16 Creative Ways to Make Your Home’s Multipurpose Spaces More Functional

The term “functional” is defined differently by everyone. What may be functional for you and your family could present serious challenges for someone else. When looking at multipurpose spaces in your home, it’s important to work with an experienced design-build team who can look at your space and see beyond what it’s currently used as and see the space for what it could be.

Here are 16 multipurpose room ideas to add more functionality and creative spaces to your home.

Creative Storage Solutions & Built-ins

Making multipurpose spaces in your home more functional doesn’t have to mean adding more space. Sometimes we just need a bit of help with organizing and maximizing the area we already have, including spaces that otherwise go unused.

Odd-Shaped Spaces

Use the space beneath the stairs for creative storage or workspace solutions.

Overhead Storage

Utility rooms like the garage or laundry room can add additional storage in an otherwise neglected area.

Built-ins

Built-in Furniture, wall-hinged drop-down desks, beds, benches, or tables can all be space-saving features and add additional functionality to a space.

 

Custom Furniture

Purchase unique or commissioned custom-made pieces of furniture that have flexible use or storage.

For example, adding a built-in murphy bed to an office can create an additional guest space when needed.

Multipurpose Laundry Room

For some, functionality in a laundry space may look like adding a second-floor laundry room or adding laundry into the primary suite’s walk-in closet for convenience. Other scenarios may mean creating a laundry room used for more than just laundry.

• Adding a pet grooming station in the laundry room is perfect for animal lovers who want an easy and efficient way to wash their pets.
  
  
• If you have a first-floor laundry room, consider also making this space a mud room.
  
  
• Adding an additional bathroom to the laundry room is also a common project.
  
  

Hidden Spaces

• Adding a bar in hidden spaces like under stairs with unsuspecting storage cabinets is a fun touch to any entertainer's home.
  
  
• Turn an unused closet within the basement into a temperature-controlled wine cellar.
  
  
• Unique slide-away stairs allow access to secret rooms or additional storage.
  
  

Flexible and Thoughtful Design

Perhaps you don’t need to maximize space for storage right now, but want to plan ahead for functional spaces, or even luxury spaces, down the road.

• Add a sauna into a primary suite bathroom using an existing closet space.
  
  
• Elevator technology has improved and elevators can be much smaller now. This allows people to age in place to gain access to multi-level home space. Stacking closets on top of each other between the first and second floors create a plan to allow for the
  integration of an elevator later on in life.

• Create an interior design that allows for easy access to the outdoors: connecting outdoors to indoors with transitional nano doors or large sliders offers streamlined access to outdoor covered living space.
  
  
• Using lofted beds in kids' rooms to allow for additional deskspace, storage, or play space underneath, maximizing square footage in a smaller bedroom.
  
  
• Using barn doors or pocket doors makes it easier to
  convert one space into another use down the road.
  
  
• Create an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) in a walk-out
  basement with a trap door or spiral staircase to access
  the main house. This way it can be used as guest space
  connected to the home, or a completely separate rental
  unit.
  
  

Make the Most of Your Home

These are just a few ideas of things that you can do to make the most of your space. When you work with a skilled design-build team who can help you gain perspective and a new outlook on your space, the opportunities are unlimited as to what you can do. The probability of success increases when you team up with a professional versus the trial and error approach when working on your home yourself. 

Are you ready to begin the process of making your home’s multipurpose space more functional? Download the eBook, “Space planning 101: How to renovate your home layout to improve functionality” to learn more about what goes into this type of project.