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Show Friday. January Design guest rooms ByJOWERNE Knight Ridder Newspaper? It's the season for turkey, trimmings and ... house guests. mother-in-laA for Cousins for Thanksgiving. Christmas. A college buddy for the Super Bowl. They arrive. And arrive. And arrive . Of course, not everyone has a spare room reserved just for guests. Most guests find themselves sleeping on a sofa bed in the Florida room, on a day bed in the den or on a folding cot in the home office. Because most guest rooms have to accommodate several functions, they're not easy to organize. A bed might serve as a sofa. A nightstand can double as a desk. . Interior designers are great sources for ideas, so we asked several to show us guest rooms they created for clients. All agreed that a comfortable bed, . good lighting and adequate storage are essential, especially if a guest room is multipurpose. "Guest bedrooms should be as beautiful as the master bedroom," said Toby Zack of Toby Zack Associates in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. "There should be a comfortable mattress on the bed, lovely linens, everything to make guests feel welcome." But practicality, too, enters the picture. "To have a guest room with twin beds is a waste of space when you may have guests only a few nights a year," said designer Nury Feria of Design Perceptions, Miami. "And few homes or apartments can devote a room solely to guests." Here's a breakdown of what a good guest room needs: The bed you choose a bed, review last year's guest list. Do visit every holiyour day? Does your college kid bring friends home? Such a review will suggest whether single or e beds would be the best ..Before in-la- full-siz- choice. For a multipurpose guest room i.e., one that doubles as an office there are a myriad of choices: sofa beds, day beds, sleigh beds, trundle beds and Murphy beds. Dressed as couches by day (except for Murphy), they take up a lot less space than full- - or queen-siz- e beds. Nury Feria said she finds a trundle bed "a great solution for multipurpose rooms." Unlike a day bed, which has a twin mattress, a trundle bed has a low mattress and frame on casters that pulls out to accommodate another sleeper. I.IW THE DAILY HERALD, Home Magazine - Page IS that please company and are practical for yoii For Isaac and Margarita Aguia, a Colombian couple who use their Majestic Towers apartment in Bal Harbour, Fla., as a vacation home, Feria created a triple-threa- t room The wood trundle bed is covered in a beige, teal and comforter and topped with pillows in those shades to serve as a sofa trundle by day. The pull-ou- t holds a twin-siz- e mattress. Murphy beds, which swing up or fold into a closet or cabinet when not in use, were the solution for the guest room in the Coconut Grove home of Miami Walter architect Martinez and his wife. Olga. Because their grandchildren visit most weekends, the room has to serve as bedroom and "playroom as well as a sewing room. They decided the pulldown beds would be ideal for Elise, 8, and Harrison, 5, offspring of their daughter, Teresita, and Joseph Alexander Lacret. When the beds are stored in their cabinets, there's plenty of floor space for the kids to play. guest-den-offic- e. d son-in-la- Good lighting While many bedrooms have a or central lighting fixture one in a ceiling fan designers find this type of lighting harsh. They prefer a variety of lighting in a room to accommodate reading in bed, working at a desk and dressing. Miami designer Jeanne M. Booth prefers "pin-up- " lamps that hang on the wall above the night stands or the headboard. This keeps night stands free and guests can swing the lamps around to suit their reading needs," Booth said. If there's a desk in the room, it should also have a light, And a either a lamp or pin-ufloor lamp is great to place by an armchair or chaise longue so guests can read comfortably. drawers or an armoire. One of the most obvious things for a guest room is one the fax machine. Jn the second, "We didn't want to replace larger guest room he placed the the tile, so phone and fax machine on a that's what led to the black and piece that's a white theme in the guest room," combined desk, bureau and pop- Jeanne Booth said. "We had a up TV cabinet. curving wall in the bath to deal McGuinness selected twin with and it took the toila.very low dressers to flank the bed to well." provide ample storage as well Pamper your guests by stockas a generous surface. ing the bath with soaps, lotions, When space is cramped, towels and. a unisex terry robe. designers search for clever alternatives. At Frank and Mirror Be sure to hang a mirror Sandy Kaplan's Miami area home, the guest above a bureau or desk or try room accommodates a Ralph Feria's solution: She had the Lauren day bed but has little sliding closet doors mirrored in space for night stands. Jeanne her clients' guest room. Booth solved the problem by The reflecting mirror helps having two wood boxes made open up the space in a small to fit the space on either side room and provides a of the bed. mirror for guests to check their She draped the unfinished appearance," she said. boxes in the black and white toile fabric that matches the Windows wall covering. Make sure window treat"The shelves in the boxes are ments offer adequate privacy high enough off the floor to and that no light comes in place a suitcase under," Booth through the covering at night. black-and-whi- most often overlooked. "What to do with luggage is something no one thinks about," said Jeanne Booth. "You need a folding luggage rack or a bench at the foot of the bed to place a suitcase on. So often a suitcase is used as a drawer by the guest or ends up on top of a bureau." custom-designe- d Night stands Telephones and faxes are joining clock radios on guest room nightstands because guests often need to keep in touch with the office. That means ample storage is needed beside the bed. Designer Mac McGuinness. an associate of Toby Zack, was asked by clients Alice and Tom Blair to include a telephone and fax machine in each of the two guest rooms they have at Fort in L'Hermitage Lauderdale. The couple, who vacation there when not at home in Potomac, Md., bought two apartments in the new building to accommodate themselves, their three married children and five grandchildren, when they visit. "We are separate but equal and I don't have to look at them," joked Alice Blair. "But we do get together for the beach and meals." For one guest room, McGuinness chose matching nightstands with a shelf to hold full-lengt- h said. "Guests can place shoes or whatever on the shelf," which is concealed by the fabric. Bath nearby Ideally, a guest room has an adjacent, bath or one nearby. "You don't want your guests to have to use the children's or master bath," Feria said. If the bath is adjacent, it should have a color scheme that's complementary to the guest room. Sometimes the bath tile determines the guest room decor, as it did in Frank and Sandy Kaplan's home. ERA Mniititain U1V1 1 1? T Depending on the decoration of the room, shutters, blinds, curtains or draperies can be used. "If your guests have trouble sleeping, the room must be dark," Booth said. "Consider such as blackout shades." The tryout Before guests arrive, be your own guest and try out the room yourself. Sleep in it one night to test mattress comfort, temperature, convenience, lighting and privacy. QtiH iv uiuuiii uuiiu Pleasant Grove 590 W. State, IO OD-O- U p. treatments room-darkenin- g n nn g REAL Adequate storage y ESTATE 'An If the budget allows, built-i. storage is a great solution for a guest room that has several functions, such as the one Nury her. for Feria designed Colombian clients. She asked Luis Lozada, an industrial designer, to design three tall bookcasecabinets and two low ones; they are maple with mahogany trim. One of the low cabinets serves as a support for the glass slab desk top. Another serves as a night stand while the tall cabinets are used for books, art objects and clothing storage. Every guest room should .have a closet with plenty of padded hangers. If the closet is inadequate, provide a chest of- n AWWCE REDUCED" $139,900. Exclusive d oad car g ai one, icvay ncd hi home Covered porch to enjoy the sunset laws to emercain irom. 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