The simplest way to combine a home office and guest room is to set the room up as an office first, then plan the floor around the sofa bed when it is open. Keep the desk and chair clear of the open bed, and store the bedding inside the sofa bed so switching over is quick.
- If the room is small: pick a sofa bed whose open depth is printed, like the Oasis Pull Out Sofa Bed, 206 cm long and 185 cm deep with the bed extended.
- If the chair sits where the bed opens: pick one with flip-up arms, like the Casino Ergonomic Mesh Office Chair, so it rolls under the desk.
- If work things must disappear for guests: pick a desk with a cupboard, like the Homestead Study Desk.
In this guide
The four measurements that decide the room
A sofa bed has two footprints: the sofa you work beside every day and the bed it becomes when someone stays. The desk has to live with both, so measure four things first.
- The sofa, closed. Its full length and depth from the product page, chaise included.
- The bed, open. This catches people out, because few product pages print it. The Oasis Pull Out Sofa Bed does: 160 cm deep as a sofa, 185 cm with the bed extended. For other models, ask us before you buy.
- The desk and its chair. The desk's width and depth, plus clear floor behind it for the chair to roll back: about 70 cm for the Cloud Ergonomic Mesh Office Chair and about 60 cm for the Casino or Clontarf. For the Homestead desk, our team can measure a floor piece.
- The way out. A clear path from the open bed to the door, and swing room for doors and windows.
Tape the closed sofa on the floor, extend the tape to the open bed, then tape the desk and the chair's roll-back zone. Where they overlap, the chair has to tuck under the desk or leave the room on guest nights.
Here is how four of our sofa beds compare, using the figures on their product pages.
Pieces in this guide
| Feature | Samson | Oasis | Elvis | Alex |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Length × depth as a sofa | 212 × 134 cm | 206 × 160 cm | 235 × 160 cm | 330 × 160 cm |
| Depth with the bed open | Not printed; ask us | 185 cm | Not printed; ask us | Not printed; ask us |
| Where the bedding goes | Under the lift-up chaise top | Under the lift-up chaise top | A hidden compartment in the chaise | The chaise and a matching ottoman |
| Chaise side | Switches sides any time | Switches sides any time | Left or right, chosen when you order | Left or right, fixed once built |
In a typical spare room, the Samson takes the least depth of the four on work days and the Oasis the least length. The Elvis, which its page lists as sleeping two, suits rooms where couples stay; the five-seat Alex suits a large rumpus room that doubles as an office. Compare every model in our sofa beds and pull-out couches, read our guide to corner sofa beds, or weigh up a sofa bed or air mattress first.
Three layouts for a desk and a sofa bed
Your tape marks will show which of these three layouts your room allows.
Side by side on one long wall
The sofa bed and the desk share a wall, so the bed opens into the room beside the desk rather than towards it, and the chair keeps its own patch of floor. You need a wall as long as the sofa plus the desk and a small gap: with the Samson, 212 cm plus your desk's width. Set a reversible chaise at the end furthest from the desk so it doesn't crowd the chair. On guest nights, little has to move except the bedding.
Desk on the side wall, past the end of the bed
Put the sofa bed into a corner and the desk on the wall beside it, starting beyond the open bed. The Oasis reaches 185 cm out from its wall with the bed extended, so if that side wall is 3 m long, 115 cm of it is left for the desk. This suits squarer rooms, and nothing has to move when the bed comes out.
Desk facing the sofa bed
With the desk on the opposite wall, the open bed points straight at the chair. It only works if the room is deep enough for the open bed, the desk and a gap to walk through, and on guest nights the chair must roll fully under the desk or leave the room.
A desk and chair that make way for the bed
A straight desk is the easier fit in a room with a second job: it needs one clear wall and chair space on one side only, as our guide to corner and straight desks explains. The Homestead Study Desk is a straight, single-pedestal desk with acacia wood across its visible timber panels and a soft white painted frame (some structural parts may use engineered wood). Its farmhouse finish reads as furniture rather than office equipment, which helps in a room a guest sleeps in.
Before you order, check which side the pedestal sits on, so that end can go nearest the sofa bed while the chair rolls out on the other side. And measure the doorway and hallway: the desk can't be brought in as parts.
The chair decides whether the switch takes one move or three. The Cloud and the Casino Ergonomic Mesh Office Chair both have armrests that flip up against the backrest, so the chair rolls under the desk. The Casino has the smaller footprint at 60 × 60 cm. The Cloud is 64 × 70 cm, the deepest chair in our range, but its seat drops lower, to 45 cm against the Casino's 47 cm.
The Clontarf Fabric Office Chair is the lowest and least bulky: 90 to 102 cm tall, in black technology fabric, so it looks less like office equipment. Its loop arms are fixed, but at 60 cm off the floor at the lowest seat setting they're the lowest in our range, so measure under your desk before you count on it tucking in.
For seat height, screen and light, follow our WFH setup checklist. Compare our office chairs and the wider home office furniture range, and ask which of our five showrooms has your pick on display, so you can sit in it first.
Storage: bedding in the sofa bed, work gear in the desk
Keep the two kinds of storage apart: bedding never lives in the desk, and work gear never lives in the sofa bed.
All four sofa beds above have bedding storage built in. On the Samson and the Oasis, the chaise top lifts to reveal a storage compartment; the Elvis has a hidden compartment in its chaise; and the Alex stores things in its chaise and a matching 98 × 60 × 45 cm ottoman. Check that your sheets, quilt and pillows fit before the first visitor, and only pack bedding away when it is completely dry, because damp linen shut in a compartment can turn musty. See more in our sofa beds with storage.
On the desk side, the Homestead's drawer takes pens, chargers and notepads, and its cupboard takes printer paper, folders and a laptop bag. Anything private goes in there before a guest arrives.
Switching from office to guest room and back
Treat the changeover as a short routine, done the same way every time.
Before guests arrive
- Clear the desk. Laptop, papers and chargers go into the cupboard and drawer. Leave a lamp and some clear desktop: tonight it's the guest's bedside table.
- Park the chair. Flip the arms up and roll it under the desk, or move it out if it sits inside your tape marks.
- Free a power point. Coil your cables and leave one outlet for a guest's charger; the Oasis also has a USB port in its armrest.
- Make the bed. Lift the bedding out of the chaise, pull the bed out and make it up.
- Walk the route. Check the path from the bed to the door and the light switch is clear.
After they leave
Wash the bedding and let it dry fully before it goes back in the chaise, then push the bed in, roll the chair out and unpack the cupboard. If the routine keeps dragging, the room probably holds one piece too many: move something out rather than adding storage.
Home office and guest room questions
Can you put a sofa bed in a home office?
Yes, if it opens fully without hitting the desk or chair. Measure the depth with the bed open, not just the sofa: the Oasis is 160 cm deep as a sofa and 185 cm with the bed extended. Keep the chair's roll-back zone clear of the open bed, or choose a chair with flip-up arms that rolls under the desk.
Is a daybed or a sofa bed better for a study?
In a room you work in most days, usually a sofa bed. A daybed, usually single or king single size, takes a bed's worth of floor every day, while a sofa bed takes sofa space and only becomes a bed when someone stays. If guests stay more often than you work in the room, a daybed or a proper bed may suit you better.
Does a corner desk work in an office guest room?
It can, but it's a harder fit. An L-shaped desk needs two clear walls meeting at a corner, plus floor for the chair inside the L, which leaves less room for the open bed. A straight desk on one wall usually leaves more usable floor, and the desks we sell are straight. Our corner vs straight desk guide explains the trade-off.
Can you work in a guest room office while a guest is staying?
Plan as if you can't. Guests keep their own hours, and the open bed may sit where your chair rolls back. Before they arrive, pack a work bag with your laptop, charger and papers and keep it outside the room, so you can work at the dining table without disturbing anyone.
Does a sofa bed need a separate mattress?
It depends on the model. The Elvis uses an integrated foam pull-out sleep platform, and the Alex's seat pulls out to a flat sleeping surface with no separate mattress to store. For other models, check the product page, or ask which store has it on display so you can open the bed yourself.