5 Creative Multipurpose Room Ideas for Limited Space

Living in a small home has its challenges, but we can be creative to maximize space. These multipurpose room ideas are sure to inspire you to create a functional space you'll love!

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Today's question for the podcast:

I have to share a room with my five year old son. How I create separate spaces with the room?
Christi F, YouTube

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What is a multipurpose room?

A multipurpose room is a room that serves more than one purpose. For example, it could be a room that needs to function as both a living room and an office. It could also be an office that also needs to function as a bedroom. It could even be one bedroom that needs to function as two bedrooms for two people.

I've had many people ask me for ideas on how to create a room that needs to function as two or more rooms. If you have limited space, making one room work for a variety of uses just makes sense. When we lived in our 880 square foot garage conversion with two kids, we certainly had to come up with creative ways to make many rooms in our home multi-use.

How do you create a multifunctional space?

Even if your room is small, there are creative ways to turn it into a multipurpose space. The following multipurpose room ideas and tips should help you get started on creating your space!

Use a storage or coat cabinet as a room divider to create an entry - black, white and wood farmhouse cottage entryway

Turn one room into two with a partition

If you need to turn one room into two, try doing so with a room divider, cabinets or a storage shelf. You can place it in between two beds to create privacy in a bedroom for two people, or you can even use a divider to create an office nook.

To create an entryway, I've used cabinets by the door that create a clear divide between the entry and a small office nook behind the cabinets.

I've seen a few people use the IKEA Kallax shelving units as clever room dividers with storage. IKEA shows the shelf being used as a room divider right here on their product page.

Create a craft room office with lots of wall storage

We have a multipurpose craft room & home office in our house, and it's functioned well for us for many years. Using desks with lots of storage in them will help make a smaller room function better, and so will using wall area for storage.

Don't forget that walls are valuable real estate, too! Adding oversized pegboards to walls for st o rage is one of my favourite hacks, but there are many ways you can add storage and function to walls. Walls aren't just for decor! You can store crafts, accessories, home office items, paperwork, and more on walls.

You could use this same principle for any multipurpose room. The more wall storage you can create, the less floor space you'll need. Use items like picture ledges, shallow shelving units, pegboards (with a basket or hooks), and hooks to make budget-friendly storage on the wall.

Hide a guest bedroom with a Murphy Bed

The last hotel my family visited had two Queen beds and then a fabulous surprise... a Murphy Bed! A Murphy Bed is a pull-down bed that is hidden in a wall of cabinetry. It's a fabulous solution when you want to have the option to have a bed in a room, but you don't want one there 24/7. This would be a great option for an office that you want to use periodically as a guest room for overnight guests, or even for a living room that could be used as a guest bedroom. A Murphy Bed usually offers more storage space in the cabinetry, too.

I've even seen Murphy Beds with a desk on the front! There might even be a way to hack an entertainment unit into a Murphy Bed. Or how about having a bedroom/gym and using cabinets to store workout gear? It would be fun to get creative with this idea and create the ultimate multi-purpose room.

Don't want to buy a Murphy Bed? Here's how blogger Katie of Addicted 2 DIY made one!

See how a boring, dated living room was transformed into a coastal modern farmhouse space with a DIY shiplap fireplace and adorable office nook with storage.

Create an office in a closet

Many of us are working from home right now, and it can be hard to find room for a dedicated workspace. A dining table can be used as a desk by day, but it's frustrating to continually have to move things around. One idea is to turn a rarely used closet into a little home office with a desk area, filing cabinets, light source and chair. Closet space can be a waste of space if it isn't used to it's fullest, so why not create a mini office area there? This would also be a great spot for kids that need to do homework (or are schooling from home).

Here's a beautiful example of an unused closet turned into an office.... or "cloffice" by fellow blogger Brooke of Nesting with Grace.

Another option is to create a small nook in your living room or bedroom with cabinetry. In our lake house rental, we used two IKEA Pax units to create a small nook. In the nook, we floated a countertop and added a mirror and pendant light for a small office area. If you don't want to rewire a wall for a lighting, you could use table lamps or a battery operated light source with a remote.

Come see how a plain, dated bedroom was transformed into a bright and cheerful bedroom with a bunk bed and blue, yellow and white colors

Try a beautiful bunk bed

Bunk beds have come a long way over the past several years, and there are some beautiful and sturdy options available. We have a bunk room in one of my daughter's rooms, and we also have one in our lake house rental.

A bunk bed with a double bed on the bottom and a single bed on the top is a great option for kids and adults alike, and I've even seen beautiful double Queen sized bunk beds. If you want to save space but create a bedroom for two or more people, bunk beds are a definite winner!

THIS WEEK'S CHALLENGE:

Is there a way that you could make a room in your home multifunctional using one of the above ideas? Let me know what you're going to try in the comments below!