How to Master Organization in a Multi-Purpose Room
Whole House Organization Challenge: Week 13
If you live in a studio apartment, or in a small home like me, chances are you have a room that must serve, not just one or two, but many different functions.
These rooms can become workhorses, taking on the heavy load of much of your home's activity. When set up properly they can run like well-oiled machines.
Because of all that we demand from them, multi-purpose spaces can be a serious pain to organize. Let me share some tips with you on how I organize my combination room. Welcome to Week 13 of the Whole House Organization Challenge.
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My combination room serves the following purposes:
- a home office
- a guest sleeping room
- a tv room
- a dressing room (my closet is located here)
- an exercise room
I know. That's a lot to ask of a 10 x11.5 room, but we make it work. Here are the steps you'll need to take to make your's work too.
Purge, Purge, Purge
Only the items that fit the room's purpose should be there. To make sure you stick to that goal make a separate pile for every category. Based on the my list of purposes above then, I would have had 5 categories sorted out for the room, plus one additional category: Trash. As I mentioned in the WHO worksheet, purging requires a bit of ruthlessness in order to be successful.
Create Zones
Before loading in the room, determine what will be done where, and arrange your furniture accordingly. Below is the area I've sectioned off for my office space. This photo was a taken sometime ago, but it's a good example of how I sectioned off a portion of the room take care of business. Blogging, crafting (notice the cutting board on the floor), bill paying, letter writing, couponing, etc, all happen right here.
Storage to Hide the Clutter & Further Define Zones
Now that you've purged and planned out the space, it's time to invest in storage pieces that are attractive, but that also hide the "ugly" items like envelopes, receipts, tax returns, etc. My go-to store for items like that is IKEA. The tall PAX storage tower next to my desk is an IKEA product that I've had for at least 15 years. Let me tell you it gets the job done! I store all of my office needs inside of it.
Don't have an IKEA nearby? I've linked a few alternatives belo
Swinging to the other side of the room, just beside the office area is the guest sleeping. Again, IKEA provided the perfect solution for me. The daybed below, which is a twin size as shown, actually converts to a king-sized bed. AH-mazing, not only because it can double in size, but because never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that a king-size bed would fit in here. Within minutes, the room can be transformed into a completely new space.
As if that weren't awesome enough, the three drawers located on the bottom are huge, and measure the full depth of the unit. One drawer is used for my craft supplies, one for guest room bedding and pillows, and the last one is empty. So there is plenty of storage for overnight guests. It pays to take good measurements and invest in storage that does the work for you.
Keep it Simple & Stay on Top of It
Of all the rooms in my home, THIS one needs decluttering the most. Just recently I gave away several boxes and bags of craft supplies I knew I'd never use. Any high-traffic multi-use room requires the same treatment.
Combination rooms are like the hardworking employees who keep getting more work dumped on them because they can handle it. But like those loyal worker bees, all spaces have a breaking point. So set limits for your multi-purpose space and respect them. If you see that the area is becoming overloaded, then it's time to purge again.
Do these simple things and your little workhorse of a room will continue to serve all of your needs without ever wearing out.
One more favor may I ask of you?
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Merci Beaucoup!
