At the lake house there lives the tiniest guest room in history perhaps. Measuring a mere 9’x 9 1/2′ room. And before the remodel it was even smaller!!
We named the guest room in the basement the “Bunk House”. Mainly because I had a sign that said as much. We had it on our basement guest room in our other house, but this room seemed to actually fit the bill.
Originally there was only room for one single bed. There was a closet in the room that housed the hot water heater and the furnace. The furnace no longer worked so we removed it and relocated the hot water heater to the Banana Room. (you can read more about the Banana Room on the blog)
We painted the walls a dark brown and added a new solid wood six panel door. Now the room was large enough for 2 twin beds! Woohoo!
These wrought iron beds have been in my family for as long as I can remember. They belonged to my great grandfather on my Dad’s side. They must be over 100 years old. They were originally brown. I used them in my room growing up and my Mother painted one blue and one red and antiqued them. Over the years they have passed hands several times. Several nieces and nephews slept in these beds. Finally, some of the bed rails broke. By then we owned the lake house and I wanted to use them here. I hauled them up to PA to my welder and he repaired and reinforced the brackets and rails. I hauled them back down to NC and painted them black. I had to get thick foam pads to put on top of the mattress so that the footboard was lower than the mattresses so my boys and their tall friends could use the beds. Now their feet can hang off. Not ideal, but for a few nights it’s okay. 🙂
The space is so tight in the room that the door barely clears the beds. I think there is less than an inch leeway for the door to be able to open and close. But, again, it works. I was able to squeeze in a tiny antique night stand between the beds. I hung a wall light above and propped up a sign that says “No Wake Zone” on the light. Appropriate for sleepy lake guests.
I also installed a vintage ceiling light. This type of light fixture in mint condition goes for upwards of $400. I bought a set of two that were NOT in mint condition. I took the round gold knobs that were on one and put on the one that was missing some knobs. I found a little metal anchor charm and painted it red to match the light and hung it from the center hole. (I refurbished the other one for the Banana Room.)
Now the Bunk House is fully functional. I hung some hooks on the back of the door and have a few hotel style luggage racks for suitcases. There is no room for a dresser, but at the lake you only need some shorts and a bathing suit! I have an old mantle that we took off of the basement fireplace that I want to put in there eventually and maybe paint it a lighter color. I’m glad that we were able to use the old wrought iron beds. Our history mixed with Mr. E’s history. Perfect.