3-in-1 Flex Room: Guest Suite, Play Room, and Room for Two

I think we all have spaces in our home that have to work double-duty. Most often, these rooms are guest rooms that are needed for another use during the times when there are no guests. Our guest today created a flex room that works as both an everyday play room and a guest room — with two different guest configurations!

When guests do come to stay, one thing that they will need every time is a bed. To fit a bed and the other necessary furniture in the room, it often requires creativity, such as…

using a daybed that can also function as seating (a fold-out couch bed would work, too)

installing a murphy bed that folds right into the wall or looks like another piece of furniture

or tucking a desk into a closet

And now, here’s Jen to share the details of her flex room:

3-in-1 Flex Room
Guest Suite, Play Room, and Room for Two

by Jen of de Jong Dream House

Hi! I’m Jen from de Jong Dream House. I live with my Dutch husband, Niels, and our four-year-old aspiring rocket scientist in Ohio. When I’m not reading about space shuttles or the solar system, you can probably find me testing out a new culinary creation, organizing whichever area of our house is most in need, or trying to figure out where to put another photo gallery. I’m super excited to be here at Remodelaholic to tell you about one of the most-used rooms in our house, our flex room.

Shortly after my husband and I married six years ago, we started dreaming about the house we would build someday for our unique family. Someday came two years ago when we broke ground on the de Jong Dream House. I live with a brain injury, so we are keenly aware of how quickly life can change and our abilities and mobility can be hindered. We like having our bedroom on the second floor near our young son, but we knew we wanted a second master bedroom on the first floor when our aging bodies no longer cared for the stairs. Since our immediate family is spread around the world, we knew we needed to have a in-law suite that was comfortable for longer stays. We designed the first floor master with a walk-in closet, wheelchair-accessible bathroom, separate heating/cooling zone, and private door to the back porch. We also have a main level laundry in the mudroom right outside the door which is used for kitchen linens. While this room was great for guests, we didn’t want to waste space having a room that was only used a few times a year. It needed to have an everyday purpose as well.

With these three purposes in mind, our flex room was born!

For quite awhile after we moved in, the room looked like this. Pretty basic. And a little festive.

When I was changing the bed skirt, I remembered that the bed is a European king, which means it is essentially two twins. I got excited about the idea of pushing them against the wall to give our son more room to play.

I took a shopping spree and found these cool lamps at TJ Maxx. They replaced the much too small and dark little lamp we had before, and inspired us to bring our coffee table (which pulls into two pieces) from the great room into this room.

When we were all healthy again, we were able to pick up our headboard and play dress up with our new flex room.

Option #1: Guest Suite

Option #2: Room for Two

Option # 3: Play Room