I need a guest bed solution....

[politicat]

My sister, her husband and my nephew are coming to a week at Thanksgiving. She passed her first round of interviews at NOAA, and there's a lockheed martin installation opening in the area real soon, so they're wanting to look around Colorado and get an idea of the state.

That's not a major problem - sleeping them is. We have the space (3 bedrooms and a den) but not the beds. And space itself might be an issue; the den is exercise and TV stuff, one bedroom is where the cats graciously allow us a quarter inch of the king sized bed, and the other two, smaller bedrooms, are offices. My office has a twin bed, but not one suitable for my 6 something tall BIL and my 5'11 sister (who probably exceed the bed's weight limits together anyway... it is old.). At least one night, I'm going to make sure they have time together since they currently live in separate states (job versus her almost finished university) and I'm doing that by renting them a nice room in one of the nicer local hotels. The other nights, though...

I really don't want to buy a new piece of furniture, and none of my friends have a piece I can borrow for a few days. I was thinking an aerobed, but they have some less than stellar reviews out there, and air mattresses can be... icky.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

[NMDemDist2]

1. we lived on an Aerobed for a week and icky is right! and they aren't

cheap either so you aren't gaining much

check with a upholstery shop for 6" foam to put on the floor?

[Warpy]

23. Been there, done that, got the backache

and I sleep on a futon that's old enough to be pretty hard. Plus, have you priced 6 inch foam lately? It's really expensive.

The Aerobed is probably the best idea, but it needs to be padded. I'd probably put egg crate foam on it and a mattress cover over that.

The problem with the air beds is that you're sleeping on either plastic or rubberized cloth, and that makes you sweat. It's the same problem hospital patients have with hospital mattresses.

The solution is to put padding between mattress and people.

The best thing about the Aerobed is you can deflate the sucker when you're done with it and get your space back with minimal storage for the mattress.

[Catherine Vincent]

2. Okay, here is what you do....

You and your hubby's king size bed go to your sister and her husband. Your husband will take the twin bed in the other bedroom. Your nephew will sleep on the couch. YOU will sleep in your folding rocking chair that you bought at Target. :P ;-)

Seriously, airbeds are not that bad. When I had a house full a while back, my nephew slept on an air mattress. This one had it's own electric air pump that filled it up in seconds. It also deflated in seconds. It was really cool.

[NMDemDist2]

3. they are fine for one, it's a bit tricky with two people. n/t

[Catherine Vincent]

5. Yeah, you're probably right.

I don't think they have king size. That is prolly what would be needed for two people to be comfortable.

[Horse with no Name]

4. Go to one of the rent to own places

rent it for a week and then have them pick it back up. Might cost you $25-$40...I personally would only rent the mattresses and hollywood frame.
Good luck!

[NMDemDist2]

6. that's a smart idea! n/t

[politicat]

7. I'm just afraid that such a thing would end up on my credit...

Don't they require nasty, evil contracts that demand your first born child and a quart of blood a month at interest rates that would make Shylock feel faint?

[Horse with no Name]

9. Nope

They don't require anything. I think 3 references, the initial week rental fee (about $25) and that is it. No deposits or anything.
Generally you can rent something like this for a few bucks.
They don't have long term contracts.
Go to www.colortyme.com and see what they have. in our area--I pulled up a bedroom set for $21.99 a week.
Most of them run the same deals:
http://www.colortyme.com/faq.aspx
I think aaron rents also is a good one.

On edit:
My daughter went to college for a summer semester. It was only 4 weeks.
She has a very large television in her bedroom and didn't want to haul it around. We rented her a TV/DVD combo for a month for about $40.
When we were done with it, we returned it. No problems. No hassles.

[eleny]

10. We did that twice

Many years ago we did that. Once for my in laws and once for my folks. It was such a grest solution. They each stayed for a week or maybe it was two. Just short term. If they still have the short term rentals, it's great. Delivery and pickup with no worries.

Hubby and I slept on an aero bed for a month and we survived. For a week or so it would have been a snap. We covered it with a matress cover first, like at home on our regular bed, and we were fine. I'd suggest a king size for more stretching room.

[marions ghost]

8. you can buy single

foam mattresses at any bedding store...much cheaper than regular matresses and not too bad, although hard (but you can add quilts on top for softer feel). They are sometimes sold for bunk beds. Put in a mattress bag and they can store anywhere you have space.

Or swap your single bed for a futon sofa.

[politicat]

11. Single bed frame is an antique with serious sentimental value.

It was my great-aunt's bed (she died as a young woman, so I never knew her, but I grew up with Bonnie Kate stories, and having something of hers is a privilege for me) and, while the mattresses have been improved many times since the 1910s, I can't get rid of the frame until my niece is old enough to have it (5-6 years, we think. I think she'll get it for her 7th or 8th birthday.) I won't even put it in storage anymore; I can't polish it and feed the wood if it's in storage.

I'll check into the foam mattresses, though. I can build a temporary platform from 2x12s (I need some for my garden next year, anyway) and plywood (we want to build a coffin, anyway.) And if the foam mattresses are just foam in a cover, I can cut them up to replace the cushions on my sofa next year.

[I_Make_Mistakes]

12. When I broke my ankle last year I got an air mattress and have

used one since. I put it in my living room because after the surgery, it was the closest room to the kitchen and bathroom. I have 2 lumbar bulging discs and one cervical and believe it or not that air mattress helped me with my back problem. I have read on air mattress reviews of other back pain suffers relief with the cheap old ($25.00) Coleman air mattress.

I plan on building a platform bed and using an air mattress as my only mattress (currently, my air mattress resides on top of my box spring and regular mattress) when I move.

And, yes, the pump, will inflate or deflate in seconds, thus requiring little storage space. It also uses regular sheets and comes in twin, full, queen or king size. I have a queen.

[eleny]

13. My chiropractor said air mattresses are the best for backs

I think she has one of the "sleep number" ones.

We're thinking of getting rid of the matress that came with our camper and installing our aero bed mattress and adding a thin foam thing on that. It should be way more comfortable.

[NMDemDist2]

14. we have one and a temperpedic type pad. for years we keep it on

top of the mattress, but when we moved I put it inside the cover and it works fine, stays put and is cooler than laying directly on the foam

we love our sleep comfort bed cuz Mr. K likes his soft soft and my side is quite firm

we were too broke to spring for the number thingie, ours is just firmer or softer with a toggle type switch and it saved us about $500 on the mattress

[eleny]

15. i'll check out the temperpedic pads

recently, we needed to raise up the head of our bed. the adjustable beds are a small fortune. so i found an air pillow that's shaped like a wedge. you put it under the matress and fill it to where you like it. we have a queen bed and so we both have to like where it is. but we seem to like the same height. it really helps with heartburn problems.

[NMDemDist2]

16. i think they are hot. but then I am a

woman of "indeterminate age"

:rofl:

but putting it inside the air mattress cover on top of the air bladders has helped a lot

[eleny]

17. Same here

It's been chilly here at night but I still don't need the furnace on. And then there's the bed covers all poofy and warm. If we get a pad, it's definitely going under the matress cover!

[NMDemDist2]

18. i'm not sure I've explained this right. we have a "sleep number" air

bed. and my foam is UNDER the mattress material on top of the air bladders

on the air beds, the whole mattress top unzips so you can install the air bladders. so all I have on top of the mattress is a standard mattress cover and sheets

the foam is inside the mattress on top of the air chamber. since we didn't go for the top of the line mattress with the digital controls, we don't have the "comfort pad" (pillowtop in other words) so I have the foam in there instead

[jeanarrett]

19. Your answer is "Freecycle"

Go to freecycle.org and find your state and the city or county you live in or closest to you. Put a posting on that you need a bed or mattress or both. Everything on freecycle is "free." It's like a big garage sale only freebies and I use my local groups here in Michigan for gazillions of things, from giving away outgrown clothing from my kids, to finding pet supplies that I don't want to pay and arm and a leg for, to furniture, camping gear, beds, etc., you name it. Freecycle is a wonderful thing and keeps all kinds of things that are perfectly usuable out of landfills, that people who don't want to yardsale or whatever, would otherwise throw away. Go ahead and try it. You'll be delighted. Just post right in your post on the group what you need it for, etc. It works!

On edit: The Boulder group has over 1,400 members!

[politicat]

20. And the Boulder group is erm... well... most people are looking to get.

I participated for a while. I turned off when I saw that the point of freecycling (that people get involved in a community and grow their connections within it) was going awry. No one actually wanted to meet, they just wanted free stuff.

That turned me off in a big way.

I think I've got a solution - a friend has a bed that won't be in use at the time and she's willing to lend it.

[jeanarrett]

21. Wow, that's too bad.

I love it mostly for getting rid of stuff--I used to like to do the garage sale thing, but I would clear less than $100 usually and with five kids and a full time job, it just got to be too much work (kind of like camping now, too, with 5 kids -- too much work!). But I hate throwing perfectly good stuff away and will become a pack rat first before I do, so it's been a boon to me.

But, yes, I can see many people want something for nothing. Our rules on our forum though require you to have 1 give for every get so that seems to even things out.

But good luck on bedding your house guests! (no pun intended) :evil grin:

[politicat]

22. The last thing I want to do....

I love my sister, but I sure don't LOVE my sister. And amazingly, after 6 years of marriage to him, I've never managed to even meet my BIL in person. (Of course, he's been in Iraq, Kuwait and S. Korea for three of those years...)

[grasswire]

24. be careful

remember that bed bugs have invaded parts of the U.S. I would be hesitant about freecycle or used pieces for that reason. I go with the airbed idea. I slept on one for a couple of months and slept like a baby because it was so comfortable. The key is to put a mattress cover over it before you put a fitted sheet on it. I have even shared one with another adult and still thought it very, very comfortable.

[youthere]

25. delete

[Warpy]

26. They can survive on an Aerobed

but please, please use a mattress pad---or even two. The problem with them isn't the support, if you blow them up enough, it's sleeping on plastic. People wake up dissolved in sweat, sleeping on wet sheets. That mattress pad (or two) is a necessity to avoid it.

You're very kind to afford them living space and incredibly nice to front them one night at a nice hotel. I'm sure they don't expect 5 star accommodations in your house. I'm sure they know what the scoop is.