except when they have family returning for visits/other guests?
Or is this just another ‘everything is better everywhere else’ post?

We have 3 ‘technically’ empty bedrooms. One has a king size guest bed but is very often used by me, since I tend to sleep badly and it means I can put the radio or the light on without disturbing dh.

One has a double sofa bed regularly shared by visiting young Gdcs, and is also dh’s lair (aka study) plus the ironing board lives in there. Not that I do much ironing nowadays…

The other, smallest room, has a single bed and is used only when we have a very full house. Which does happen now and then.

We've got a bedroom for us, a guest room that also has a travel cot in it for my 2 year old GD to have her nap, an office/sewing room and the 4th 'bedroom' houses a junior pool table, a computer and a football table for the older GC; also a sofa bed just in case. All four rooms are well-used, although the sofa bed hasn't been slept in yet. No ghosts in our house!

We have no spare bedrooms and are about to upsize to a bigger house. Forget downsizing as you get older you're at home more and need more space.

We have four bedrooms. One for us, one for guests and two are offices (one each). However, both offices contain single beds as overflow for visitors.
The offices get used constantly as my DH works from home and, whilst I do tutoring downstairs, I prepare my lessons upstairs in my (very pink and girly) office.

Jess20

We have no spare bedrooms and are about to upsize to a bigger house. Forget downsizing as you get older you're at home more and need more space.

Interesting... and extremely accurate I imagine.

Oh Lucy how funny!! Now-not then! ?

My parents retired to a large 2 bedroomed bungalow. In their mid-80s they were seriously thinking of upsizing to a bungalow with three bedrooms because they wanted a separate dedicated study for DF's desk and filing cabinet, he was still on the committees of several groups, and all my DM's craft materials because they found having to pack everything away to return the second bedroom, to a bedroom for visitors was too tiring.

My DM also had the kitchen refitted because she wanted a dishwasher so that she could continue entertaining, when she began to find clearing up after parties, with all the washing up too tiring.

It is an attitude I keep before me as an example of positive thinking.

I just discovered this post after posting about turning 3 beds to 2 in our next house ! We have a four bed house now - we only use 1 of the other rooms regularly for ‘bad night ‘ sleeping . My daughters or other family plus g/c stay in them otherwise but rarely ( though surely covid has given us all ghost rooms ....) . I like wandering around the rooms admiring their beauty(!) and the views but they are just bedrooms as we have office space elsewhere and I do any sewing or crafts on the large kitchen table. Husband is confined to the garage most of the time ! I like having lots of bedrooms but really we should be fine with a lot less space and the council tax will be cheaper too! We’re pretty minimal thankfully as I hate clutter . No ghosts for me ....!

I am so jealous. I would love 4 bedrooms. One of sleep, one for sewing, one for art/crafts and one for visitor. Sounds like Bliss!

We have ghost rooms also, but we are turning ours into an office, and another one into a dressing room,