I had a small guest room in our previous house. We used a platform bed with no headboard to conserve space. I hung a large tapestry behind the bed as a visual substitute. Also, the only wall for the bed was small, the entry door had to swing against it, so room for night stands was minimal. i found two metal and wicker tables, possibly meant as plant stands, that were sufficient to hold narrow table lamps, tissues, alarm clock… In a guest room no need for big bulky nightstands. I would never be comfortable with a bed against windows, but your mileage may vary.

Depending on who the guests are, you may or may not need two bedside tables. If the guest room has two people staying in it at the same time, then you definitely need a beside table on each side. Is it something you can set up on an as needed basis, of course, but if two people in the bed, it's a must for me!

Bed where it is with a bedside table. A small dresser on the bathroom wall. And a beautiful padded bench under the window. Put up a few pics and you are done. If the window was Cente red I would say go for it, but it’s not. Lovely house.

Centered. Darn autocorrect.

Every room is different.

And everyone has different needs and wants.

This is an upstairs bedroom that I staged for sale. The picture is taken from the hallway, entering the bedroom.

Please note the window over the bed. The bed is centered on the wall, but not centered under the window.

If the bed were centered under the window, then the walking area on the left, going to the ensuite bathroom, would have been narrowed.

The window treatment is also centered on the wall; not on the window. If you look, you can see some daylight on the left side visible through the unlined drape.

The window is one of 3 across the front of the house. From the exterior, all 3 windows are centered across the exterior

Also, note, there are not 2 matching night stands Rather a traditional night stand, plus a garden stool for a book, etc. That extra few inches made a big difference, both visually and practically

The vent is in the ceiling.

BTW, the house sold in a week.

I did the wall of curtains trick for my bedroom. I have a queen sized bed. Bed faces the door and TV is mounted on that wall. Vent is behind right nightstand which is not an issue as it does not cover vent. Do what YOU want, it’s your home 🥰

Thanks everyone! I appreciate everyone's perspectives! We are definitely not in earthquake country so no concerns there. We do get very cold in winter but our house is new and well insulated so it's really no colder by the window as it is anywhere else. I will move things around and see what works. Window treatments have also been a conundrum for me in this room. I have blackout cellular shades (which also provide insulation) but wanted to add drapes for decor.

I would do wall of drapery at windows. Use insulated fabric if needed. Then place bed in front of drapery. Since this is mainly for sleeping, the arrangement is more important than windows. Center bed on that wall. Add nightstands on each side. I would do small round on right and larger on left. Since bathroom seems to be on left as you face window wall this is side of bed that will be used most. A bench at foot of bed and that’s it. No TV. Most are using iPads or phones. Get a night stand that has “ports” for charging phones etc overnight. Do neutral draperies. Get bedding of your choice. Probably would go with mixed neutrals and add textures for interest. Great lamps for night stands. It will be much more inviting and you can put a king or queen sized bed in this room.

Something like this. You can choose color palette of course. Thus is just one example.

As you can see, every other person has the opposite opinion of the person before; I think it’s whatever you prefer. I also used to be in the
“no bed in front of windows” camp, but I’ve come around. Yes, your windows are not centered, but get some nice 2” wood blinds for them, and you can use drapery panels to make the windows look more centered. On the right side you cover most of the window, and on the left you go left of the window and only cover the window a tiny bit; this gives the illusion of the windows being more centered. If you want to provide addtl noise or cold air buffer you could get drapes that go all the way across your windows, though that can get heavy and expensive. Another plus for having the windows at your back: many people like to sleep in a dark room; having the windows behind you means the sun or moon won’t shine right in your face! (Before we got our blackout drapes the moon came in so strongly at night, even with blinds, that you could see every piece of furniture, art etc…..it drove us nuts.) I am definitely all for using TWO nightstands…..it is frustrating to be a guest in someone’s home and have nowhere to put your glasses, a book, phone etc….a pet-peeve of mine! Wherever possible I put a king bed and 2 nightstands, even if the nightstands are not very big….much more comfortable for guests. Good luck!

I love the bed at a diagonal to the room, gives room to walk around the bed easily, and with this layout you have a view of the window. The diagonal space can have a beautiful floor lamp or a custom stand/headboard shelf to hold the eye glasses, the remote to the tv, perhaps a radio, etc.

Lots of good suggestions here.

Having the bed against the windows is fine, even though the windows are off center in the room. If the lack of symmetry bothers you, fake it with a framed picture that mimics the shape of the windows or do the wall of curtains as others suggested. The benefit of the curtains is (depending on the curtain) they can help with temperature control and exterior noise reduction (minimally).

Honestly, do what works for the function of the room and use the furniture and decor to balance it out.

I would do a headboard of some sort on the bed if you put it against the window. It could be a slatted headboard to still allow light from the window, or it could be a solid headboard - which would help dim the window light and block the outside temperature, and also give one a more comfortable place to sit up in bed (if that's something you do).

Here's a pic from a Rebecca Robeson design. Her design philosophy is to have your design symmetrical, but realizes sometimes you have to fool the eye to get the furniture in the right location. Put your bed in front of the windows but use draperies and a mirror to balance it out. Go with a headboard that is pretty low so you get all of that great natural light streaming in.

Can you try the bed on the diagonal in the corner you have it in now? It may work. Gives you a view out the windows, a view of the whole room, maybe even room for two narrow bedtables.

Consider Top down - Bottom up shades. If you want some light coming in you don't have to open curtains and look at the house across the street.

Move the bed in front of the window and see if you like it. I never had mine in front of a window until a designer suggested it. It looks great.

If you don’t like it, try it diagonally. Just make sure to put thick athletic socks under the bed if you have wood floors as you are making up your mind.

Or…hand long sheers to suggest there is another set of windows and it is all symmetrical- nothing to see here. Of course you hand the sheets at the end with the wall on a day to day basis and take then across when you wish to sleep or just fancy another look. Electronic curtains would be ideal. As some one else suggested you could still have electric open at the top blinds for privacy. It would looked brilliant. Clever! Good luck❤️

I love open windows, but that is my preference. It’s hard to tell by the photos and I’m not a professional, but is there room to put the bed diagonal in the corner? This leaves the vents open for airflow on both walls. Get some nice window treatments and plan on some nice shade trees to grow with time.

Thank you

Great and varied comments! My only comment is that ideally when walking into a room with a bed you should walk in facing the bottom of the bed. Against the window or against the wall is second to walking into a room where you're not facing the bottom of the bed. Good luck!

Here are 2 examples:

I struggled with a wall being too small for two nightstands. My solution was to use wall-mounted lamps and 12"x12" stands (like plant stands) for night stands. This is adequate for my guest bedroom.

Here’s what we did in a smaller guest room

And yes, I realize the photo looks tiny…work in progress!

Pretty @coray. Plug in sconces are a great space saver too. As to angling bed, that will take up a lot of floor space so I don’t recommend for a guest room. With wall of drapery and maybe a couple panels of sheers behind the headboard, you could open drapery when desired. There are hand held wands to use for manually moving drapery too. In fact, I use one in our master bedroom. Very easy. These come in many styles and finishes.

I eould put the bed on the wall OPPOSITE the windows!!

oops i meant that comment for the person wondering whether or not to place bed under the windows

wait, this is the correct discussion. lol 😂

Thank you, Flo, and I agree on your room advice.

I think depending on what the window faces outside, it isn’t bad to have a bed in front of a window, but like I was saying, your windows are offset so you can’t center the bed and nightstands.

@anj-p I think you already chose the best location and orientation for your bed. I would not want to block the path between the bathroom and closet. So that leaves you the current wall and the adjacent wall opposite the windows. Except that second choice would block the air vent, or is it a return? Therefore, you already chose best.

If that disappoints you because you are looking for change, I bet you can get lots of help on this post.

There is so much good advice on here. I will just add that I never had a problem worrying about vents under beds. I just purchased the air vent redirecting contraptions that allow you to vent your heat and cold Air ac from the end of the bed or the side depending on what is best for your room. Good luck. I think it will turn out just fine and your guests will appreciate your kindness in letting them stay anyway!. Many people don't like to have guests over so you are already ahead of the game.

@yeonassky can you provide a link to the vent diverter thing you mentioned? Like on Amazon or some site? It sounds like something @anj-p might appreciate knowing about. I know I would.

@anj-p I just noticed your air supply vent is in the floor by the window. That thing on the wall must be a return supply vent.  It may be even more important not to block that:

https://www.arpis.com/blog/heres-reasons-why-you-shouldnt-block-cold-air-returns/

So again, you may have already chosen the best location for the bed.

@anj-p I like that you left room all around the bed to make it easier to make every day. Night stands don't seem right for this space, so a better solution may be this sort of thing: https://www.wayfair.com/furniture/pdp/sand-stable-newhaven-queen-bookcase-headboard-w006759770.html

They come in different styles: https://www.wayfair.com/storage-organization/pdp/novogratz-beverly-6486-h-x-4283-w-x-185-d-over-the-bed-storage-ar10296.html#vfji5z1f8dp-0

@anj-p can you tell me about your bedding? Did you purchase it for that bed? Or are you looking to replace it? 

Can you tell me about the chair and the art on the wall? Are these things special to you? Or are you looking to replace them for an overall new look? Is there anything else you want to do in this room?

Are you married to the idea of 2 nightstands? Have you already bought them? One oversized one could work.  Also, have you thought about the bed centered in the corner? This would create a small triangle 🔼 space behind the headboard for a floor lamp. Just a little different twist.

This doesn't have to be overly complicated... 

I personally would place the bed on the wall where the hanging picture is. I'd find a bed frame that'll lift the mattress up a little so the bed isn't blocking the vent. The picture will then need to be lifted just a tad to accommodate the bed.

I'd also find some long hanging drapes for those amazing windows. Those windows let in a great amount of light so I wouldn't want to block those windows. I'd dress them up with long drapes so they look larger and make the room feel more spacious. Those are just a few of my ideas. Good luck on your project!

Jalani Joyce-GREAT idea!

I would place the bed across from the windows because you would have room for two small nightstands. If there is a bathroom behind that wall, don’t put the bed there unless you have a good headboard to muffle sounds. Lined drapes will give you privacy and will help mute exterior noise. A tall, narrow 5-drawer chest may fit to the left of the windows and you could probably fit a loveseat or two chairs on the window wall. Guests appreciate a few empty drawers for their use and a place to stow their luggage out of the way. A wide dresser could fit on the wall to the left of the bathroom door. A headboard makes a bed look more “finished”.

Here it is with the bed in front of the windows. Pulled out a bit due to the vent. I think I like it! Enough room for two nice sized nightstands. Just need to get a low platform bed. King might even work here!

You can even center it on the wall not the window with drapery trucking the eye on that wall.

*tricking the eye.

Run a drapery rod at the top of the window wall from side to side to make one long window covering for the wall. Use drapery panels of your choice on both sides of the window to create a visual frame to center your bed rather than the offset windows. If desired, use a light diffusing inner curtain behind the heavier panels for a more finished look.

Something like this

where the bed is centered on wall and draperies and mirror to help balance it.

Thanks @Emily! I like the idea of a mirror!

late to the discussion, but I really like the bed in front of the windows! You do have room for a king (as a guest I would love you for that!), bedside tables and lamps. I would hang a mirror that mimics the lines in the windows and then drapes on either side ot make it look more symmetrical. I don't think they would need to be functional if you're existing blinds are room darkening. and the bed needs a headboard.