merry gardens Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 I'm looking for furniture and decorating ideas. How to other large families handle sleeping arrangements when adult children return home for holidays and breaks? Bedrooms space is in short supply here: four bedrooms with eight children/six children live at home. We re-arranged bedrooms when the older kids left. When they come home, they prefer to sleep in the basement family room rather than their former bedrooms. They like to sleep in the basement when they come home, which is where we do the majority of our homeschooling. The fold-out couch there is yucky; both my older kids prefer sleeping on the other sofa or even a chair rather than it. I want to replace it with something. Whatever we I replace it with needs to fit our homeschool classroom. I'm thinking about perhaps a daybed with a trundle, or a couple of chairs that folds out to twin beds, or perhap bed lofted with desks underneath. I don't really know. I know I don't want our homeschool classroom to look like a spare bedroom, but I want my older children to feel like they are welcome and not sleeping in a classroom. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 I just bought one of those air mattresses that inflates to regular bed height. It's VERY easy on space and comfortable to sleep on. Also guests van easily add or remove air to suit their own comfort level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merry gardens Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 I saw air mattresses advertised recently in a catalog. They looked good, I wonder if it would hold up to lots of use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 If the air mattress idea doesn't sound great, I would consider a futon that converts to a couch during the day. These look great and are very comfortable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 I just bought one of those air mattresses that inflates to regular bed height. It's VERY easy on space and comfortable to sleep on. Also guests van easily add or remove air to suit their own comfort level. This is what we use for our guest bed too. Currently, it is blown up in the living room. That does lead to some lack of privacy for guests though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 We just went on a two vacation and stayed with a lot of friends and families. We slept on quite a few air mattresses and all were quite comfortable. I think that’s a great solution for a temporary bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 If the air mattress idea doesn't sound great, I would consider a futon that converts to a couch during the day. These look great and are very comfortable. I actually slept on ours during the hurricane. It was much more comfortable than any futon or sofa bed I've slept on. Even the 'good' sofa beds are uncomfortable to me. My hip bones always find the metal bars. Of course, now that I think of it, a sofa in the school room would be nice and cozy :-) I have a studio that's mainly an empty room for dancing. When I have company, it becomes a spare room. Sometimes ALL the kids want to sleep down there together and we fill it with air mattresses (they last for years and are probably cheap right now). If I put an adult in there, I hang curtains across the doors with tension rods for privacy. How handy is your DH? Would he build you a Murphy bed? Those fascinate me, but they do take up the wallspace of two bookcases. If you want to think entirely out of the box, just install hammock hooks into your wall studs :-). A relative did this and the kids hapilly turned their rooms over to the old people for a chance to sleep on the hammocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cottonmama Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Air mattresses are a great solution for young adults, but something to consider is that the next season of your children's lives might involve them visiting with a pregnant wife and/or while they're co-sleeping with a baby (if your future daughters-in-law choose to do so). During pregnancy, I find it hard to get off of a low air mattress; the higher ones would probably be fine. But I would not consider an air mattress a safe surface for co-sleeping. I have slept on a low air mattress with the baby on a crib mattress next to mine, and that worked out fine. So anyway, I would either work some of those considerations into your plan, or be prepared to work out another solution down the road. FWIW, I've had good experiences with Intex brand air mattresses -- I like the ones with the velvety tops. My grandmother has had hers for years with no leaks, and we have one now and are very happy with it. We slept on it for a month or two straight after we lost our bed in a fire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cottonmama Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 If you want to think entirely out of the box, just install hammock hooks into your wall studs :-). A relative did this and the kids hapilly turned their rooms over to the old people for a chance to sleep on the hammocks. What a cool idea! I agree that air mattresses tend to be more comfortable than futon or sofa bed mattresses. (I think that's what you were saying.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lailasmum Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 For years we have had a bi fold sofa bed. It has a proper bed mattress and a slatted base under the mattress so it's just the same comfort wise as a bed. Another idea wuld be a folding bed. We have one of these and just tuck it away when it's not in use,it is slid under my son's bed at the moment. The mattresses are really comfy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cottonmama Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 The hammock idea made me think... are any of your kids sleeping on twin beds, two to a room? You could connect up two twin beds down the road as your adult children move into other stages of life, and the younger kids could camp out in the school room (either in hammocks or on air mattresses). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brilliant Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 I don't like the daybed/trundle idea for a regularly used living space. I've never seen a daybed that didn't look like, well, a bed. And no matter how many cushions you put on, it's not comfortable for seating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 I just bought one of those air mattresses that inflates to regular bed height. It's VERY easy on space and comfortable to sleep on. Also guests van easily add or remove air to suit their own comfort level. I used to sleep on an air mattress at my dds when I went to visit. It was one of those areo beds and it was extremely comfortable, especially if you are sleeping by yourself. You can make it as firm as you would like amd it really does feel like you are sleeping on air. Not compatable with cats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 I'm looking for furniture and decorating ideas. How to other large families handle sleeping arrangements when adult children return home for holidays and breaks? Bedrooms space is in short supply here: four bedrooms with eight children/six children live at home. We re-arranged bedrooms when the older kids left. When they come home, they prefer to sleep in the basement family room rather than their former bedrooms. They like to sleep in the basement when they come home, which is where we do the majority of our homeschooling. The fold-out couch there is yucky; both my older kids prefer sleeping on the other sofa or even a chair rather than it. I want to replace it with something. Whatever we I replace it with needs to fit our homeschool classroom. I'm thinking about perhaps a daybed with a trundle, or a couple of chairs that folds out to twin beds, or perhap bed lofted with desks underneath. I don't really know. I know I don't want our homeschool classroom to look like a spare bedroom, but I want my older children to feel like they are welcome and not sleeping in a classroom. Any ideas? check out this couch/bed/storage thing...we fell in LOVE with it at Ikea. (we bought different stuff because we had different needs, but this thing is awesome, and SOOOOOOO easy to convert to a bed. Seriously, we were in awe). And the added storage is GREAT. You could just store the linens for it in there, or homeschooling stuff, toys, whatever. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30213953/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merry gardens Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 Thanks everyone! You shared some great ideas! :) I love the idea of a Murphy bed! A project like that wouldn't be done by Thanksgiving, but that could be especially nice for longer term use, like over the summer. Hmm, that might be something my college aged son could build for himself next summer.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 We have a futon with an innerspring mattress in our school room. It is as comfortable as a regular bed, and we use it as a couch for homeschooling. Here is an example: http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Full-9-Innerspring-Futon-Mattress/3065219/product.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unicorn. Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 That looks awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lily_Grace Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 This bed at Ikea turns from a daybed to a queen. You can cover the back with side bolsters and a set of large pillows to be a couch during regular days and then have two beds or one large one for guests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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