I like that hidden desk a lot!

My own is office, library, and guestroom using a Lucy Au ottoman:

http://lucyau.com/multifunctional_furniture/otto_bellagio.html

I agree... love that closet, built in office. I think the curtains take away from it's beauty.

That ottoman is awesome Rucy!!!!

I like the daybed pic (the first one). We have a tiny bedroom that is currently an office and can easily function as a nursery when the time comes. I've always wondered how I'd treat it afterwards though, and that daybed works wonders in that tiny room... have to file that one away...

Count me as another person who's loving that closet office. Loving the yellows.

@jeffnyc: import costs and shipping were too insane to attempt, a friend was moving from Toronto to NYC, he hauled one over with his stuff and then UPS'd it to me. It was so much cheaper (though he says that now I owe him homemade chocolate chip cookies "for life"). Totally worth it.

*sigh* My hubby is an IT guy, so, we only have computers in the guest room....but I guess that really doesn't matter since we never have guests.....

This guest room is just darling~! What a beautifully inviting space!

I love the first one, it makes me want to curl up for an afternoon nap or curl up with a book and a cupcake.

My own guest room is a little ... odd. The BF and I have a tiny living room, so we put the TV in the guest room with a sofa bed. It's also where we keep our three parrots and two house rabbits. Some guests love that they are joined by curious bunnies in the evening and awakened by the calls of tropical birds. Others, not so much. As a consequence, we often end up sleeping in the guest room while guests enjoy our room.

At the moment, our "guest room" is a futon mattress and/or an airmattress (guests have the choice - I think air mattress on top of futon mattress is the best) set up in the office in the middle of our two desks and four bookshelves. Not the best set up, but we're young and our young friend guests don't seem to mind. We moved out of state to find a job, so we do get a few guests now and then.

Once we buy a house, I hope to have a dedicated guest room, or at least a guest/craft room. My husband wants to replace our bed with a king size, but the queen is still nice so we can put that in the guest room. Combine that with all the lovely (slightly girly) bedding and accessories I have from my last apartment (for example, a friend made me a duvet cover in pastel colors from vintage sheets, it's so pretty!) and I have a lovely guest room.

Ours is guestroom, library, office, laundry room, and painting nook. I would love to know how to make so many things happen without feeling crowded and schizophrenic, though.

I'm currently working on a loft bed with desks under it. I'm just trying to figure out how we can make it look less like a dorm, and more like a guest room/office in an adult apartment, haha.

I own a 3 bedroom flat, but all rooms are currently occupied by roommates. I DREAM of the day when I have an extra room to devote to a guestroom, and am always sort of planning it out in my mind! We have guests all the time so it would be well-used. Currently my roommates and I just have a large collection of air mattresses, but since all our guests are in their mid 20s like us, it's okay for now.

I love the first one too - Seems like a great place to get away from the phones, e-mail, TV, etc....

...plus it shows how much can be done with a space that others might say is "Too Small".

@michpc

It could be worse- I knew a guy who lived in a great, huge apt. but had a tiny bedroom (5 roomies). He built a raised desk and put his bed UNDER it. It was crazy... like a cave or something. My suggestion to try for less dorm is to think of it (like you said) as a 'loft' and not a bunk bed. I'd also try to decorate with a more urban/lofty style so it might read less dorm-room.

@michpc: IKEA's panel window coverings are great inexpensive way to give loft/raised beds a more formalized look. The light still shines through them but it helps partition the desk area so it looks and feels more like a separate room.

I'm all for multitasking, but there's something awkward about staying in a guest room piled with people's junk, or with a desk covered in personal papers. It gets even more awkward when your host realizes he needs to pay bills right when you're going to bed, or when you're sleeping in a room with an infant and you sleep REALLY lightly...

There's something to be said for treating your guests with your utmost of hospitality, and allowing that when they come to visit, it becomes THEIR room. Particularly if they stay for a long while.

Our guest room just has a wardrobe, an armchair, and several bookcases. Most of the time, it's an open yoga/napping/reading/writing space. When we do have guests, we pull out our full-height, queen-size airbed (highly recommended!). I love the fact that a permanent bed isn't just taking up floor-/psychological space the rest of the time.

IX-NAY on the nursery guest room idea unless -- and only if-- the parents give up their room to their guests and sleep with their baby. Otherwise, fugghedaboudit bunking with a baby.

And, I am with hurricanelea: at some point, we have to act like grown-ups and offer our guests the kinds of creature comforts we would want -- in the name of gracious hospitality.

We have a dedicated guest room with a real bed and comfortable mattress, nightstands, reading lights, reading chair, a large closet , extra linens, windows with curtains and blinds for privacy and so forth. It's really not that hard to make one's guest feel pampered.

Given the choice, most guests would rather stay at a hotel than on a lumpy futon in a room where their hosts pays bills or worse.

per usual, a.t. has overlooked what possibly could be its own best resource: itself. your all-time best multiuse space was posted 3/17/08: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/diy/how-tomake-a-couch-bed-and-guest-room-fit-in-a-small-space-045500.

and aychihuahua, isn't the air a little thin up there? maybe people who have to make do with what they have--and are willing not only to share it with others, but to try to make it a little more inviting--should just give up & crawl under a rock right now, eh? because i know when i have guests, they come to chez loislane for the pampering--not, god forbid, because every night they save a couple hundred dollars on hotel accommodations means they have that much more money to spend on themselves having fun.

i'm not saying to put in a bed of rocks under an open sky & point unsuspecting company to it, but jesus ... lighten up, will you? not everyone has the luxury of a dedicated space. and i'd choose the lumpy futon ANY day over a snotty attitude like yours.

I'm betting aychihuahua makes a generous salary and/or doesn't live in a major city. Sure, it's not hard to provide a dedicated guest room if you can afford a spacious three- or four-bedroom house, but in cities where the median home price only gets you a tight 2-bedroom condo there are plenty of "grown-ups" who don't have room for a reading chair and large closet in their own bedrooms let along the second bedroom, which needs to function as storage, work space, guest space, and yes, if a baby comes along, a nursery too. There are lots of ways to make a guest feel welcome: Freshly washed sheets and towels, a little flower in a vase next to their bed, and a hot cup of coffee delivered to their room in the morning work without requiring extra real estate. I have finally (at 35) graduated from two bedrooms to three, and have the luxury of a dedicated guest room, but it's barely big enough for a bed. Space does NOT define a gracious host.

After channeling the spirit of the first room -its telling me it has a wedgie. ;)