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Office Guest Room Ideas for a Cozy Temporary Sleeping Space

This post is sponsored by Walmart.

10 office guest room ideas for making an extra room in your home using an air mattress feel like a comfortable temporary sleeping space for your guests.

We pulled out ALL of the office guest room ideas we could think of to turn our home office into a guest room today. Now I’m thinking this should just be “mama’s nap space” with a sign on the door that says “Do Not Disturb”. You think I could get away with it? Kidding. Ha!

For Thanksgiving this year, we plan to have 14 people sleeping in our house all at once, so that immediately set the wheels in motion to produce beds out of thin air for all of these bodies.

Our home office was the perfect place to set up a temporary sleeping space using some strategies to make a basic air mattress comfortable and more welcoming as a temporary guest bedroom.

home office

Here’s how our home office looks on a regular basis (except add in lots more papers and mess everywhere for reality’s sake… Marie Kondo and Martha Stewart don’t work here, okay?)

Now… can you believe this is an office turned guest bedroom using an air mattress?!

Yes, that cute bed is an air mattress. I pulled together a few basic makeshift items from around the house and a few guest room essentials from Walmart to make it as comfortable as possible for a functional space.

a home office set up as a temporary guest room and making an air mattress comfortable like a real bed

Really, this is a great trick to use if you’re staging a house and need to market a spare room as a bedroom too. ALL the air mattress tricks and office guest room ideas to the rescue!

10 Office Guest Room Ideas for a Cozy Temporary Sleeping Space

First of all, a moment for that DIY shower curtain art that magically works as an air mattress headboard. Happy accidents rock.

office guest room combo

1. Use an Extra Tall Air Mattress

It’s best to use a tall air mattress that’s at least 20″ high so guests can more easily slide into bed without needing to scoot onto the floor, especially if your guests are older.

This 24″ pillowtop queen sized bed air mattress we used is the perfect height, is really comfortable, and has a convenient built-in pump so we don’t have to worry about it getting lost while it’s in storage between guests.

use a 24" tall air mattress

2. Add a Memory Foam Topper to Make an Air Mattress Feel Like a Real Bed

This gel infused memory foam topper makes such a huge difference to help the mattress feel less “air mattress-y” and aid in pressure relief for a comfortable guest bed.

how to make an air mattress comfortable using a memory foam topper

3. Hide the Air Mattress Bottom With an Elastic Skirt

Out of sight, out of mind? By adding an elastic bed skirt around the bottom of the air mattress, you’re totally fooled into believing it’s a regular bed.

If you needed to stage a spare room as a bedroom when listing a house for sale, this is a great trick to use for an open house.

how to hide an air mattress for a temporary office guest room : use a bed skirt

4. Make the Bed With Soft White Bedding

I always prefer white bedding because it feels clean (plus, it can be bleached so it actually is clean).

Walmart Home carries a bunch of my favorite affordable bedding linens and towels that I’ve used for years.

These bamboo sheets feel so luxuriously soft. These down alternative pillows and duvet insert add a great cozy “squishy” feeling (that I use on all of our beds in our house actually).

I just threw this white organic cotton comforter set on top from Walmart’s Gap Home line along with these sweater knit pillows and sherpa pillow for extra coziness.

office guest room bed using tricks to make an air mattress comfortable

5. Add an Extra Blanket for Needed Warmth

Air mattresses are notorious for feeling cold since, after all, cool air is underneath you. So adding an extra layer like this plush sherpa blanket helps keep guests comfortable.

office guest room ideas : add warm bedding since air mattresses get cold

6. Repurpose a Stool or Crate as a Nightstand

It’s nice having a nightstand to place glasses or keep a light handy, so use a stool or crate you might already have for that purpose.

I used this stool that I already had in our kids’ bathroom. Don’t go buying anything special. So many things you probably already have hanging around your house could work.

7. Have a Small Lamp or Nightlight Handy

It’s much more convenient to have a lamp at arm’s reach beside the bed, so look around at what you might already have that could work on the makeshift nightstand.

I used this small lamp I took from our bedroom.

office guest room ideas : include a nightstand with a lamp and clock / white noise machine

8. Consider Including a Clock and/or White Noise Machine

Our family always sleeps better with white noise machines, especially in places away from home where strange sounds might keep us awake.

This alarm clock has soothing nature sounds, a dimmer, and can even project the time onto the ceiling.

office guest room ideas : toiletries basket

9. Have Towels Handy

It’s nice having towels ready and waiting for you in the guest bedroom so they don’t have to go searching for any in a potentially embarrassing moment if they step out of the shower unable to find any towels in the bathroom.

These plush white towels are my favorites that we’ve used for years.

10. Include Toiletries in a Basket

Just in case guests forgot to pack a toothbrush or shampoo, it’s good to have some small toiletries at the ready for them. I like tossing everything into a basket like this. Whatever amenities hotels usually include in hotel rooms, I like to have for our guests too.

how to turn an office into a guest room

You can see this list of guest bedroom essentials for more items you can include to help guests feel right at home.

So now our office is guest ready! And we plan to get absolutely zero work done in here… and that’s exactly how it should be with loved ones visiting us. 🙂

cozy guest bedroom setup in an office

Do you have any other office guest room ideas or amenities you implement in your home to help guests feel comfortable?

Maybe I should add a sign for the WiFi password because that’s always a popular guest request.

signoff

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52 Comments

  1. Frame the Bless’er House Wi-Fi info and place on back of door or side table like hotels do listing pertinent information.

  2. Who would have guessed that was an air mattress!! You always do such a great job showing step by step instructions and sources. Enjoy Thanksgiving and all your guests!

    1. Mind blowing right?! I had hopes it would look decent, but it’d totally fool me too if I didn’t know better. Thanks, Pat!

  3. Your “guest room” is lovely and will certainly make your guests smile and feel right at home. I, too, always leave a basket chock full of toiletries, lotions and potions, lol, and my guests have occasionally commented on what a lifesaver it was. Some of my guests may need to take meds at bedtime so I also add a tray with some bottled spring water and drinking glasses and a small bowl with some chocolate ‘kisses’. Thanks SO much for the source lists. I must get that clock! 🙂

  4. This is amazing. I would be very interested in seeing how you are fitting all 14 people!!!
    What other spaces can you transform??

    1. Many are kids so we’ll have a small twin air mattress in both our dedicated guest room and in our older daughter’s room where there’s a queen bed in each, so adults will get the “real” beds with a younger child sleeping on an air mattress in each of those two bedrooms. Our youngest will sleep in our room. And in our youngest’s bedroom, we have twin beds and an extra trundle. And then this queen air mattress in our office. Basically we’re squeezing in here like sardines, but we have a game plan. Haha!

    2. I saw this post way back when and just remembered it as we are trying to find the best use for a room in our house. I’m so thankful for the links!
      My question is – how did you artfully move your office furniture out of the way and still manage to make it roomy enough in the space?
      I’d love to see some photos if you have them.

      1. Hi! The room is longer than wide. It gave space for the guest but of course the desk was not in use. The desk was in a tight squeeze in the opposite corner.

  5. That is both beautiful and amazing! Now I’ m curious about places for the others. And how you will manage feeding so many. We will just have seven additional family members and four are children which will all stay in one bedroom with a full bed, stacked bunk beds and we add a toddler bed now that the pack and play is too small. But the meal prep for a week is.the hardest part or me. It will be great and we are so blessed and thankful as I’ m sure you are too. Happy Thanksgiving!

    1. That’s tricky too. I just started making my meal planning list. Making a big pot of soup with cornbread one night. Picking up barbecue w/ fixins from a local restaurant another night (easier than me having to cook). And for breakfasts, I’m doing stuff I can make ahead the day before everyone arrives: French toast casserole, sausage egg and cheese casserole, and cinnamon rolls.