6 Tips for Decorating a Multi-Functional Space

For many Filipino families, the constantly changing dynamics of work, school, and home life will require changes in the way they use their homes. With more and more families choosing to stay home for work and studies to achieve optimal work-life balance, the home needs to keep up and provide spaces for these activities.

For instance, today’s work-from-home parents typically require a quiet office space where they can have conference calls with their co-workers and a large desk to accommodate their WFH setup. If the children are being home-schooled, they also need a space that is conducive to learning that’s not their play area or bedroom.

Getting all these spaces sorted in a house that was built for more traditional family routines is definitely a challenge. Rooms will have to be remodelled and repurposed to make for versatile spaces that serve multiple purposes. With a little creativity and smart functional solutions, however, multipurpose spaces can be created beautifully. Here are some decorating tips to help you achieve this.

Define the Goals of Your Space

The very first step to revamping a room is to determine what you will use the space for. A great room, for example, can serve 2 or more purposes—a playroom for kids, a gym for mom and dad, and a recreational area for the family. Meanwhile, a den can be repurposed as an office and as a study room for the kids. Another great example is your seldom-used formal dining room. You can redo the space by creating a dining nook in a corner with a round dining table, bench seating, and a few dining chairs while leaving the rest of the space available for a new home office or even a laundry area.

Having a defined set of goals is important as it will determine the theme, layout, and furniture needed in a space. It also limits errors such as buying the wrong furniture size or painting the wrong color. With the space planning in mind, you have a clear direction of what you want the room to look like in the end.

Get Rid of Old Furniture That Don’t Work with Your New Vision for Your Space

While you likely want to retain as many of your old furniture and decorative pieces as possible, sometimes it’s better to just let some of them go to maximize your space. What’s great is that you don’t have to just give away furniture that don’t work with your design goals. To save on the cost of new furniture, you can sell your old pieces to get additional funds.

Nowadays, it’s easy to put your second hand furniture up for sale. You can simply advertise on a popular buy and sell online site such as LookingFour.com. Set a fair price for your wares with accurate descriptions of their features and also their flaws, if any.

Buy New Versatile Furniture

When buying new furniture for your multipurpose space, it’s ideal to purchase furniture with more than one use. This adds to the versatility and convertibility of the room. For example, buying a sofa bed instead of a traditional couch will allow you to turn your living room to a guest bedroom at a moment’s notice, letting you host visiting family and friends. Another classic room conversion is to redo your guest room so that it can be your home office during the day. By installing a murphy bed instead of a traditional bed, it will be easier for you to hide the bed and get it out of the way during office hours.

Add Customized Storage Units

Keeping clutter away—or at least out of sight—is important to keep your rooms organized and clean. While you can certainly add ready-made cabinets and drawers, custom cabinetry would be better to maximize the spaces in your home and hide utilitarian appliances that could be eyesores in a room.

To give you an idea, an arts and crafts room doubling as a playroom would work if you’re able to hide all the toys behind aesthetically pleasing cabinet doors or barn doors. If you’re wanting additional space for your kitchen essentials, you can have a built-in pantry hidden under a flight of stairs. For guest rooms doubling as your home gym, you can have specially designed closets to accommodate your gym equipment so they can be easily put away when not in use.

Separate the Spaces in a Room

Even without building walls, there are creative ways to separate the distinctive spaces in any given room. For instance, you can use shelves, screens, and even area rugs to define a space. When you divide a room, it’s easier for multiple people to use the same space. Your child could be studying while you work in your office or study space, or your kids could be playing while you work out in your gym area.

That said, some activities might not be fit to be accommodated at the same time within a single space, such as using a single room as an office space and as an entertainment area at the same time. In these cases, you would need a wall with sound insulation to cut out the noise and distractions that would compromise your productivity.

Add Multiple Lighting Sources

Lighting is another element that can make any room more versatile. Instead of just adding an overhead light, for example, you can use lamps, sconces, pendant lights, and other such lighting fixtures that could help light up just the space that’s currently in use. This is so that you won’t disturb someone else who might be doing another activity in the same room. For example, your kids may want to dim the lights to watch a movie while you might want to read a book. In the bedroom, you may have a desk set up with a table lamp you can turn on while letting your spouse sleep in the darkness.

Making your home work for your family’s changing lifestyle helps in maintaining a harmonious relationship with each other. With proper planning, design, and execution, your home can provide the spaces your family needs to achieve a productive, fun, and fulfilling life.