How To Create A Multi-functional Home Office

These days it’s not unusual to have a need for a multi-functional space or two in the home….especially with so many working from home. Trying to come up with an already used space that can be converted into a home office, function the way we need it to and maintain a cohesive design can be tricky business.

My Dining Room Converted to Home Office/Sitting Room

In our case we had several issues that needed to be addressed. The first issue: My family was out-growing our enclosed dining space with no more room to expand.

So after contemplating my options I decided to flip flop my dining room and living room. That allowed us to create a larger dining area for our growing family, but still provide a small sitting area in the smaller space. What you see above was once my dining room. The picture below was once my living room.

The second issue: I needed to free up my home office upstairs to create a bunk room for my grandkids – again, to accommodate my growing family when they all stayed here. Although I had a commercial office space for my interior design business I still needed an office space at home. With space so limited the new cozy sitting room seemed like the perfect solution.

Before I decided to transform this space into my office as well as my “girlie” sitting room and put my desk in here I had an upright family piano against the wall to the left of the window. As things continued to evolve, i.e., moving my office from upstairs to the downstairs, I gave the piano to my son and daughter-in-law and freed up that wall for a desk. You can see in the picture above where the desk is located it was originally a perfect place for an upright piano. With my kids all grown and out of the house, and grandkids who wanted to take piano lessons it was the perfect solution. The evolution of my multi-functioning space had begun.

Determine Your Exact Needs For Your Office Space

When you are ready to convert your space to an office think about your specific needs all across the board. Do you still need a formal dining space, or an additional dining space? Can you do what I did and flip-flop your living room (or another space) with your dining room? Is your space big enough to function as an office and a dining room? What kind of multi-functional space do you need? Instead of a dining room or sitting room maybe you need to be able to convert the space into a guest room on those rare occasions you have overnight guests. Or maybe you have small children and you need it to be a place where they can play, but you want enough stylish storage so that toys can quickly be put away and have it be presentable at a moments notice.

Sit down with pen and paper and list all your wants and needs. In my case it was fairly simple. I needed a desk with enough space for my computer and current files and some storage for all my desk needs. Fortunately the rest of my business materials were at my commercial location so I didn’t need a ton of extra storage in here. And, I wanted to keep my cozy little sitting area in tact, because I love this quiet space.

Another thing that was important to me – since my office is not enclosed and it’s right off the entry way as you walk into my house – it was imperative to me that it remain visually appealing and flow with the rest of my style throughout my home.

As you can see from the view in the picture above it’s still aesthetically pleasing and the design theme works with my French Country Cottage style home. Even when the desk is messy it’s not the first thing you see when you walk through my entry into my home. That was something that was very important to me.

How Does Your Space Need To Function?

Even though I needed a place to land for my office I loved having a girlie sitting room and did not want to give it up. I like cozy, intimate settings and I enjoy sitting in here with friends and having a glass of wine. Or even just sitting with my own thoughts, doing my Bible devotionals, meditating, etc. And, I’ve taken many a nap on this chaise lounge! I wasn’t ready to let any of this go so when I decided to move my desk in here I did a little rearranging to make it serve my dual purpose.

Determine Your Style

Just because you may need to office at home doesn’t mean it needs to look too “officey”. There’s no need to have a basic, generic, mechanical looking atmosphere here. It’s not an office cubicle….it’s your home! Give it style and personality as well as function. My style is clearly a French Country look and I wanted my office to reflect that style – workspace or not. No matter your style or your multi-function needs you can and should create a space you can enjoy both functionally and visually.

Add Personal Touches To Your Office Space

I have things I have collected from flea markets over the years and pictures of my daughter and I sprinkled throughout. She has followed in her mother’s footsteps and is a designer now herself. These pictures are a little nod to her and I as mother/daughter and fellow interior designers.

Determine Your Storage Needs

When you sit down to list your specific storage needs for your multi-function home office be sure to list ALL your organizational/storage needs. Think about what you need, but don’t necessarily want to be seen – especially when you’re entertaining or have unexpected company arriving at a moments notice. Whether it be kids toys, or business manuals it needs to be a storage piece that provides you with the cubbies, doors or drawers where you can swiftly pick up and and stow away the clutter. Out of sight, out of mind. Keep it easy, keep it quick. But create a space that’s visually appealing and functions the way you need it. Below are some options that can be tweaked to go with a great many design styles. Mix and match storage pieces that can be customized to suit your needs.

IKEA provides a number of styles and combinations in various colors. Below are just a few. Be sure to check out the website for more options.

These pieces can be built to size with various combinations. The doors here allow you to quickly declutter your office space of your kid’s toys or your business papers, manuals and files.

Stylish storage bins may be an easier, more accommodating means to declutter. Book and magazine bins look stylish and clean, but hide a multitude of office “stuff”.

This wall unit below is from Home Depot. It provides decorative glass doors as well as solid wood doors to hide clutter.

Recap

So to recap – make a list of your needs, wants, and questions:

• How does this space need to function? What are you trying to accomplish here?
• Who will be using this space – Kids? Guests? Husband and Wife?
• Measure the space and determine what items, i.e., furnishings, storage, etc needs to fit
• Determine your style
• What kind of organizational needs do you have? Toys, manuals, files?
• How much storage do you need?
• If you can – it’s a good idea to hire an interior designer to render the space to scale. If not, draw it out to scale on graph paper. Measure the space and measure each item that you’d like to have in the space. Draw it out on paper and make sure it all fits properly.
• Plan a space that is both functional and visually appealing

It does require proper planning and budgeting, but when trying to create a multi-functional space that accommodates your family’s needs its well worth it in the end. Take your time, assess you space and needs and have fun creating your new multi-functional space! Feel free to send me some pictures – I would love to see what you do!

For more design inspo be sure to check out the blogs from my fellow Designing Women Tell all.

Click the links below to read:

Crystal with Sweet Valley Acres

Kristy with At Home With Kristy

Happy Decorating and Happy Life By Design!