Our homes are full of rooms that are labeled when we buy the house.
The kitchen. Living Room. Dining Room. Bedroom. Family Room. Office. Den. And more.
There is an expectation of how we will furnish and use each room.
But why?
Aside from the kitchen, bathrooms, and laundry, the rooms are just spaces.
Without the labels, they are a blank canvas for whatever we want them to be.
At some points in life our homes are so full they burst at the seams.
Every space needs to be strategically designed so everyone has a bed and gathering spaces.
However, I’ve realized as the empty nest phase begins rooms that had purpose have lost them.
This doesn’t just happen with bedrooms.
The whole house starts to feel it’s lost its purpose.
Life phases and stages open opportunities to reimagine what the label of each room could be.
My Story
We have used rooms in unconventional ways for years.
About 15 years ago, we shifted an unused formal dining room into a TV / gathering room.
The room continues to be used for this purpose today.
Two or three years ago, I turned an unused walk-in closet to my photography closet.
The space now holds all my equipment and props. I love having everything together in one place!
The most recent project was the family room that had lost its way.
No one spent time there. Random furniture from other rooms collected there.
So, I decided to use the random pieces to create an entertaining area.
The entertainment center was turned into a coffee & drink bar.
A couch and two chairs were intentionally placed, and a bar height table sits against the wall.
We’ve had 2 events at our house since this change, and the space is working.
Nothing new was purchased. Just moving things around and imagining possibilities.
Your Turn
Are you using spaces in your home in ways they weren’t intended?
Do you have a space that you walk through, but don’t use?
How might you breathe new life into a room that’s lost its way?