Spare Room Ideas: Let’s Make this Forgotten Space Stunning

While you might not be stuck for spare room ideas, you’re probably stuck when it comes to executing them. It’s one of those rooms that ends up housing all of crap we don’t know where to put, doesn’t it? Don’t be feeling shame, either. It’s like the bottom drawer in your kitchen; everyone has one and it’s full of tonnes of junk.

That’s just the reality of the spare room. But it doesn’t have to be. And what’s with calling it a spare room, anyway? The very notion of naming it ‘spare’ suggests that it’s not to be used regularly. It’s an extra, an addition, a novelty, without function. Well, I reckon it’s time to change all that and put your spare room back on the map. Give it a new name, purpose, and lease on life. Because using it as an ironing room is not doing you or it any justice!

We can do this, Creatives! So strap your style pants on and let the transformation begin.

Spare Room Ideas: What does your home lack?

Wanna know the best thing about your home? It’s yours! So forget about what other people are doing in their space and execute your spare room ideas with individuality in mind.

If you want to make your spare room a museum that showcases your Beanie Baby collection, go for it! If you want to make it a walk-in-wardrobe that puts Oprah’s to shame, you can do it. Or maybe you no longer want to work on a laptop at the kitchen bench, hunched over like Quasimodo. Make the spare room your home office!

The choice is yours and yours alone. But the first question to ask yourself really is: What does my home currently lack that I desperately need? This will help you figure out what you’ll do with the spare room.

Be Realistic about the Space

Before you have visions of turning this zone into a gift wrapping room like Candy Spelling has in her mansion (or is that just me?), consider if your spare room ideas will actually fit all of the furniture and decor items you dream of.

So many spare rooms are second or third bedrooms, so they can often be tight on space. You’ve gotta be clever about what you put in there. The more things you fill it with, the more potential it has to start becoming visually chaotic. So be realistic about what will fit and then make sure that marries up with the dreams you have for the room.

There’s nothing worse than wanting your spare room to be a grand guest suite and then realising it barely fits a queen bed. Truly depressing. To get around this, do some measurements and draw up a rough floor plan of what you’re thinking of doing in the space. It’ll soon become clear if the room can handle your dreams.

Creating a Multi-Purpose Zone? I love it!

A lot of the spare room ideas you consider can actually work together in the one zone. It can be a guest bedroom, a second living room, the ironing room and the home office. You’ve just gotta be super-clever about how you work all of that into the one area.

If your ambitions are lofty (which is good), start to consider how you can make all of the pieces work together. But also know the priorities.

My advice: if you want the spare room to act as a guest bedroom and office, opt for a sofa bed instead of an actual bed. This is the sofa bed I have and it’s awesome. It also makes the room feel more like a second living space and it comes numerous colours and materials.

If you tuck a TV away in a cupboard (the best space-saving approach of all time), then you can close that off and not look at it when it’s not in use. So in terms of floor space so far, you’ve only got a sofa bed.

A desk with a chair is sure to fit in too, and that’s really all you need in terms of essentials. A rug to warm up the space is great, and so is art and a small lamp. But in terms of big furniture pieces, keep it minimal.

Spare Room Ideas from me to you

I’ve created a little mood board below that showcases products for a multi-purpose spare room. It’s a contemporary style, so it’s a bit of an all rounder in terms of who it’ll please.

Kids will like it, your guests who stay over will like it. It’s not going to offend the eye but it’s not an all-stops train to Boring Town either. That’s the key to decorating a room a lot of people will be using; don’t go too wild.

I’ve included links to all of the products if you like the look of them and want to find out more, too. And my fave part: you can score it all for under exactly $1335.10 (correct at time of publish).

Chair | Artwork | Sofa Bed | Desk | Rug | Lamp | Cushion 1 | Cushion 2

What spare room ideas are you considering?

I’d love to hear about your spare room ideas in the comments below. What are you considering doing with the space? Displaying your Star Wars figuring collection? No judgement!

Image credits: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5