Comments On Article: First Day Of August Update On The Lake And Recap

These past few days I’ve been working in my craft room - workshop - studio (I’ve yet to decide what to call it).  Unfortunately, while I have more energy than I did when I was very ill, I’ve clearly lost a lot of strength, and I managed to aggravate my right flank.  I first noticed this pain when I started spending more time on my feet in the kitchen, but rest was enough to stop the pain.  Moving things around and carrying heavy bins has made things worse though, and the pain is quite severe.  But the job needs to be finished, so I will to push through another day.  Tonight I will rest on a heating pad before sleep.

The best configuration for the workshop is to put the long table down the middle of the room so we’ll can work at it from both sides.  Doing this, however, makes it difficult to change the room into a guest room should the need arise.  It’s hard to decide what to do — when the room is tidy and well organized I create in it nearly everyday, whereas we have guests perhaps once a year.  Do all of you keep a guest room available?  Growing up we didn’t, we were 6 people in 3 small bedrooms.  If my grandmother came to stay my sister and I had to share the upper bunk and my grandmother slept in the lower bunk.  When my husband’s grandfather came to stay with them when he was growing up, my husband slept on the couch so his grandfather could have the lower bunk, and his brother took the upper bunk.  His grandfather would stay for a few months at a time.  My son could vacate his room if we have guests, but his room is attached to the main bathroom and the guys have go through it to use the shower and access the closet (which is in the main bathroom).  It’s not ideal, but we could make it work.  What we can’t afford to do is pay for a hotel if family comes to visit.

I have so much fabric!  All in all it’s 20 bins, although some aren’t full.  13 bins are from fabric I received for free.  One bin is batting, one bin is interfacings and stabilizers, one is clothing that my husband didn’t want anymore that I want to repurpose, one is all sorts of other repurposed fabric like old towels, the bags rice comes in, etc., and the other three are the fabric I already had.  I also have 7 bins of yarn!  I feel like.I have my own mini craft store!  My 1930s heart is astounded by this abundance, especially since the majority of the fabric was free.

I don't think it's socially/societally necessary to have a guest room, it's more a matter of convenience.  It allows overnight company to not disrupt the flow of the household.  For example, if a guest is sleeping on your couch (or a cot, air mattress, or sleeping bag on the living room floor) or a family member is sleeping there to give the guest their bed, then you end up tiptoing around in the morning trying not to wake them.  It can also make the space feel cluttered at a time when most people are trying to show off their home at it's best.  However, I don't think maintaining a room that only gets brief use a few times a year is an efficient use of space.  It sounds far more important to have your craft room as funtional as possible for daily use.

You aren't obligated to provide a bed or put guests up in a hotel, just be honest with them ahead of time about the accomodations available.  For example "we don't have a guest room but I can set up an air mattress in the living room" or "we don't have a guest bed but you're welcome to bring a sleeping bag and crash on the couch" or even, "we don't have any room in the house, so bring a tent if you plan to stay the night" are all perfectly okay and fairly common among my peers.  Obviously it's not the "high society" thing to do.

I have 2 guest rooms only because my children have grown up and moved out with their own families. Thankfully they just live down the road in my parents house that I own.   IF it were up to me the grands that are married with family would live closer also but they are only 20 minutes away.

I have guest beds but I also use the rooms for whatever is needed. In one I have a stainless steel rack to store my canned foods. I also store various pastas in a washstand in the same room. I use whatever I can for storage as I don't have a pantry and a very small kitchen.

I sometimes use the other as a place to set up my drying racks for laundry.

Right now I am in the middle of pickling and jelly /jam making and am finding the cost of sugar is really high and only going higher. Trying to think like the 1930's and limited funds for people at that time I decided to limit my sugar use to food preservation and if something sweet is wanted I am making less and trying to substitute honey when possible....we keep bees. But then our honey from last year is running out, we will harvest again on Labor Day weekend. There is always a way to figure it out and I will.

We have been offered pears when they are ready and concord grapes, again thinking like 1930's we will take what is offered and use. 

Gr.Donna thank you for all you do.

We don't have a guest room in our three bedroom home. We have a bedroom, our adult son and his partner have a bedroom, and the third bedroom is a joint workroom for the kids and my spouse (I have my own craft/work area in a kitchen alcove).

Instead, we have a fairly nice sleeper sofa in the living room. The issue is you have to walk through the living room to literally get anywhere else in the house. We installed eye hooks in the ceiling around the sofa that aren't usually noticeable. When guests stay, we hang up thick moving blankets that have grommets to slip the hooks through. It provides a private space at night, but can be moved aside during the day. We also keep  the walk-in closet in the workroom, which opens off the living room, half empty. One side just has a shelf and bare closet rod, so guests can use it to keep their luggage and personal items out of the way but accessible.

In a pinch, a single not-too-tall person could sleep on the love seat that is in the work room. 

We have a three bedroom home and the kids have moved out, which left us two unused rooms.  One bedroom has a regular single bed (the rooms are 10 x 12 ft, so that fits best) and the other room is now my craft room, but it has a "chair and a half" which is more like a love seat, that pulls out into a single bed.  I have a small sewing table and small desk in that room too, but they leave room to pull that bed out.  When I have more people we use an air mattress in the living room, but it's rare to have more people.  My kids and their families live close enough to go back home in the evening.  The bedroom that holds a regular single bed is the official guest room, but it also has a play desk for the grandkids, and they play in there a lot, plus I have trays of home canned goods under the bed, so no room is just a guest room in our home. 

Thank you all for your ideas about guest rooms and hosting guests when they visit!

I should have mentioned that the most frequent guests — and even that is probably once a year — would be my 80 year old MIL and my SIL.  Last time they came to our state my husband explained to them that I was too ill to have guests in the house, and they understood.  I don’t think I can have my MIL sleeping on a couch or air mattress, so she would have to take my son’s bed if we no longer have a place in the workshop.  I like the idea of hanging curtains around the bed area to create some privacy when people are walking to that bathroom (only shower in the house).  My dad moved away 5 years ago and has never come back to visit anyone, so I’m not too worried about that.  We have family in Europe that came to visit for nearly a month last year, but they are young and can sleep anywhere, Plus they just started their family and I don’t expect them to come this way again for many, many years.

We have an old house, with a living room, dining room, kitchen, small laundry area, breakfast nook, hall bathroom, and 3 bedrooms.  Old bungalows don’t typically have entry ways or family rooms.  My husband and I share a bedroom with a half bath that was converted from a closet.  In the past I would have given up my bedroom, but no one lived far away!  Now I need to be close to my bathroom because of IBD.  My son has the primary bedroom with the en suite bathroom, but it isn’t only his bedroom — it’s also where we watch TV in the evenings (only TV in the house), where the play guitar if they want to use amplifiers, and where DH works from home twice a week (when my son is also at work, so it doesn’t inconvenience him).  My husband and son share the closet in that bathroom, and I have a coat closet that was turned around to face the bedroom when the closet in our room was turned into a bathroom.  The third bedroom is my workshop, and while I have more than once offered it to my son, he likes the room he is in even if he has to share it (the room he’s in is darker at night, has a much better audio system for listening to music, and has the en suite bathroom).  He also says he wants me to have my own space, especially since we gave him the extra room off the garage to create a gym.

The last several times we’ve hosted guests, we put them in the workshop.  But we’ve never had enough room to really work in there.  DH does some of his work outside in the garage, but likes to do some in the house so we can be together and he can sit at a table.  Moving the big table to the center of the room gives us so much more space — I’m excited to use it

Ah, I guess your MIL's age does rule out some of the less comfortable sleeping arrangements, like camping in the yard:)

On the other hand, when your guests are family, things like having to pass through the guest room to reach the bathroom should be less awkward.

I also love the idea of putting up curtains to divide off a private area.  Assuming, of course, that your son doesn't mind giving up his room for guests.

Jenny Wren.... I have made many things... Aprons, skirts, dresses etc out of sheets and duvet covers. When I've made a quilt I've often backed it with a duvet cover as they are lovely and wide and as you say great value.

My daughter recently gave me sheets that are lemon background with daisies.My mind us in overdrive as to what to make... An apron or 3 is top of the list.