I am so thankful to have a craft room, a reading room, a home office, a photography studio, and an extra playroom. Now you think I have a huge mansion, right?
Wrong.
What if I told you it’s possible to have all these functions in your own home today, even if you don’t have much extra room?
Let me introduce you to the multifunctional room. The idea is you take one room or area in your home and design it to serve several different functions.
Here is my multifunctional room. I wanted this room to have several different purposes:
- be a quiet place to read the Bible, pray and write in my journal
- host my home office
- house my photo studio and store my photography equipment
- store craft supplies
- serve as an extra play room for the kids
- convert into an extra bedroom for guests
Let me give you the full tour of my multifunctional room:
Reading Nook
You can see me taking this picture in the mirror!
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The gliding chair helps make this reading nook a comfortable place to relax and read.
Home Office
Our Easy DIY Desk on a Budget paired with this beautiful lamp and shade create a great environment to get some work done.
Photography Studio
Playroom
This room also serves as a craft room, storage and a guest bedroom. This room is right across the hallway from a guest bathroom so all I have to do is take out the inflatable bed and this room easily converts into the perfect guest space.
This one room serves 6 different functions. So it’s sort of like having an extra 6 rooms in my home! Now it’s time to share all the secrets on how I did it.
How To Create A Multifunctional Room
Choose 3-4 main functions for the room/area
Make a list of all the activities you’d like to do in this room. Then order them from most important down to the least. The top 3 or 4 items on your list will determine how you design the rest of the room.
For me this room had to have a quiet reading area. I need to have quiet time in the mornings so I can spend time with God reading the Bible and praying. The days when I skip this important start to the day are noticeably harder. Creating a place that makes quiet time easy is so worth the time!
This space also had to be a home office. Having space to pay bills and organize the family paperwork was a must. Creating a photography studio, craft room and playroom for the kids were the smaller but still important objectives of the room.
Dedicate the most space in the room for the main function of the room
The reading nook and office were the two biggest objectives of this room so they were delegated the most space. The office has a desk big enough that I can spread out all the paperwork. The reading nook was delegated enough space for a glider ottoman, floor lamp and shelves for books and journals.
Crafting and photography were further down on the functions list, so all those supplies are organized in the storage unit and big closet.
Use furniture that multitasks
One of the best objects that demonstrates this is my filing cabinets. They serve as the main structural support for my beautiful desk and they offer storage as well. Each top drawer stores office supplies and the drawers function as filing cabinets.
The storage unit multitasks by storing my Bible and journals, photography equipment, and toys for the kids. It also creates a great place to hide my foldable lightbox which gets folded down and hidden behind the storage unit.
Take advantage of vertical space
I’m lucky enough to have a pretty big closet in my multifunctional room. As you can see in the before photo, a lot of the vertical space was being wasted. I bought some clear bins (on sale!) and use them to store craft supplies. Now all that vertical space is being utilized and I can get to my craft supplies easily.
I made sure to use vertical space on the desk as well. I needed an organizer to file papers but I didn’t want it to take up too much space. I found this paper organizer and it was perfect!
Make sure all design, decor and purchases for this room meet your objectives
If you’re considering a piece for the room that doesn’t meet the objectives, it may have to be cut out. Remember, we’re treating this space as real estate.
Decide one thing you’ll splurge on
Make this a space you’ll enjoy being! My splurge for this room was this beautiful lamp. It may be my favorite item in the whole room.
Source List
Gliding rocking chair and ottoman – about $130 with free shipping from Amazon (we moved this into the room from our son’s bedroom)
Filing Cabinets – about $50.00 each (only available in Walmart stores) If you need an online source, here is a similar one on Amazon.com
Cherry wood desk top – about $20.00! This was a project my awesome hubby made (you can see the full tutorial here)
Vertical desk organizer
Acrylic lamp base – $19.99 at Lowes
Lamp shade – $13.48 at Lowes
Storage unit – $39.99 (only available in Big Lots stores) If you need an online source here is a similar unit in an espresso finish
I hope you enjoyed the tour of my multifunctional room. What does your dream multifunctional room look like? I’d love to know!
Shared at: Best DIY Projects and Recipes, Project Inspire{d}, The Makers, Work It Wednesday, Creative Spark, Think and Make Thursday, Thrifty Thursday, and Your Turn To Shine.
What is the paint color of this room? I really like it.
Thank you,
Andee
Thanks Andee–I really love that color too. I’m so sorry but I can’t remember what the color was! We painted this room awhile ago and I remember we used up every last drop of the paint (so now I don’t have an old paint can to reference) This blue had some gray tint to it, so if you’ve got a couple of paint sample strips, pick one that has some gray in it. I hope this is helpful!
I like the before and after of how you organized the closet. I wish I could have my office also be a playroom for our kids. Our kids are a little crazy and I don’t trust them to play near our computers and expensive office electronics.
I understand! Maybe you’ll be able to do it when they’re a little bit older 🙂
You did a beautiful job and incorporated everything you wanted in such a beautiful way. I’m wondering where you got the lovely glide rocker? I’m searching for a good quality one as a gift for my new grandson!
Thank you so much Marjie! I have to say…I LOVE that chair! I nursed both my kids there and it was such a comfy spot to spend those late night feedings. I got it on amazon here. Stork Craft Hoop Glider and Ottoman Set, Cherry/Beige
I hope that helps!
Wow!! I am super impressed at all of the functions this room can handle! Thanks for linking up at Creative Spark. Hope you’ll join us again today 🙂
This room has always been the catch-all but now it’s a functioning catch-all (AKA room with multiple purposes). I’m always glad to join your party Emily!
This is really pretty and functional. I am a little jealous. We are in the middle of transforming our dining room into a room we will actually use and it really does have to have to serve several purposes. Thanks for the inspiration.
I think a lot of people are doing the same thing you are–making dining rooms more functional. It seems to be a great solution for a lot of families these days. I’m so glad this inspired you! You’ll have to show me how it turns out!
Excellent tips! I have a craft room/office but it’s in desperate need of reorganizing. I’m working on minimizing my “stuff” so I have more room for things that serve a purpose. I’d love to add a comfy chair in there to do my Bible study as well. Thanks for all this great info!
You make a great point– minimizing the stuff in the room creates a lot more space! I hope you can fit a chair in your room–I’ve really enjoyed having a special spot to read my Bible in the mornings!
Oh Carrie, I absolutely LOVE this!!! We have a spare room that that been deemed as the ‘room of hoarders’! It’s essentially been the ‘catch all’ for everything and anything. I’ve started exploring some opportunities to work from home, but first I’ve got to get this room under control, because of course it would be house my office area. It’s been completely overwhelming as to where to even start. You have just given me some awesome ideas!
This room was a catch-all for us too! It’s so nice it finally has not just one but many purposes. I’m so glad this was helpful, Amy! You’ll have to keep me updated on how yours turns out!
Nice! We have a room like this, too. We share one bedroom so that we can have a second room for the study, books, supplies and storage. I’m in the process of putting on the finishing touches this month. Thanks for the inspiration!
So glad to be a part in your project! I’d love to see how it turns out Sarah!
Carrie, you did a great job of making your room work hard to meet your needs. Thanks for all your helpful hints, too!
Blessings!
I love to share tips that will inspire and help others!
These are some really great tips to creating a space that meets many different needs. I love it! I can’t believe you fit 6 rooms into 1. You go, girl! Looks great!
6 rooms in 1 is definetly making the most out of a small space! I’m thrilled you like it Christine!
So smart! I love this idea and what a great room!
Thanks Keri! It’s fun enjoying this room doing all my favorite hobbies!
What a great use of space! You did such a great job of combining all these purposes in one room and keeping a nice flow!
Thank you Selene! Now if I could just figure out a way to get more time to enjoy all those purposes I’d be set 😉
You’re so smart! I love this idea. We have a very small house, and I was just telling my hubby this morning I need a craft room! We have a guestroom as of now, but I’m so hesitant to get crazy and turn it into my office because we’re hoping to have another baby in the next 6 months to a year, and then after that it’ll have to become a nursery! However, I could easily turn my daughter’s room now into a functional room as well, and maybe put a desk in there. If she doesn’t mind. 😉 Thanks for all the ideas and tips! 🙂
I’m sure your daughter wouldn’t mind a desk in her room. Then she could play while you work on the computer!
Oh wow! I love this. If I got a smaller bed for my bedroom I could have a little blogging nook. I just can’t seem to give up my huge comfy bed. Happy Friday!
Problem solved–you can just blog from the big comfy bed! Ha ha. But seriously–that would be a really comfortable place to blog! Glad you enjoyed this Leslie!
Great way to take full advantage of a room, Carrie! Our office/playroom is much the same! I love that lamp on your desk! So pretty! Would love it if you shared this at our link party on my blog please 🙂 Have a wonderful weekend!
The lamp really makes the whole room. It’s one of the first things I see as I walk in the room & I wouldn’t have it any other way! I’d be glad to share this at your party–headed there now!