This post is a collaborative partnership with Plank Hardware
Most of us live in places that have to function in a variety of different ways; even more so during the Pandemic when our homes suddenly became the place to sleep, eat, work and learn.
This is why understanding multi-functional living can really help us get the most out of our spaces. When your home functions as a flexible space that enables you to do different activities on a daily basis, that’s good multi-functionality. Let’s think about how we can achieve this successfully in 2022:
Fortunately there’s a number of ways to optimise your home in this way and one of the easiest multi-functional and practical spaces is the open plan kitchen/diner. In many cases, simply removing a partition wall can open up a space to allow for more flexibility. Indeed, it’s one of the most popular home improvements as it’s a workable layout that creates space and flow and serves us in different ways, whether we are studying at the table, preparing food, chatting with the family or socialising with others.
However in some instances, open plan arrangements don’t always suit the task, especially when there is more than one person working at home. Not everyone is fortunate to have a separate home office or garden room they can go to, so many of us have to work in our bedroom, guest room, junk room or kitchen table! This is when you may want to look at creating separate areas for each individual. Beautiful metal and glass doors and room dividers can help here, allowing you to divide a space when work zones are needed, but then be opened up for more social activities. Slatted wooden screening is another fashionable way to create a contemporary space divider.
A lot of us have made do with temporary adaptations, but when designed right, a multi-functional home can flip seamlessly from being a living room to a bedroom, or a dining space to a home office. One of the vital things to achieve success is having well thought out storage solutions and furniture that fits the purpose.
If your dressing table is now doubling up as a work desk, you don’t want to have to move make-up and accessories out of the way to start work. So having some good furniture and designated storage for particular items is key. Even simple ideas such as under-bed storage and the humble coat hook can help, especially when you choose great looking hardware such as the LEVI hook from Plank Hardware.
Some people will invest in bespoke furniture as a solution; the beauty is that it can be designed to make the most of your space, e.g. utilising the under stairs space for cubby holes or pull our drawers, wardrobes that can go up to the ceiling, even if the eaves slope down.
But of course you can adapt furniture finds or upgrade your existing pieces to make the space look and feel more cohesive. For example, that dressing table/desk – why not upgrade it’s appearance with a nice paint job, or vinyl wrap to it’s surfaces. Replacement draw pulls and cupboard door knobs can really help to enhance and pull a room together, especially if you have got mix and match items.
Remember also that lighting is crucial to suit the tasks performed in each area within the home. For the ultimate in adaptability, you could look at employing some smart home technology to control the lighting and other elements within your ‘zones’.
For many more ideas around multi-functional living, why not check out this useful Pinterest Board:
And you could pin this post for later…
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