IN THIS POST
– Home Office
– Home Gym
– Home Theatre
– Game Room
– Reading Room
Wondering what to do with an extra room in your house? Well, the most obvious (and conventional) solution to use a spare room is to transform it into a guest bedroom. All you need is a bedroom set or a sleeper bed with a small dresser and you’re good to go. However, in most households, guest bedrooms are rarely used. More often than not, these rooms sit empty for months on end, collecting cobwebs and dust. In the worst-case scenario, the empty space will end up becoming a dumping ground for all the clutter in your home. In other words, the spare room will turn into a storage room filled with items you have no use for.
So, whether you have upgraded to a bigger house or your kids have grown up and moved into their own homes, there are a lot of cool things to do with empty rooms to make your space feel more functional and personalized. The best part about it is that you don’t even have to hire an interior designer to do the job. With a bit of clever planning and designing, you can utilize the extra space in your home and turn into something that works for everyone.
Here are six great ways to use a spare room.
How to Use a Spare Room in Your House
Here is a list of smart and unique spare room ideas that does not include turning the space into a guest bedroom or a storage area.
- Turn it into a home office
- Set up a home gym
- Convert it into a home theatre or media room
- Investing in a gaming room
- Transform it into a reading room or home library
Let’s take a quick look at how you can transform an extra room in your home into a space that’s both useful and practical.
Home Office
If you are a freelancer, remote employee or someone who tends to work from home relatively often, you should consider turning the spare room into a home office. It’s one of the best small spare room ideas for working individuals as it will help keep their personal and professional life separate while they are working from home.
Now, there are a few things you need to take into consideration while setting up a home office.
Firstly, you need to figure out the essentials items and equipment required for your home office. This usually includes a desk, comfy chair, desktop PC or a laptop, stable internet connection, printer or scanner and filing cabinet, among other things.
Secondly, you need to light it up properly – especially if the room does not receive a lot of natural light. Home offices require a mix of both task and general lighting. Task lighting includes table lamps and reading lights that can illuminate your workstation, whereas general lighting includes pendant lights and wall sconces that can brighten the entire space.
Lastly, you need to make sure your home office has enough storage space required for you to work with ease.
The cost of building a home office in Pakistan can vary with the size of your spare room and even your profession. Therefore, you need to do some research and allocate a budget before starting on the project.
Home Gym
Turning a spare bedroom into a home gym is not only a great way to utilize an unused space but also a great investment.
While incorporating some exercise into our daily schedule is extremely important, most of us don’t get a chance to hit the gym for two obvious reasons: lack of time and pricey membership fees. Those who pull 9 to 5 shifts can only manage to visit the gym after their working hours in the evening, which is when the place is most crowded. Moreover, membership fees for renowned fitness studios can be rather high, which usually deters people.
However, if you have an extra room in your house, you can use it to set up a home gym – that too without breaking the bank.
The best way to proceed with this idea is to figure out your workout requirements and then buy the equipment and machines accordingly. A standard home gym usually consists of a treadmill, weight bench, elliptical or exercise bike and dumbbell sets.
For more information, you can take a look at our guides detailing the space requirements for creating a home gym as well as the cost of adding a gym to your home.
Moreover, here are some ideas for DIY exercise equipment that you may find useful.
Home Theatre or Media Room
Turning your extra space into a home theatre is one of the most popular spare room ideas.
If you have an unused spare bedroom, you can easily convert it into space where you and your family can watch television and movies comfortably. Even if the space is quite small, you can customize it to provide the intimate feeling of a theatre. The lack of windows and other openings is also a plus point when designing a home theatre.
Designing a home theatre is actually rather easy. You need to start off by removing all the furniture and wall hangings in the room. If there are any built-in closets in the room, make sure to empty those out to make space for your electronics. Ideally, a media room should have a Smart TV or an HD projector with a motorized screen, Blu-Ray player, a quality sound system, speakers and cables to connect the equipment together.
Here is the complete cost of setting up a home theatre.
Depending on your personal style and preference, you can put a couch or a sleeper bed in your home theatre. A floor seating arrangement might work as well, though you will need to ensure the viewing angle and distance are optimal.
In case you are not a fan of watching TV or movies, you can instead use a spare room in your house to create a music room where you can learn to play an instrument of your choice without disturbing the rest of the house.
Game or Activity Room
If you have young children or teenagers in your home, one of the most practical things to do with a spare room is to turn it into an activity area. While larger spare rooms can be turned into a home arcade or can be used to put snooker, table tennis, air hockey table, and even a foosball table. Smaller rooms can be used for storing and playing different board games. Just make sure the room has ample lighting, comfortable seating space and lively décor.
This spare room design idea will also allow you to spend more time with your loved ones during the weekends. After all, what can be more wholesome than a family game night?
You can also use the extra space to set up a video gaming room. All you’ll need for this project is your Xbox or PlayStation, gaming TV stand, TV screen or projector, good speakers, reclining chair and all of your other video game accessories. Make sure to add some storage space in the room to store your electronics.
Let’s take a look at our gaming room décor ideas and tips for some much-needed inspiration.
Reading Room or Home Library
Are you a voracious reader? If so, you will absolutely love this spare room design idea.
This relatively budget-friendly spare room décor idea only requires the installation of tall bookshelves and some task lighting. If the room is big enough to fit a few armchairs and coffee table, that would be great. However, if the spare room in your home is on the smaller side, you can only add a simple one-seat sofa to complete the look.
If your reading room does not have windows that allow natural light, you should also consider adding hanging pendant lights to brighten up your space. Adding some potted plants and simple wall hangings to your décor will also make your reading room or home library look more cohesive and peaceful.
As far as the colour palette is concerned, you can opt for brighter hues such as red and orange, neutral shades such as yellow or calmer colours such as blue and grey.
Here are some more useful ideas on how to give your home library a stunning look. If you already have a reading room, these tips on how to clean and organize books in your house will definitely help you maintain your collection.
We hope this guide helped you decide how to use a spare room in your home.
If you have more spare room ideas, feel free to share them with us on blog@zameen.com. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter and Facebook page to stay up-to-date about the latest lifestyle, home décor, construction, and real estate trends in Pakistan.
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