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Creative Ways to Use One Room for Two Purposes
by , 03-29-2012 at 09:35 AM (2241 Views)
If you ask the average homeowner, “Which rooms in your home are used the least?” The most likely responses will be, “the living room, dining room, and guest room”. Although our needs and styles have changed over the years, many homes are still designed with these designated spaces that go largely under utilized. If you have ever wondered why you never entertain in your living room, rarely host dinner parties in your dining room, or seldom need to change the linens in your guest room, try repurposing them to suit your needs. Here are a few suggestions to get your wheels turning!
Living room- The main purposes of this room in the 19th century were for formal gatherings and laying out deceased family members. Let’s face it, times have changed and there are many more effective and fun ways to use what was also known as the ‘parlor”. If your living room is full of stuffy furniture, heavy window treatments and breakable valuables that the decorator suggested, it’s time to rethink what would make you happy.
For those who enjoy a good read, try taking out some of the furniture, add floor to ceiling bookshelves, good lighting, maybe a fireplace and viola! Your living room could be a library. Add a flat screen television and inviting, comfortable seating for a family room.
If you are an art aficionado, why not freshen it up with light colored walls, sparse furniture and a massive collection of framed artwork? Here’s another idea. Since most living rooms are one of the most spacious areas in a home, they are also a natural for use as a music room.
Dining room- Is your prized Chippendale table for eight gathering dust or has it become a catchall for keys, newspapers, and the kids’ book bags? Maybe it’s time to put it on craigslist and get some use out of that square footage! When you move on from the traditional idea of a formal table and chairs, you’ll find that the dining room has limitless potential.
How about a small round table for four for Bridge or other games? Wine connoisseurs may see it as the perfect place for a tasting room. A wall size wine rack, creative storage for glassware, built in stereo, lush plants, eye-catching art, and with you as sommelier, your friends will never need to visit the neighborhood wine bar again! A playroom in close proximity to the kitchen is another way to go.
Dining rooms can also do double duty as a home office. Since most are adjacent to the kitchen, checking your e-mail and getting dinner together will be a snap! And finally, who wouldn’t love a big open space for yoga or Pilates? Can you envision it? Equip the former dining room with a big basket of mats, huge framed mirror for alignment checks, leafy ferns, flat screen with your favorite dvd’s, an exercise ball and then you’ll have it!
Guest room- Since Aunt Martha’s visits are fewer and fewer; do you really need a fulltime guest room? Although it is likely much smaller than the living room or dining room, there are still loads of options for a guest room conversion. Of course, you can install a Murphy bed, use a daybed, still accommodate visitors and…have an awesome craft room, nursery, sitting room, dressing room, or home gym. Is your guest room equipped with a bathroom? Why not block out the light, install a sink table and turn it into a darkroom? How about putting in an infrared sauna? The recent winner of a Metropolitan Home magazine contest converted his guest room into an impressive home theater. He achieved a tasteful and dramatic effect by painting the walls black, installing built in speakers, a huge projection screen, and tons of shelving for dvd’s. It remained a guestroom thanks to a pair of overstuffed sleeper sofas.
With all of the available resources online, at big box hardware stores, thrift stores, and interesting places from Goodwill to Ikea to Pottery Barn and Target-the sky truly is the limit when it comes to your creativity and how you choose to adapt your home to your lifestyle.
This post was written by Lisa Andree who works as a freelance copywriter with ForTheBestRate.com and other real estate finance related web sites owned by CMG Equities, LLC. Consumers can use ForTheBestRate.com and BurlingtonMortgage.biz to research refinance mortgage rates and purchase home financing solutions from mortgage companies serving their communities.
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