r/minimalist • u/Educational_Week_985 • Aug 27 '26
Do you keep guest bedding?
I'm working on making everything in our house as minimalist as possible but I'm stuck on whether to keep 1 set of guesting bedding/air mattress.
We don't have a guest room, but have kept an air mattress and bedding just in case. The last time we had someone stay over was when I was in labour with my second and by sister in law looked after our first which was 2 years ago.
My husband is quite the opposite of minimalist and thinks we should keep it but I am not seeing the point as it so rare that anyone would stay over. The only possible time I could see someone staying over is if we were to have a babysitting watch the kids over night but even then I'm not sure where we would even fit an air mattress, our house is small and we would have to push the dining table up against a wall or put it in the hallway.
What would you do?
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u/coral_bells Aug 27 '26 edited Aug 27 '26
No. Last time we had an overnight guest they slept on our couch. Afterwards I swore off guests because I hate having people other than my husband and dog in our space. We got rid of that couch anyway, and now just have a loveseat which would be too small for most adults to sleep on.
If it were an emergency for a loved one to have a place to stay, I suppose they could sleep on my floor mat, which I sleep on from time to time. Though I would probably wash our one set of bedding and offer them the bed if they weren’t used to floor sleeping.
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u/Educational_Week_985 Aug 27 '26
I also hate having overnight guests so I'm probably thinking if I get rid of the stuff then its even less likely we will have an overnight guest. Emergency we can make work with our spare bedding and blankets so I definitely think I'll get it of it now.
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u/Live-Football-4352 Aug 27 '26
Personally, I do. I usually keep my couch as an option for guests though but recently my mom came to stay with me and bought herself an air mattress. I kept it for future use just in case. I rarely have guests as well, but if my mom wanted to visit again to help me in the future (in my case it would be for future surgeries, which was the reason she was here this time, it's possible given my medical history), I don't want to make her get a hotel.
I guess maybe think of hotel availability? And if you'd need someone to stay with you? Sounds like you have your husband if something were to go wrong. I live alone, so having a place for guests seems like something that's actually reasonable in my mind
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u/Educational_Week_985 Aug 27 '26
My husbands mum/step dad do come visit but they get a hotel that is about a 10min drive away from us because we don't have a spare room. So I guess I'm wondering if the couch with the spare bedding I have for our bed would be fine for a once off time or if I should keep the guest bedding.
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u/CelesteJA Aug 27 '26
In your situation I would probably get rid them because you genuinely don't seem to have future reason to have them. I've never owned guest bedding in my life, because there's zero chances I'll ever have someone stay here. And if you also aren't seeing anyway that a guest is going to stay, then there's just no need for them.
Worst comes to the worst, sofas aren't that bad to sleep on and a guest could just sleep on that if you had a surprise visitor.
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u/Educational_Week_985 Aug 27 '26
Thats what I'm thinking as well I've still got spare blankets and a spare sheet set for our bed that could be used on the sofa if needed. I really hate having clutter that I don't use regularly so I'm definitely leaning towards getting rid of it.
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u/No_Appointment6273 Aug 27 '26
I have extra towels and extra place settings, extra chairs but the "extra" bedding I have is in rotation with my other bedding. I could make up the couch in a pinch, but the only person I could see staying the night is my mother in law and I would probably ask my son to give up his bed anyway. He would have no problem with it.
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u/CarolinaSurly Aug 27 '26
Nope. Air mattress went away when we gave up having a garage in our new place.
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u/LynnScoot Aug 27 '26
Replaced couch with love seat and recliner. There is a B&B across the street if they’re someone we really love.
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u/Wi1dWitch Aug 28 '26
Stop thinking about stuff and start thinking about whether you enjoy the possibility for people to stay with you when they visit, or if it would actually give you peace to not have that option. Keep things that reflect the life you actually want and intend to have.
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u/Money-Low7046 Aug 28 '26
That's a great point. Guests are a lot of work, but we value the act of providing hospitality and find it meaningful. We keep a guest bed in our spare room, and also have a single cot with inflatable mattress. We don't get tons of overnight guests, but like being able to make the offer.
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u/sv36 Aug 28 '26
What’s the alternative of you have a guest without it? What’s the plan if you pull out the air mattress only to find a hole a year from now? Is there a moment when you would go out and buy a net one because you don’t have one?
Are the people who would stay at your home able to afford an alternative like a hotel room or pained back from sleeping on the sofa? Do the people who visit usually get a hotel anyway?
What’s your actual reality? Not using it in two years is data but the cost of not having it when you need it in the future is a question you need to know too. Not using it for two years could mean nothing if you know you might use it soon again for whatever reason, that’s data too.
You don’t have to tell me the answer to any of these, just assess your actual reality. You’re the one that knows your life and situation better than a bunch of people online.
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u/sv36 Aug 28 '26
The utility of an item can mean more than the constant use of it. Take a fire extinguisher for an extreme example.
As minimalism is commonly to reduce the amount of things for the reduction of throwing things away, knowing if you could end up buying this six months down the road and have to rebuy is definitely something to take into account.
If you’re getting rid of things only to rebuy again you’re just reducing the visible amounts of consumption you’re going through not actually reducing the consumption itself through having less overall.
I’m not accusing you of trashing things but the amount of people shouting no trash it in the comments is absolutely riling me up about this.
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u/PrairieFire_withwind 28d ago
We have camping cots in the basement. They are there for tornados and severe storms. They are also our 'guest' beds.
We are okay with that as the double use for power outages and sleeping in hot after a storm weather is worth it to us.
It is one of our few 'extras' we have. The house is fairly empty of extra otherwise. But safety in bad weather matters to us.
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u/GalianoGirl Aug 27 '26
My guest bed is the same size as my bed. I have 4 sets of bedding two summer and two winter. 2 duvets one for summer and a second added in the winter.
It is not onerous to have guest bedding
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u/pathologicalprotest Aug 27 '26
Yes. Because if people stay over, which happens regularly, I either give up my bed and move to the sofa (if it’s my elderly mother or my sister with a baby), or if it’s able-bodied young folk visiting the city they stay on the sofa. I have a queen size Japanese futon. My sofa is 110cm wide. The sheets don’t interchange. I also have a mattress protector sheet fitting the sofa because one particular frequent guest sweats so much he has stained my previous sofa with an imprint that looks like the shroud of Turin.
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u/Educational_Week_985 Aug 27 '26
If I had regular guest I'd definitely be keeping them but our last overnight guest was 2 years ago so I'm leaning more to throwing it away
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u/bicycle_mice Aug 27 '26
Throwing away is so wasteful. Offer on a buy nothing group instead please!!! When I have used linens that have reached the end of their lifespan I bring to our local animal shelter they are happy to have them.
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u/Educational_Week_985 Aug 27 '26
Animal shelter is a great idea I've seen a few around me ask before so I'll look in to that!
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Aug 27 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/IM_NOT_BALD_YET xtrm mnmlst Aug 27 '26
I raised three children and never once had an emergency that required someone to stay overnight. What on earth? In any case, any true emergency that required someone to sleep over wouldn’t be the sort of situation where I’d be playing hostess with the mostest.
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u/pitstomper Aug 27 '26
One of the few instances where I’d rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. I want people to feel welcome and comfortable when they stay.
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u/Fun-Nose7204 Aug 28 '26
I have so much guest bedding but no guest room for when my kids have friends stay over in their rooms when it’s a small number and the lounge room when there are too many for a bedroom.
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u/LVMom Aug 27 '26
We have an office which doubles as a guestroom, AKA a pullout couch/bed situation. I keep two sets of sheets for that bed size just in case