17 design ideas for office-spare-rooms
Spare rooms are a saving grace in any house, with many providing the dual role of the office-spare room. House & Garden is packed with brilliant spare room ideas, but sometimes you have to be creative to get the most out of a space. Of course, it would be lovely to have just the right amount of rooms for everything you want to do in your house, but it's rarely the case, and many of us will need to amalgamate a room's functions from time to time. Like blending anything - butter and sugar, oil and vinegar, an old dog with a new kitten - there are sensible ways of doing it to avoid too many hurdles, curdles and scratches. Don't, for example, stick a desk in the corner of the living room, which also houses all of your kids' toys, and expect peaceful blended bliss. Don't put your free weights next to the kettle and expect to be picking them up whilst it boils. Don't have your teenage son's room function as the guest room if said teen comes home from university every weekend, leaving Aunt Sue on the beanbag in the playroom.
In successful office-cum-bedrooms, we find that the weight of purpose leans rather to one side or the other. In other words, you'll get the most out of a room that is a guest room (with a study in it), or an office (that's a guest room). Unless you really do have ample space and storage to extrapolate both a luxurious guest room and a useful, functional office, then the ability to pack away one or the other will benefit you tremendously. In this 1960s flat in west London, designer Natalie Tredgett was challenged to create a flexible live-work space out of a low-ceilinged, two-story apartment. This is best seen in the office/spare bedroom, where the bed fully folds up into the wall, leaving room for a fully-fledged office, with Fiona McDonald’s ‘Nova’ chair at an Ikea desk. When guests do come by, the ample built-in storage allows the owner to pack away her work bits and easily transform the room into a temporary home for loved ones passing through.
Other rooms in our archives are more confident spare bedrooms, with attractive antique desks or bureaus that could look and function as vanities, whilst also offering an extra bit of space for private work or calls. Either way, an office and a spare room is a practical and doable composite, and lots of designers in our archives have done it very right.
Paul Massey1/15A comfortable spare bedroom with an antique desk at Giles Vincent's west London townhouse.
Paul Massey2/15Twin beds are the ideal set up for when grandchildren come to stay. This London flat designed by Henrietta Fitzwilliam Lay features patterned bedcovers are balanced by a headboard and blind in ‘Rabanna’ cotton and valances in linen in the perfect fool colourway, both from Fermoie. The prints are by Paul Peter Piech.
Mark Anthony Fox3/15The dainty little pull-out desk provides the perfect perch to work, thanks to the ingenuity of designer Veere Grenney, who has infused this London pied-à-terre with a touch of camp and Regency elegance. The project showcases his mastery of layered, comfortable interiors. Here, a bespoke VGA upholstered headboard is adorned with Pierre Frey's Indhira fabric, while the walls are upholstered in VGA Prima Alpaca. The wardrobe, painted in Tarlatan by Paint & Paper Library, is complemented by wardrobe curtains in Cupid by Chelsea Textiles, creating a sophisticated and harmonious space.
Milo Brown4/15In this townhouse in Stoke Newington by Lonika Chande we find an example of a spare room that is more study than guest room, primarily because the bed is neatly tucked away within an attractively dressed bespoke daybed designed by Lonika and upholstered in ‘Gustav’ by Howe. It houses a trundle underneath the valance, and so can be made up as a double bed for guests if needed. The woodwork is painted in ‘Pimlico Green’ by Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler, paired with a blind in Adam Bray's ‘Fela Original’ fabric. The joinery and wall are painted in ‘Baked Cherry’ by Little Greene, which functions like a zoning device to imply the separation between ‘sleeping’ and ‘working’ without true barriers.
Milo Brown5/15Across from the daybed in the same room, the chair pulls out the cherry red tones from opposite, and the shelves provide ample storage for books and storage. Finding or making a desk with built-in drawers is always handy for hiding away office trinkets that might not be so attractive to a visitor.
Mark Anthony Fox6/15A small studio, created by the previous owners of artist Haidee Becker's house in north-east London, is reached through the garden. It is a calm space, featuring a wooden-panelled interior and deep-set window that allows for a small desk and chair. The unusually box shelf which sits flush to the ceiling, allows for some useful extra storage, keeping the bedroom calm and clutter-free for guests.
Elsa Young7/15At the bottom of her garden, Henrietta Courtauld has one of the most enviable work/guest set-up in our archives. The neatly formed garden room gives Henrietta proper space to work undisturbed, with a sofa for decompressing or taking relaxed meetings. The bespoke seating area also allows for guests to stay in the room.
Elsa Young8/15Opposite the day bed in the same studio, a neat cafe curtain does stirling work at hiding a myriad of things accumulated during the working day, meaning Henrietta's guest room can be ready in a jiffy.
Owen Gale9/15This spare room in Georgina Cave's London house used to be the bedroom of a teenage son. The chic, neutral tonal palette gives the room a classic feel, and the bed sits adjacent to the desk because of the limited space. The desk itself is a very attractive vintage find, so its addition to the room is no bad thing.
Paul Massey10/15This spare room in a London house by Ben Pentreath could easily be mistaken for a main bedroom, but Ben opines that Morris & Co’s ‘Fruit’ from Style Library is a pattern that's “perfect to only spending one night in." Its joyful colours could bring some levity to your working day, while the lovely vintage desk and chair don't look out of place in the room at all, and could easily work as a vanity for guests dressing up for a party.
Tom Griffiths11/15In the spare room of interior designer Kate Cox's flat in Bristol, the bureau (an antique from William Morris Antiques) is a classic hack for allowing a space to function as both bedroom and office, offering a cosy place to write, as well as plenty of storage for either work supplies or guests' clothes.
Boz Gagovski12/15The spare room of creative consultant Max Hurd’s London terrace is small but mighty, packed full of bold colour and pattern. The walls are in Farrow & Ball's Joa’s White with woodwork in Charlotte’s Locks and Belvedere. The tiny desk is in an unlikely place below the window, but allows the room to function as an ad-hoc workspace as well as a room for a guest or temporary house mate. The hanging rail is a useful addition, as guests often want to hang up clothes without fully unpacking into a wardrobe, and its height means it won't interfere with the small desk in front.
Mark Anthony Fox13/15We love a multi-hyphenate room, and this deep burgundy room in a Wimbledon flat by Emma Burns makes the perfect snug, library, study and - thanks to a sofa bed from The Sofa & Chair Company - guest room. Above it hangs a framed antique silk panel from the Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler antiques department. The walls are painted in ‘Baked Cherry’ by Little Greene and in the bookcase are a pair of late nineteenth-century stained glass roundels, which Emma had made into lightboxes.
Dean Hearne14/15In the spare bedroom of this lovely house on the Deal seafront, Ottoline's ‘Improvisation Number 1’ wallpaper provides the pattern, along with a quilt that belonged to the owner's grandmother. The clever placement of the side table is the perfect, multi-purpose solution for a small room: move the chair to the right of the bedside table, and it is transformed into a vanity or writing desk.
STEPHAN JULLIARD15/15This tiny Paris apartment by Marianne Evennou features a creative use of colour and flexible furniture to enhance the proportions and maximise space. The room features an element Marianne integrates into many of the small flats she decorates: a built-in desk. ‘They take up less space and are also practical. Plus, they create a separate workspace, which enriches even the smallest apartment with another distinct zone.’
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