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Help! Can't find bed for maid's room.

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Katieg
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Help! Can't find bed for maid's room.

Post by Katieg » Sat, 14 May 2005 9:30 pm

We are about to employ a live in domestic helper. Her room is an awkward size and a normal size single bed won't fit - slightly too long and too wide. Has anyone else found this is a problem in a maid room and do you have any solutions?

All ideas very welcome. Thnx

beenhere10years

Post by beenhere10years » Sun, 15 May 2005 7:02 am

IKEA, always IKEA. Some people even get a youth sized bed if their maid is not too tall. Avoid it on weekends like the plague, you may never go back if you have to endure the intensity of the elbow-to-the-ribs crowd. And remember IKEA mattresses are strange sizes so always get the linens there as well.

If you can't find a bed to fit the space, you can buy one or two low dressers to use side be side to form the bed base and a piece of plywood to fit on top, then have a custom mattresss made, relatively cheap here. Hope this helps.

shes human

Post by shes human » Sun, 15 May 2005 9:35 am

would you live in a room that doesn't fit a normal single bed? Would you have a house guest sleep there?.... So why are you prepared to have a maid live in these conditions. The answer to your dilemma is to move into an apartment that has a maid's room fit for human habitation

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Re: Help! Can't find bed for maid's room.

Post by Guest » Sun, 15 May 2005 7:19 pm

Katieg wrote:We are about to employ a live in domestic helper. Her room is an awkward size and a normal size single bed won't fit - slightly too long and too wide. Has anyone else found this is a problem in a maid room and do you have any solutions?

All ideas very welcome. Thnx
but those japanese floor mat... but a cautious thinking for u..: she is like you a human being of a different country...

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Re: Help! Can't find bed for maid's room.

Post by Strong Eagle » Sun, 15 May 2005 8:07 pm

Katieg wrote:We are about to employ a live in domestic helper. Her room is an awkward size and a normal size single bed won't fit - slightly too long and too wide. Has anyone else found this is a problem in a maid room and do you have any solutions?

All ideas very welcome. Thnx
Yes... get the maid a larger room! Why would you have her live in a closet? Maids are often poorly treated here. Does your maid have aircon, at least at night? Does she get time off? Can she have friends?

Since I've moved here and seen the mistreatment I've become quite sensitive about this. Be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

beenhere10years

Post by beenhere10years » Sun, 15 May 2005 8:12 pm

Katieg,

The other posters are jumping to inane and unfounded conclusions. You ask a valid question. The fact that you are asking at all shows that you are compassionate about doing the right thing. Is the room really too small? If it truly is, then it's time to go to Plan 'B.'

I have lived in some beautiful high rises where the maid's room was tiny but she loved it -- we were fair employers, she had her own space (which was unheard of in her 'house' in the Philippines and we were right downtown. It worked out very well. Listen to that inner voice, it'll tell you what to do.

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i have the mattress

Post by Wham » Mon, 16 May 2005 1:25 pm

Katieg - My wife and i lived in a smaller apt that did not have room for a large mattress so we picked up several of the smaller mattresses that CarrFour Sells and then stacked them up for a comforable bed that fit the space. The space was small, it was inhuman, but it was all we had - and by stacking we made up in comfort what we could not make up for in space.

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Post by Strong Eagle » Mon, 16 May 2005 3:19 pm

beenhere10years wrote:Katieg,

The other posters are jumping to inane and unfounded conclusions. You ask a valid question. The fact that you are asking at all shows that you are compassionate about doing the right thing. Is the room really too small? If it truly is, then it's time to go to Plan 'B.'

I have lived in some beautiful high rises where the maid's room was tiny but she loved it -- we were fair employers, she had her own space (which was unheard of in her 'house' in the Philippines and we were right downtown. It worked out very well. Listen to that inner voice, it'll tell you what to do.
You may well be correct, 10 years, that I have jumped to a conclusion. What got me were the words, "slightly too long and slightly too wide". What I see here is a closet size space that's not long enough for a standard single mattress, and if she shortened the mattress, the closet is so narrow that there wouldn't be room for anything else if a standard mattress were installed. This is pretty small... and quite typical of maid's quarters in some houses.

Now perhaps you are correct... that living conditions like this are still preferable to the living conditions back home, or even the conditions that locals live in... no aircon, and multiple people in a small flat... I don't know.

I do know that I believe every person has a right to a space that is their own private space... the place for momentos, privacy, clothes. If the OP is creating such a space, and it works for the maid, then so be it. I also think that those who can make a difference should try to do so.

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Post by Katieg » Tue, 17 May 2005 11:33 am

Thanks for all your responses and ideas. We have found a good solution - a mix of IKEA and some custom made furniture.

For those that are worried about our helper's welfare (and I share your concerns) the room is not enormous but it isn't a closet - the design of the room means the bed can really only be placed against one wall and it is a couple of cms too short. There is room for drawers and other storage and we will make the room as comfortable as we possibly can.

When I moved to Singapore I had no intention of having any home help - I have lived all over the world and have never even had a cleaner, so when we signed a 2 year lease we didn't need to consider the exact size of the additional room for a helper to live in. But circumstances can and have changed which mean we now need some help.

I too have heard awful stories of how helpers are treated. Our helper is going to be patially responsible for the most precious thing in our lives - our child, and this is just one of the many reasons we will endeavor to make sure her life is as pleasant and happy as we possibly can.

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