Decorating/Renovating Small Home

MsSarasue

I need help with my small (850 sq ft) house! I have been living here (unhappily) for 8 years and just found out I will be here a while longer, so I NEED to make it function better. I only use the guest bedroom twice a year, so I would like to build a Murphybed/desk combo, and I am thinking about putting in a barn door type entry from the living room to the front bedroom so it can be opened up when we have people over. Any ideas?

Erikan73

Love the idea of a murphy bed so that you can use the room as an office/craft room, or whatever else. The only thing I would recommend is that you make sure the set up for the murphy bed is something that can be moved to a new home fairly easily. Else depending on what you plan to set the room up for, a sleeper sofa may be another good option. My husband and I have a 3 bedroom house, one room for us, one has been made into an office, the third was debated. He really wanted a man cave. I really wanted a guest room. So the compromise for us was a room that had a masculine feel too it but didn't look like a college dorm room. We opted to put a sleeper sofa in there so that way it kept the man cave feel but the 2-3 times a year when it's needed, we have a nice bed (we upgraded the sofa mattress) 

Erikan73

For the barn door, it's hard to picture without actual photos.

MsSarasue

Thanks! I didn't really think of a sofa bed, but that might work too. A picture as it is now would be pretty boring. On the wall between the living room and the bedroom (top two rooms on the layout posted above), we just have a coat rack and the TV. Can't put much else there because the archway to the rest of the house is directly across from the front door. 

Here's sort of the inspiration - sliding french doors (no room for the swing) and the new layout