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With real estate prices rising, especially in urban areas, multi-use rooms are becoming more and more important, not just in terms of enhancing your lifestyle and the livability of your home or apartment, but also when it comes to the re-sale value of your property. Creating a home office that doubles as a guest room, for example, is a genuine asset.
Making a room or rooms in your home multi-use can also make things possible that otherwise might not be, such as starting a home business, providing a rehearsal or practice space for your child’s passion, enabling family and friends to visit and stay, or creating a quiet space to help build healthy habits like meditating, exercising or simply unwinding. All it takes is a little creativity, ingenuity and the right planning.
When planning a multi-use room in your home, there are a number of important things to consider before you make the leap to ensure a successful outcome that meets your and your family’s needs.
- What do you need/want most – what is the thing you currently need/want most that your current space doesn’t allow for? A space for your kids to watch TV without driving you crazy, a spare room for frequently visiting guests, a home office or creative space for your home business?
- What do you need/want the second most? – somewhere quiet to do admin away from the maelstrom, a space where you can do home yoga, exercise or meditation, or just to chill-out & grab some peace & quiet with a cup of tea and a good book?
- Size of the space – smaller spaces will be best suited to home studies come guest bedrooms, exercise/yoga or craft/making spaces but less so for kids playrooms or entertaining areas. How many guests do you need to cater for at once? Do you really need a double bed or would a single day bed suffice?
- Natural light – spaces with a lot of natural light will be particularly well-suited to studies/guest rooms or craft/creative making spaces. Spaces with less natural light might be more suitable for wine storage, gaming/TV or meditation/exercise spaces. Is it possible to add a skylight to a small space to give you more options for how you might use it?
- Amount of wall space – You’ll need a certain amount of wall space for certain uses – e.g. fold out beds/sofa beds, desks & workbenches or storage & shelving.
- How often will the space be used – daily? weekly? or less frequently? Will it be used more frequently as a guest room than as a yoga/meditation space or the other way around? This will determine how you design the space & set-it up.
- Acoustics – are there any special acoustic requirements? For example, your home office or study being right next to the rumpus room where your kids practice the drums might defeat the purpose!
- Plumbing – does your multi-use room require a wet area? e.g. ensuite or laundry or somewhere to wash/clean up paint, creative tools etc.
Once you’ve done some thinking and homework on planning your multi-purpose space, it’s time to look for ideas and inspiration – we searched Instagram for 15 multi-purpose room ideas to get you in the inspiration zone!
1. Boho ‘Mum Cave’ & Guest Room
https://www.instagram.com/p/BpUbxVqApcQ/?utm_source=ig_embed
What busy Mum doesn’t fantasise about having a she-cave to get away from it all with a cup of tea, to read a book or for a quick power nap! This Mum Cave doubles as a guest bedroom with a multi-purpose day bed, sidetable with lamp and a vibrant yet cosy Boho look and feel.
2. Vintage Living Room Chill Out Corner & Writing desk
https://www.instagram.com/p/BtQ-v05F9eF/?utm_source=ig_embed
Sometimes you can create multi-use rooms out of larger living spaces by creating corners or nooks for specific purposes through furniture partitioning, layout or arrangement. This multi-use reading corner and writing desk does just that – perfecto!
3. Home Office & Gaming Room
https://www.instagram.com/p/BoUoddqA7wv/?utm_source=ig_embed
This stylish and functional home office space makes the best of both worlds with a desk perfectly positioned beneath a large window to take advantage of aspect and natural light with the other half of the room dedicated to a second TV area & gaming space for teenage kids and adults alike with comfortable yet stylish gaming/TV loungers and timber TV cabinet with ample storage.
4. Computer Nook, Guest Bedroom & Quiet Retreat
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd3EDgFDA9S/?utm_source=ig_embed
This is the perfect example of a small, multi-use space that knows its purpose and doesn’t try to do too much. Primarily a guest room and chill out zone with this uber comfy day bed that also has fantastic under bed storage for guest linen, the room also doubles as a work/computer nook with a small desk and chair in the far corner next to the large open window that floods the space with natural light. Having a home work or computer space doesn’t necessarily require a large desk if it’s in the right spot, especially since most of us also have mobile devices like smart phones and tablets that we access & work from in other areas of the home.
5. Walk in Wardrobe & Home Office
https://www.instagram.com/p/BqM59Nxll3Y/?utm_source=ig_embed
This ultra-femme walk-in wardrobe and home office is the stuff that dreams are made of. It cleverly makes the most of the space and natural light with a centrally positioned desk, the open wardrobe and shelves filled with flowing garments and accessories providing a soft, decorative backdrop.
6. Multi-purpose Dance, Party, Soiree Room
https://www.instagram.com/p/Br8kmsZjp9F/?utm_source=ig_embed
A great multi-use entertainment space with tables that can be arranged 3 different ways to lend themselves to a range of different types of gatherings – from long table dinner parties and significant celebrations to smaller soirees, cocktail parties and dancing.
7. Studio Living Room with Wall-Bed
https://www.instagram.com/p/BixmLNMDVVY/?utm_source=ig_embed
Wall beds that fold away into a stylish multipurpose shelving unit are the new sofa beds! They’re perfect for studio apartments, Air BnBs and guest bedrooms where space is a premium and they typically provide a more comfortable and robust mattress than sofa beds do for even sweeter dreams!
8. Multipurpose Laundry Room, Creative Craft Space & Puppy Cave
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bst-0VCBrIg/?utm_source=ig_embed
Laundries don’t usually scream ‘creativity’ but they’re often a great place to create a creative/craft work-bench from unused bench-space – because they’re wet areas they’re perfect for messy crafts that require wiping down or cleaning of paint brushes. Create the perfect creative work bench in an unused corner of your laundry by adding decorative creative touches like colourful lamps, bunting, vintage wallpaper, and colourful containers for your craft materials that will inspire you to get creative and clearly demarcate the area as a creative zone.
9. Sewing, Gift-Wrapping & Guest Bedroom
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs1Obvhluzx/?utm_source=ig_embed
This multi-use space is the perfect guest bedroom with fold-down wall bed that offers fantastic additional shelving and storage. The room also doubles as a sewing room and gift-wrapping space away from prying eyes – ingenious!
10. Kids Study, Play Area and Chill-out Caravan
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bkp2ICZHK-p/?utm_source=ig_embed
Don’t think you have a single ounce of space left in your home to create a multi-use space? Think again! There’s always the backyard and a good, old fashioned caravan. A backyard caravan makes the perfect retreat for a study, guest accom or a versatile cubby house for kids to play and create.
11. Dining Room Doubling as a Library
https://www.instagram.com/p/BQWmbJQlCzS/?utm_source=ig_embed
This long, stylish timber entertainer’s dining table is perfect for this narrow, long room with high ceilings that also doubles as a library with full length wall-shelves providing ample room for books. Cosy and practical.
12. Sunroom, Green Space, Extra Living/Entertaining Area
https://www.instagram.com/p/9T9Qc9J7Ux/?utm_source=ig_embed
The perfect place to read the Sunday papers with a coffee after a Saturday night out. This delightful green-space come sun room come extra living and entertaining area is a versatile multi-use space that makes the most of it’s huge windows, natural light and relatively little wall space.
13. Children’s Playroom & Home Office Nook
https://www.instagram.com/p/BtOmaPeHHXY/?utm_source=ig_embed
This multi-use room is primarily a children’s play and toy storage space which makes the most of the room’s larger size and open plan to make room for a small ‘time-share’ home office space when the kids aren’t using it. Great use of space and design!
