Guest house furniture could be more than just somewhere for tenants to relax; it may also help to soothe away the stress of the owners and operators of bed and breakfasts.
In a recent survey that has made headlines in the national press, motivational author Brigitte Cobb found that 62% of people would rather run a B&B than be an astronaut.
The two professions were offered as analogies for a low-paid but stress-free job (running a guest house) or a highly paid but high-stress job (being an astronaut), and were presented as being worth either £30 a day, or £100,000 a year.
And while nearly two thirds of those surveyed chose the guest house, the figure could be even higher if the career was represented more fairly in the initial descriptions, which some in the hospitality sector say undersell the value of running a traditional B&B.
David Weston, chief executive of the Bed & Breakfast Association, welcomed the indication that those working in this 'cottage industry' are envied for their relatively low-stress lifestyles.
But he objected to the description of a typical B&B as being a "£30-a-night" business, adding: "They are a bit out of date there!"
Indeed, the British B&B industry is worth around £2 billion, which would represent nearly 67 million overnight stays at £30 a night.
So while running a guest house may indeed be low-stress, it is perhaps not quite so low-paid as the survey's authors suggested - leaving plenty of extra profits to invest in comfortable guest house furniture to complement the stress-free environment still further.
And doing so has even more advantages for those who live in their guest house alongside paying customers, as the income derived from renting out rooms can help to afford more luxurious and comfortable sofas and armchairs than might otherwise be the case.
Equip your communal areas with these statement pieces, and you can help to dispel the myth that the guest house industry is in any way a poor relation to the more formal hotel sector.
With plush sofas and armchairs, once your guests have gone to bed, you might find yourself tempted to spend an hour or so relaxing in your public lounge - and let your furniture soothe away the small amount of stress that you may have experienced over the course of the day.