Transforming a Bedroom Into Something Else
Friday, August 28th, 2009
If you have a spare bedroom in your home, chances are is turning (or already has) into a catch-all room, where all the extras goes and no real order can ever be made of anything. If that’s the case, don’t despair. You can rescue the bedroom and convert it into an useful, organized room.
The simplest idea is to turn the room into a guest bedroom. This requires no additional purchases (providing you already had a bed and wardrobe or chest drawer in there). Clean up the items you don’t need, pack up clothing or seasonal decorations and you’re ready to have company over.
The second most useful idea may be to turn the room into a home office. Even if you don’t work from home, you can still use an office to help you organize paperwork and bills, to spend some time reading alone or to store the computer and other office equipment. An office needs a desk, a comfortable chair and a shelving unit or drawers to organize office supplies and other extras.
If you have kids, making the room into a playroom will allow the kids to play at their hearts’ content without you having to worry about seeing toys strung over the whole house. If company shows up, you can simply close the door and not worry about the mess. Also, having a specific room designated as a playroom will make it easier to child-proof and make sure it’s safe and free of sharp corners or dangers when the kids are jumping around.
If you need a storage room and there’s nowhere else your stuff can be relegated to, you can use the bedroom as storage, as long as you find a way to do it cleverly. Buy cardboard boxes or plastic containers where you can divide and store things according to season or use. Cupboards and drawer systems will take care of paperwork and other flat items, while you can use hanging bags to store out-of-season clothing or sport equipment. If you organize it well enough, there’s no reason why the room couldn’t serve as both storage and bedroom or office.
