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Christmas and New Year mean overnight guests — even if your flat has no spare room. The trick is kit that sets up in minutes and disappears when they leave.
Short on time? Our quick picks
- Best overall: Folding guest bed with mattress
- Best for tiny flats: Raised airbed with built-in pump
- Best for spare bedding: Vacuum bags for duvets
1. Folding guest bed
A fold-up bed with a proper mattress is far comfier than the sofa, and folds into a gap the size of an ironing board.
2. Double airbed with built-in pump
Takes up almost no space when packed away. A raised airbed with a built-in electric pump inflates in a couple of minutes.
3. Fold-out sofa chair bed
A chair most of the year, a single bed when someone stays. Ideal if you host often.
4. Vacuum bags for spare bedding
Spare duvet, pillows and a set of sheets, vacuum-packed into one flat bag that lives under your bed.
5. Folding luggage rack
Gets suitcases off the floor so guests aren’t living out of a case in your hallway. Folds flat into a cupboard.
6. Over-door hooks for guests
Somewhere to hang a coat, towel and tomorrow’s outfit — a small thing guests really notice.
7. Room divider screen
Sleeping in the living room? A folding screen gives guests a bit of privacy and hides the bed during the day.
Make a guest basket
Fill a small basket with a towel, a spare phone charger, earplugs and the Wi-Fi password. Hand it over on arrival and your guests will have everything without asking.
Check the space before they arrive
Measure the floor where the bed will go, with the furniture pushed back as far as it will go. As a guide, a UK single mattress is 90 × 190 cm and a double is 135 × 190 cm. Folding beds and airbeds are similar, and raised airbeds are a little bigger overall. Leave about half a metre down one side so your guest can get in and out without climbing over anything.
Which guest bed suits your home?
- Folding guest bed: the most comfortable choice for more than a night or two, but it needs a cupboard or a gap behind a door to live in.
- Airbed: packs down smallest, so it suits occasional guests and homes with no spare cupboard.
- Chair bed: takes up floor space all year, but earns it as everyday seating if you host often.
Make an airbed more comfortable
Airbeds feel cold because the air inside takes on the temperature of the floor. Put a blanket, rug or folded duvet underneath, and a mattress topper or thick blanket under the sheet. Inflate it an hour or two before bedtime and top it up just before your guest goes to bed, as new airbeds stretch slightly at first. A fitted sheet helps to stop the bedding sliding off in the night.
Common questions
Where do I store spare bedding in a small flat?
In vacuum bags under your own bed, or in a lidded box on top of the wardrobe. Keep one complete set together (duvet, pillows, sheet and covers) so you are not hunting for a pillowcase at midnight.
How do I give guests privacy in a living room?
Use a folding screen, hang a curtain on a tension rod across an alcove, or simply turn the sofa so its back faces the room. Agree a morning routine too, so nobody walks through while they are asleep.
What do guests always forget?
A phone charger, a towel and somewhere to put their things. A small basket with those, plus the Wi-Fi password, covers most of it.
How long does an airbed take to set up?
With a built-in electric pump, only a few minutes, plus the time to make the bed. Do a test inflation a few days before so you find any slow puncture in time.
More small-space ideas: under-bed storage boxes for small UK bedrooms and small bathroom storage ideas.
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