6 Go-To Multipurpose Room Ideas

Whether you’re navigating an open floor plan with a lot of ready space or an extra room a little on the smaller side, there’s no reason to let that square footage go to waste. Also called a flex room, a multipurpose or dual-purpose room is the way to go to make sure you get the most use out of all your home spaces. Check out our ideas for how to maximize the size of every room to meet your household’s every need.

What Is A Dual or Multipurpose Room?

The rooms in your home all usually offer some dedicated purpose or function. The kitchen is where food is prepared, a dining room is where meals are served. Whether it is called a living room or a den, that particular room is where the household and guests can socialize and relax, and the home office space is an area dedicated to productivity and paper filing. There are other rooms of the home, but you’ve got the idea.

To create a multipurpose room is to combine the primary function of a type of room with one or two other types of rooms, depending on the amount of space and the specific household need. The only real limitation on designing a dual-purpose room is space, and of course plumbing concerns for certain rooms like the kitchen or laundry room.

How Do You Design A Dual-Purpose Room?

If you have the space, the most important question to answer is: what do you want to use that area for? Identify the function that will fit for your household’s needs and lifestyle both. Determine if the room is suitable to meet the demands of the ways the room would be used.

Different rooms serve different functions, including:

• Relaxation, such as with a bedroom or a den.
• Socialization, usually done in a living room or dining area.
• Working, whether in a home office or even a craft room.
• Dining, which could include a kitchen or patio dining room.

These room functions have a certain amount of crossover in the kinds of furniture and surfaces they use to create the space. The kitchen island required to prepare food is also a good place to chat with friends or set the kids up to do homework under supervision. The desk you use to work from home might double as the running board in the dining room or it may be small enough to leave extra floorspace for the home gym’s exercise equipment.

You can combine the different functions as creatively as you like. It’s just a matter of finding the space, the furniture, and the right storage solutions to accommodate the chosen tasks.

Common combinations may look like this:

• Dining room and social area
• Working space and a dining area
• Dining room and space to relax
• Working space and social area
• Working space and a space to relax

These areas could mean simply adding a few cubby shelves for toys to create a kids’ play area in the home office, or a desk hutch in the dining room to work from home, or moving the gym equipment to the guest bedroom to create a hybrid workout room. It’s your home so you make the rules about how to use the space. Flex rooms offer the perfect opportunity to combine hobbies and daily routines to carve out spaces that encourage both.

Where to Mix-and-Match Functional Spaces

The key consideration to planning a multipurpose room is determining what functions it needs to meet. Larger rooms multitask easier than small spaces, but with the right organizational ideas you can probably make it work. That means you can look at any space on your property for ideas, whether large or small, indoors or out.

A garage is a popular choice for converting into a multitasking, dual-purpose room. A covered or enclosed patio can also be turned into a multipurpose room. These outdoor-indoor areas require some extra considerations toward electricity use and air quality control but are otherwise ideal rooms.

Good ways to convert these rooms into flex rooms can include installing ceiling fans and air conditioners to provide healthy air circulation year-round. Air purifiers and space heaters also add to the comfort and functionality of the room. Some of these are portable, which makes them easy to incorporate in your overall multipurpose room design.

Pay attention to the flooring of exterior rooms like a garage or patio addition. A concrete slab can be cold and far from comfortable. If you’re converting it to an interior space, consider installing a level, moisture-resistant flooring option. This can be as simple as an area rug or as comprehensive as a complete wood floor or carpeting project. Other more permanent installation options include tile floors, luxury vinyl or laminate flooring options, or even carpet tile.

Another location-specific feature to keep in mind is the foot-traffic and noise level of the room. Some areas of the home may be busier or noisier than others, which make them difficult to repurpose into spaces that require concentration or privacy. For the best results, look for areas with quiet corners for office or study spaces, with minimal foot traffic through and around the area. Ceiling tiles and wall paneling can be installed to help dampen the sounds in a room.

If you’re looking to add a futon or sleeper couch, consider adding extra comfort and privacy with a room divider to create a quieter, less active nook for guests. This can be helpful when making a multipurpose room within a studio apartment, offering temporary or convertible solutions that can be added in or moved as needed.

Multipurpose Room Combination Ideas

The room combinations are up to the needs of the household, with a few limitations. A recent trend in open-concept home design blends the bathroom with a private, master bedroom floorplan, but there are few other rooms that mix and match well with the demands required for a bathroom.

With that in mind, be realistic about what spaces you can squish together. We gathered a few of our favorite multipurpose room ideas to help get you started.

Kitchen/Dining Room Ideas

The combined kitchen and dining room are one of the more popular dual-purpose room combinations. It’s all about the food, from the preparation to the serving (and the snacking,) so this area requires table space and countertop space.

A kitchen island can multitask as a countertop, a bar table for socializing, and a running board for serving. A dining hutch or a smaller sideboard or buffet provide extra cupboard space for dinnerware or can serve as a dry-goods pantry to keep food staples at hand but out of sight. Bar and wine cabinets can be used as room division between the kitchen space and dining space or tucked against the wall out of the way.

Choose a dining table that fits the room available and the number of people in the household. If space is at a premium, look for round or oval shaped tables to keep the table from interfering with the walking area around it. Consider benches that can be easily tucked out of the way or utilized in other areas.

Use light fixtures to designate the different spaces, such as pendant lighting over the kitchen island to direct light onto the working surface where it’s most needed. A chandelier over the table can add ambiance and set the area apart.

Home Office / Guest Room Ideas

Both a home office and a guest room are spaces that require a certain amount of built in privacy, so they make a good pair as a dual-purpose room. The advantage of a guest room is that you can provide your guests a place to store their luggage and, of course, to sleep, which take up a relatively small footprint in the bedroom. That leaves space to be creative with the rest of the square footage.

The king of the office-guest room is still the murphy bed, which allows you to fold the bed up against the wall into a cabinet, out of the way when not in use. Many murphy bed designs include workable surfaces built into the cabinet so that the space can be useful and functional even when the bed is tucked away. A futon or sleeper sofa are another good way to save space in a guest room office, too. They are easily converted to a bed when guests arrive and fold out of the way when the room is needed as an office space.

Equip nightstands with reading lamps beside the bed headboard. Look for nightstands with storage space such as drawers that can be used for your guests’ necessary items during their stay. If there’s room, invest in a dresser for organizing larger items.

If the guest room has a standard inset closet, look for a computer desk that will fit in the space within the closet. Incorporate shelving and bookcases for storage in the closet space for necessary office technology and other work from home essentials. Utilize desk lamps and undercabinet lighting solutions to make sure the desk area has plenty of light to work by.

It can be helpful to move electrical outlets into the back of the closet for these desk hiding spots to support the power supply for computers and printers. If you’re not comfortable moving electrical wiring, check with a local electrician for this easy home update.

Finally, replace the closet doors with a barn door setup and sliding door hardware. The stylish barn door design stores the doors out of the way while you’re using the desk and allows you to close off the office workspace while your guests are visiting. For more information on barn doors, check our barn door designs buying guide.

With the right bedroom furniture, you can provide a guest room that offers comfort for the guests while also meeting the needs of a home office. For instance, chests and trunks can be used for storing extra blankets and bedding, or with the right divider and storage options, they can be used as a filing cabinet for paperwork or extra office supplies. Filing cabinets and printer stands come in a variety of designs to easily match the bedroom décor while covertly improving your home office functionality.

Living room / Home Office Ideas

The living room is another relaxing space that is often used for socializing. It can also be a good candidate for a multipurpose room, becoming the home office when space is in demand.

For some work at home solutions, the secretary desk steps in and provides your all-in-one laptop and organization station that takes up a small footprint in among the living room sofa and the entertainment center. If you need a little more space, look to a computer desk to fit full-sized screens and keyboards. They usually provide a slightly wider working surface and can still fit into a corner or along the wall to maximize the square footage for the other living room activities and furniture, like the sofas and recliner.

With a living room office, it’s a good idea to have a desk lamp that directly illuminates your working surface. This can be achieved with a floor lamp, but keep in mind that lamps around the room can create glare off of surfaces like the TV, and a desk lamp would reduce the reflection by keeping the light aimed exactly where you use it.

Some office organizers, such as drawer filing cabinets, are designed to fit under the desk. They allow you to keep the important paperwork filed close at hand without losing floorspace. Look for an office chair that tucks under the desk alongside it and you’re in business.

Home Gym / Office Ideas

When you have the office space and want to make room for some exercise equipment, look for office furniture that can multitask while taking up a smaller footprint. A smaller desk surface and a rolling chair can save space for the yoga mat, treadmill, or the weight rack.

Always make sure there’s enough space and a level floor to use exercise equipment safely. Consider swapping in a durable luxury vinyl floor or hardwood floor to ensure a level, sturdy surface to exercise on.

Focus on minimizing the office furniture to what is comfortable and ergonomic for both options. This could mean opting for a trim computer desk and installing wall shelving to keep the floorspace clear. Narrow accent cabinets can keep items stored safely and easily accessed without taking up room away from the wall and into the working area. With the right closet organizer, closets can be used for keeping file storage and office supplies hidden out of the way on bookshelves, or as storage for loose exercise equipment when not in use.

Den / Craft room Ideas

Whether you call it the den or the living room, the space is intended to be relaxing and entertaining, with the popular fixtures of the TV, stereo, or gaming consoles and a comfortable couch. For those with a creative streak, these rooms blend well with the craft room. The craft room can include spaces for anything from painting and artwork, to sewing and yarncraft, to more technological makerspaces with 3D printers and computers.

The emphasis on these spaces is multitasking storage areas as well as desk space to work from. Look also to the lighting of these multipurpose rooms to create well lit areas for the creative work that don’t interfere with the dimmed lighting requirements for enjoying TV or gaming.

Combining these rooms means finding the right work surfaces, which can range from gaming tables that double as dining or draft tables, to heavier, sturdier desks that can hold the weight and movement of a sewing machine or 3D printer. The larger surface area of an executive desk or an office desk can be useful for measuring and assembling the projects. The crafting tools themselves don’t take up much of a footprint and many are small enough that they can be stored out of the way to switch out machines as needed. Printer stands can be useful ways to store larger craft tools like the sewing machines.

Desk lamps and floor lamps are good ways to put the light exactly where it is needed. Additional track and rail lighting on the ceiling or walls provides individual track heads that can be directed at the workstation and away from the entertainment area to avoid light glare off the TV screen.

Keep the TV and gaming area organized and showcased with entertainment furniture designed to integrate the technology into the room. Choose accent cabinets that can hide away controllers and remotes for smaller-space solutions to keeping the den’s entertainment easily organized. Wall shelving and bookcases provide plenty of space to store supplies and collections, from gaming consoles and DVDs to sewing notions. Look for baskets and office organizers like file boxes and desk organizers to keep materials and tools orderly and easy to find.

If the idea is to be able to enjoy the TV or entertainment system from any part of the room, simply use the larger pieces of furniture, whether the desks or the loveseats or sofas, as ways of dividing the room to keep it easy to move around and enjoy. Most den and craft rooms are also social spaces, so consider adding a beverage cooler or a kegerator to provide quick refreshments, whether it’s sodas for the kids or a brew for the adults.

Adding a Playroom or Learning Space

There are many ways to create a playroom or learning space in an established room. One of the quickest additions is to add a sturdy bookshelf and equip it with storage bins or baskets for toys, books, and art supplies. Tuck it into a corner space and mark the area off with colorful, kid-friendly rugs. This is an easy solution for any room, whether it’s the living room or an established home office.

Another idea for adding a kids’ area to a home office is to find a loft bed with a desk space under it. The upper bunk of the loft bed can be easily converted to a play-loft by replacing the mattress with a sheet of sturdy plywood covered in carpet tiles. The lower section can be a dedicated homework space for the at-home learner, complete with bookshelves and their own office chair.

These are just a few ideas to get you started. There are many ways to fully take advantage of the space in your home by creating a flex room wherever you need it. Mix and match what works to make it fit your household.