We have a 3-bedroom home. When our boys were young they each had their own room. Once they were grown and gone we converted the smaller of the bedrooms into a study/office. There is a comfortable leather reading chair and side table. We converted the clothes closet into a desk area and there is a second desk in our built in. This has been great for our empty nest and for Hubby and my computer work.
Karen’s desk area (above)…when can we expect wireless everything?
Hubby’s desk area (below)…since Hubby works from home he has more of everything.
The guest room is comfortably equipped with a queen sized bed and ample closet space for visiting guests [read :: son #1 and DIL, with our granddaughter]. Olivia is still small and has been quite happy to sleep in the pack and play we were given but we know the day will come when Olivia (and her mommy and daddy) will want her to have a bed to sleep in, preferably in a separate room.
Below is the wall we could fit a daybed…the chair would be moved but the wall is relatively furniture free.
So…I’ve been looking at day beds. And since I love you guys and your valuable input, I’m sharing some of what I’ve seen and hope you will offer some opinion on this topic.
The bed below looks like it could be an antique. This holds great appeal for me. I could see passing an antique down to someone later for future generations. I tend to romanticize the spin on just about everything.
The blue bed is sweet and looks like it would make a little person feel safe with the side detail. It also looks like it might be a little shorter than most twin beds, which would be a bonus in our room with its limited space.
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I like the looks of an iron bed, I’ve seen a few varieties that seem sweet and might take up less visual space since the iron is less bulky in feel than a wood bed.
This bed is lovely but I believe it wouldn’t fit in the space.
Charles Faudree has the best ideas (below)! If space permitted I’d go for book cases, one either end of the day bed.
Simple but efficient.
The bed below almost looks like a closet…very nice.
This would be the ideal “grandma and grandpa” guest arrangement for visiting children…
It would be nice if the daybed did double duty and provided sofa seating when needed.
Photo by William Waldron
Or maybe we could screen the patio and let the wee ones sleep outside! Just kidding, but isn’t this a great set up (below)
What do you think? Do any of you have daybeds in your home, any recommendations? I love hearing your ideas. xo, Karen
Garden, Home & Party 
Design Chic said:
Love your transformation to a study and a daybed would be the perfect addition. The one from La Brocanteuse is fabulous!!
Content in a Cottage said:
I like the robin’s egg blue one with the ticking best of all.
Victoria Elizabeth Barnes said:
Those are all lovely. I like the ones that are backless… so they can look more like a bench when not in use. Although? If I were a little girl? I would LOVE the nooks and crannies of the two different built-ins with the bookshelves.
I really love the first one… simple and timeless. But if I were you I would just stalk craigslist everyday!! Sometimes you have to be patient, but I’ve found some really lovely things on there.
Kathy said:
OK, I’ve been giving this a lot of thought. My first reaction was all of the beds are beautiful. Then when I started to really think about which would really be attractive AND functional I changed my first choice. I would go with some kind of bunkbed. You could go with painted or stained. I would make the focus the bedding. Chances are you’ll have more than one grandchild. I’m looking at it this way because I have three grandsons. They’re all brothers. They still like to come over and camp out in the same room. I learned it doesn’t matter the size of the home, we always end up in the same room.
I LOVE your figurines on the shelf. I know what you mean, wires drive me crazy.
Kathy
Kifus said:
I would go for the antique bed, Karen. If later on you have more grandchildren then you can think about bunk beds and move the antique bed to another room, it will still be your treasure and you will smile every time you see it.
Karen B. said:
Hi Kifus, The antique bed is beautiful and I have a bit of time so I can search. You’re right, I would smile each time I saw it! Thanks for weighing in, I value your input. Have a great week. Karen
Carla said:
Karen…loved all the daybed selections. If you are keeping the office in the room I think a more masculine daybed with a trundle would be a good choice. My daughter put a really wonderful daybed with a trundle in my grandson’s room for his “big boy” bed and it looks marvelous. Also do not count out future grandchildren and a trundle can ..fingers crossed…be there just waiting for another little one. CARLA
Keri said:
Hi Karen, I love your ideas, & thanks so much for the links to my blog. I have given daybeds a lot of thought because I have a young one for whom I have considered a daybed to be a good solution. It is important to me to have one that is both sturdy (as jumping on the bed has become the Olympic sport of choice for my darling) and look really good (the look of an antique, if possible). I have never done a blog post on it, but after looking at lots of inspiration photos, I have found and saved several resources for great looking daybeds, at least one that is petite sized (smaller than twin). If you are interested in links, email me and I’ll gladly send them to you.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do for your sweet grand. It’ll be fun!!
And Happy 4th, if I don’t talk to you before then!
Keri
Ricki Jill Treleaven said:
I love daybeds. We are making a swinging one for our home library! 😀
We still have another month or so until the room is ready. Great post!
Gretchen said:
Karen, I think a daybed is the perfect solution for your needs. I love the idea of having it double as a little sofa. An antique would be fun if you can find one that will fit in the space.