HOW can I do this? UPDATE

[Melaine]

Well, after DH and I talked about it we decided it was pointless to keep the bedroom set. We posted it on Craigslist and someone is planning to get it tomorrow. We are going to keep the boxsprings and mattress on the floor for awhile so that we can still have people sleep there (my parents aren't too old to sleep on the floor) and I think it will be handy to have the mattress there if I am nursing baby or even sometimes napping in there perhaps. My parents are cleaning out my grandmother's house and she had a taller (but narrower) dresser and two twin beds. We may take that dresser and one of the twin beds. It will match the nursery furniture better and is FREE. Otherwise I will probably keep my eyes peeled for a trundle bed. I'm happy that I can go ahead and get out the crib and set it up, make sure it looks ok, and start putting the baby stuff I am collecting into the little wardrobe we have.

NOW, I just have the big job of cleaning out ALL the stuff under the guest room bed and in the dresser and side-table. That will be quite the task.



I'm starting to get antsy/panicky about the baby's living space (well, really about our whole house with the addition of an extra person's worth of stuff. We have three bedrooms, ours is nice and big but the other two are quite small). The girls are in one. Our guest room/storage space/gift closet is in the second room. Over the last two months the guest room has literally looked like a walk-in gift closet.:rotflmao:

Problem: Very small closets, small rooms, no garage, difficult to access attic.

Problem: Hate to get rid of guest room furniture: bed, dresser, shelves. No room to store, good old wood stuff that we can't really afford to replace in two years. We won't have a bed for people to stay in if they want to help with the baby (which I welcome!). We do have a fold-out sofa in the living room, fortunately.

Problem: DH is a minimalist trapped in my shopaholic home. I mentioned last night that "I think DD1's Love Language is gifts". DH said, half jokingly, that his love language is "throwing stuff away".

DH and I are not into co-sleeping. I'm planning on having a pack 'n play or co-sleeper or something in the room for a couple months, but I really need baby to be in his own room. I'm the lightest sleeper you ever met and it's a big issue. Otherwise, I would just bring the crib into our room and that would solve the problem.

I will post pics in a bit. I'm just not sure what to do. I wish we could fit the guest room furniture in the attic, but it won't go.

[Kymberley]

Can you use the furniture for the baby? I don't know if that's something you'd even want to do, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

[Melaine]

Well, we might use the dresser for the baby, but the bed and dresser take up pretty much the whole room. It will be super crowded if we leave them in there. I will post pics later today. Plus, my crib will really clash with the furniture. Everything is handmedown.

[karstmama]

this might not work for you, but our family will lend stuff - 'i don't need this right now, and you can use it, but it is mine and if i ask for it back i get it back no questions'. would that work for you? do you have family nearby?

[SnuggleBuggles]

I was going to say just put the crib in the guest room but I doubt guests really want to sleep with the baby, even if they are there to help. If you will have a PnP in your room, it could still work. IMO< when you are fitting in a new person, I think you need to sometimes let go of perfect spaces and not worry about clashing. We had to make all kinds of changes to get space for ds2 here and it isn't super perfect (I lost my office and primary storage area and now the computer + all my office stuff is crammed into one cabinet in a room I never planned to put it in). Not super perfect but it actually works out ok. :)

How about a storage unit for stuff that doesn't fit and then you can bring it back when you are ready for it?

[Twoboos]

My bro and SIL have a bed in the nursery, when people come THEY sleep with the baby and give guests their room. Could you do that since it's only occasional?

What size is the bed? If it's a twin could you put it into the master and make it a daybed/couch type thing?

Cracking up about your DH's "love language." :ROTFLMAO:

[lowrioh]

Could you use your guest room furniture for your girls or do they have furniture you don't want to get rid of? You could move the bed and dresser into their room, the shelves into the living room/dining room and maybe put the couch in the master? Or could you build a shed to store your furniture? We got one for ~$1000 which would be about 12 months of storage fees (at least around here) and you would add value to your home.

http://www.homedepot.com/Lifetime/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ42x/R-202690002/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053


Or do you have a formal living room or dining room your aren't using regularly? You might be able turn that into a bedroom by adding French doors. Or maybe you could move the dresser into the dining room as a buffet?

I would worry about furniture clashing. The baby won't mind :)

I also think that the PP suggestion of lending the furniture to friends or family would be an option.

[mommylamb]

Good suggestions from everyone and I don't have anything to add, but wanted to say I hear you.

We're also in a 3 bedroom house and it's killing me to lose my guest bedroom. But I don't want DS1 and DS2 in the same room because I want to minimize disruptions to DS1. We threw away the full sized mattress in the guest room last week and I sold the bed frame on CL (was pleased because I sold it for just $25 less than I purchased it for 7 years ago). But now I'm dealing with the fact that I'd been using the closet in that room as an overflow for my own things, including my wedding dress.

On Monday a friend came over and painted that room for DS2, and we currently have all sorts of stuff all over the place in our bedroom and DS1's bedroom. I also have a dresser that has been in that room that I'm not willing to give up. It's going into DS1's closet (though it's currently in the way in our hallway upstairs). Fortunately, while DS1 has a small room, he has a pretty decent sized walk in closet.

[Melaine]

You guys have some great ideas. We actually HAVE a storage building for outside stuff and I wonder if we could store the guest bed there....if I wrap the mattresses in plastic really well? Some of the other options might work too and those are things I actually hadn't thought of. Stuff DH and I can discuss....awesome...thank you!!

[lowrioh]

You guys have some great ideas. We actually HAVE a storage building for outside stuff and I wonder if we could store the guest bed there....if I wrap the mattresses in plastic really well?

I think that it depends on where you live. Here in DC, I don't think a mattress would survive out in our shed. With the humidity in the summer, I suspect it would get moldy. My BJCED and Indie were out on our screened porch during a real humid spell and they were covered in mildew.

[Melaine]

We are in the South and humidity is very high so that might be an issue too.

[zag95]

Is it a double bed in the guest room? What about a twin over double bunk bed system in the girls' room and move the extra twin into new baby's room??

that way you still have all the beds..... just a different config.

I'd find a way to keep all the furniture, even if it doesn't match, esp if you like it!

Congrats!

[DietCokeLover]

Could you check with your church.... There might be missionaries home on furlough that could borrow the bed for a while. Or check with the school you and DH went to and see if they are aware of something similar that someone could use it for a while.

Given where you live, I would not put your mattress in the shed or the attic, but the frame, etc should be fine.

Do you have any friends there that have a storage unit they would let you pay them $10 a month to share and put the bed in there?

[fivi2]

Will the mattress fit under your bed for storage? They have those things you can use to raise your bed if it isn't tall enough.

Can the girls use the dresser? Will it fit in the closet to hold the new boy's (! wow - I just saw that - how exciting) clothes?

Can the shelves go in kitchen/living/dining? Can it go in your homeschooling area? (You do homeschool, iirc, right?)

[abh5e8]

do you plan to move (relatively) soon? if not, what are you storing the guest room furniture for?

can you put the girls in bunk beds and the crib in there? you could still use the closet and dresser in the guest room for ds's clothes.

we have 3 small bedrooms for a family of 5, but we cosleep, so we don't have a crib, which really helps. ds2, dh and I share the master. dh and i use the closet and ds2 has the crib. dd and ds1 sleep in the office/guest room queensize bed, since its warmer on that side of the house in the winter. the 3rd room is the "kids room" with twin beds (1 trundle under the other), some toys and their clothes. its kinda mixed up, but works really well for us. in another year, i plan to put dd back in the kids room and have the boys share the queen. we hope to only be here another 3 - 4 years, so it should work until then.

op, i hope you find a good plan! i'm with your dh...too much stuff drives me nuts :)

[o_mom]

Great ideas!

I would look at putting the dresser in the closet and keeping the bed in with the crib. You can then move the baby in with you when you have guests (get a good white noise machine!), but mainly still have a room for him. You can remove the closet doors and put a curtain up if you need better access to the closet. I would let go of the 'clashing' issue because a crib is such a small time in the scheme of things - 2-3 years of the 18 yrs he will live there. It will be out of there soon enough and then you will be looking for a bedroom set anyway.

The twin over full bunkbed is another great idea - putting a twin in with the baby (again, moving him out) for a single guest, or moving the girls out for a couple. They are close to 5 yrs, right? They should be getting to the point where they can crash on the living room floor or even your bedroom floor as needed. We do this now with DS1 and DS2 if needed - they can sleep in the basement or on our bedroom floor easily, giving us their rooms for adult guests.

Another possibility is to get a full or queen Aerobed for guests. That way it is out of the way when you aren't using it, but you can set it up as needed.

As far as storing the bed - I would get rid of the mattress, since you don't have a good place to store it with the humidity and see if you can store the frame under another bed or in a closet. Use the dresser and bookcase for the baby (again - ignore the clashing, it's temporary).

[kijip]

Just tossing out a random idea.

What about giving all three kids your quite large room and taking the largest remaining one for you guys and then keeping the guest room? Then you still have the guest room and your twins won't be jealous later of the youngest getting their own room.

This was our plan for #3 before the late miscarriage. We figure kids have more stuff that takes up space. All we need is a bed and a closet and some bookshelves.

[Melaine]

Katie, I did think about putting the kids in the master....it is pretty tempting actually! I think it would be nice for them to have the extra space especially with all their toys and we don't have a playroom. The big issue would be that the bathroom is completely open to the bedroom with a big arching doorway. So they would have free reign with the sinks and the hot tub. Which I'm afraid isn't a good idea....

It's a great idea to put the dresser in the closet! That could be an excellent solution.

What I'm thinking is to keep the bed for as long as possible for guests. Put the baby in our room in a bassinet or keep the crib in here temporarily. Then when the baby is in his room full-time, I think we will just store the frame, and give away the box springs and mattress. Or try to fit them under my bed like someone said (good idea). If we put the dresser in the closet or one of the other rooms, maybe keep the nightstand in there just to use as a table, at least we will still have the set in the future if needed.

Then again, someone else mentioned unless we move will we ever need it. That's a good point! I might should consider selling it on CL and if we move in the future buying something else. I guess I am having a bit of trouble emotionally letting go of having a guest room, because I really like entertaining/hosting!

The girls' room isn't going to be good for guests (at least adult ones) because their beds are the Ikea Kura lofts that I don't think are even rated for adult weight. So they might not get kicked out of their room. Of course, DS (yay, I love saying that) could definitely bunk in with them and leave his room free for an air mattress or two in case of company. Maybe I will look out for a trundle bed for that room so that we will at least have a couple of guests spots (and that could be DS's bed in a couple years).

To answer a couple other questions, we don't have a formal dining room or a schoolroom (sadly). We have a decent sized living room that opens to the eat-in kitchen. Then we have the guest bath, three bedrooms and master bed/bath. That's it...really not a whole lot of wiggle room. I'm happy we do at least have a fold-out couch which is great although not ideal since the floor plan is so open.

[mum-to-be]

Melaine,

We had to give up our junk/guest room with DD's arrival. My parents stayed with us until she was 6 weeks, so we squeezed all her furniture in our room - right around the walls - it was tight but worked. The day they left they helped us dismantle, move and reassemble furniture in DD's room. It worked for then.

We have guests coming in a month, and they are staying for four weeks. It's my husband's sister, her husband and their 3 year old and 1 year old DDs. I think we are going to temporarily give them the lounge room, which is the front room, far from ideal, but I figure the kids could play in my kids' rooms during the day, and at least the front room can be closed off thanks to the pocket doors. We have another open plan dining/lounge room but it is right in the center of the house and the kids rooms share walls with it so the noise will be a problem at nap time. I might just have to take DS and their DD out or to the backyard while DD and their DD nap and they can man the fort. I hope we don't all go insane.

I actually am doing a search on bunk beds because I wonder what to do about our bed situation. DS has the queen that was our guest bed, so I was thinking of getting him double bunks that can be used as two twins so DD can have one of them one day and if we choose for them to share a room later we will have the option. Then our guests can have the queen in the front room. But then what would I do with the queen after that? I could put it back in DS's room, and store just the new single mattress in the house somewhere (who knows where?) and the bed frame in the garage (but as you say it may get damaged). I'd like to get rid of the queen so he has more space for playing, but my parents are coming for a visit at some stage too. They'll stay a month as well so they need a comfortable bed.

You know, when I was at university we had a single bed in our lounge room just for sitting on. My parents owned the house we kids lived in, so they put any old furniture there and would also come to stay during school holidays so it was a way of having extra beds. Could that be an option for you?

[Melaine]

Bumping for update at top of post.

[tiapam]

meant to start a new thread. sorry!