How we created a functional and pretty multi-purpose room for the whole family

March 2020, the year of the pandemic and pelotons. Also, the month we all became work from home, homeschooling families. At first, we thought it was fun; we did all the things together, ate dinner around the table, did kitchen obstacle courses, and middle of the day dance parties. After a year, we realized this temporary thing was becoming much more permanent. We looked around the house and knew we needed to make our space more functional for a life with four people under one roof all day, every day.

During this crazy stay-at-home time, we also added a baby to our world, and with that our home needs shifted. Every room in the house instantly became a multi-purpose room. The living room became a classroom, the kitchen became an office and our 4th bedroom, which was being used as a playroom/guest room became a very disastrous and messy catchall space. Because it lacked organization and a true purpose this room became a landing pad for toys and a storage room for things that didn't have a real place in our home. It was messy, unorganized, and cluttered. Reluctantly I’ll add some of the before pictures later in this post.

When I started thinking of ways to make this space work for all of us in a more functional way, I started with a blank slate and sold every larger item in the room. The couch (which was a make-shift guest bed) the storage ottoman taking up entirely too much space to hold 800 stuffed animals Finn never played with and, the play kitchen that had seen much better days. The goal of this room was simple; a clutter-free and inspiring space the entire family could enjoy. Whether we were working out, playing on the floor with the kids, creating, painting, learning, or working, it needed to function for all of those things seamlessly. I wanted a space that was so perfectly set in fundamentals that it would be difficult for it to become messy.

Even though he was working from home, I don't think my husband even came into this room, in the 3 years we lived here. It was just too unorganized and felt very much like the kids space & not an adult space. Now we find ourselves in here multiple days a week, all 4 of us at the same time! Jason on the bike while Finn paints, Shay rolls around and I work from the desk. It’s spacious and functional so it works!

The first step was designating spaces for each intended activity and then putting systems in place to make those spaces functional and organized. The floor needed to be FREE from small choking hazard toys that were accessible to tiny hands because we have a 9-month-old who puts everything in her mouth. So we got rid of the open shelf unit and make shifted some affordable builtins from IKEA (more on this process below) and had a little help installing a floating desk in between for all of Finn's art projects and home school/tutoring. I also wanted a space specifically for my peloton, and all the gear that went alongside it, but not in the garage collecting dust. After moving out the couch, TV, and toys, we ended up with 3 spaces in the room, all used by the whole family daily.  

1. workout/peloton area

2. adult work/desk area (which also doubles as a fort on days we aren't working)

3. space for the kids; arts + crafts, homework & play

How this room became the perfect space for our family:

The Peloton area:

Hello….how I lived without a peloton bike before, I’ll never know. The entire inspiration for changing this room from 90% the kids play space to a space we can all enjoy came from the purchase of this beauty. I knew if the space we put the bike in was uninspired and cold (like the garage) I would not ride it. It’s kind of like when you buy a new workout outfit to get inspo to actually work out. I needed a clean fresh space to motivate me to get a workout in. That meant the peloton was going in our home somewhere and thankfully we had a 4th bedroom with the perfect space.

Adult work/desk area:

Ok, truth… I am not the cleanest person on the planet. Being an enneagram 7, I have multiple projects going on at the same time always. Which means there are corners of my house with piles of things.”I’m working on” (that’s what i tell my husband). I’m a content creator (instagram influencer) and I also have a side hustle sharing wellness (essential oils) with my community. I have tons of creative projects I am working on simultaneously and I host small gatherings at my home as well. I send out packages with fun non toxic homemade products to my friends and family and I also make my own products for my home too. That means I have a LOT of STUFF. Rollers and oils and bottles and packaging and ribbon and shipping necessities. This space was so needed for my overwhelmed working brain.

The amount inspiration a creative gets from a clean and organized space is unreal. Not to mention the fact that my husband is working from the kitchen counter and trying to hop on instagram and create videos while he is on conference calls was a huge challenge. I needed a room that I would be in while Shay napped and he worked that would be quiet enough to work. This was just that.

A space for the Kids — homework + play

Since we both work from home now, we needed to have a space the kids can play freely but someone could still keep a watchful eye on them. This space was so perfect because we only filled it with things we needed and less clutter was the goal. We left lots of open space for the kids to play together while one of us worked at the desk. There was often times I would be typing at the desk while the kids played under my feet in a make -shift fort we made with an old sheet draped over the top. The mom guilt of working from home while your littles are growing fast is real, so these memories meant so much to me.

Making it functional with organization

The first step to making space more functional was to create storage with new built-ins and a floating desk. I built them myself (which was fairly easy). Ok, still Ikea furniture, but they did update the way they used to build things, and it was easier. Once all the pieces were built, we pieced them together how we wanted them on the wall. The back of each unit has a notch in it so you can clamp each unit together, so all the pieces became one attached unit on each side of the window. Once those were in place, I had a family friend help cut down the board for the middle floating desk. I found an old cabinet piece in the AS-IS section at our local IKEA so that the finishings would be close. Now all that was left was to fill them up!

At first, I thought I could organize it all myself and make it functional but soon after we put everything back in the cabinets, I realized there was no efficiency, and keeping things orderly wasn't practical. I didn't want to spend all this time and money to build these organized built-ins only to live with them in an unorganized and cluttered state. The shelves and drawers were overflowing because we were using all the things so often and there weren't designated spaces to put things away. I'd like to think I was a Pinterest mom and I can make things Mari Kondo myself, but honestly, I just never found the time. So, I called in HELP! My friends and THE GOOD SORT came to my rescue. Emily is my neighbor and friend, and one step into her perfectly clean and organized home (with two small girls living there), and I knew she was one of those super-organized system gurus who could for sure help me make this space work functionally.

They came in and in a matter of 4hrs had taken everything out of the space, and perfectly arranged it back in by category, with room to spare. I was in awe watching this sister team work their magic. They came prepared with bins, and labels, and more to make sure every inch of space was properly utilized. Huge props to them for creating systems in our built-ins that were easy for everyone. Finn's toys and games are perfectly labeled and separated by bins and clear storage bags so he can see what he wants to grab the moment he opens the cabinet. And the better part is, he can easily (and by himself) put them back where they belong once he's done playing.  I can’t recommend THE GOOD SORT team enough!

We took one side of the builtins and made that the kids space. All Finns art supplies, Montessori toys, paper, markers, games and more all fit perfectly into the right side of the room. He had access to all the things so he could help himself when he had free time to play. We also put some of the “shay friendly” toys in baskets so she could easily get to them as well. We encourage independent play by having all the fun accessible.

Then it was my turn! They spent time making all my most used items were easy to grab. If you’re anything like me who is a type and kinda likes to be in control of things I did have a hard time thinking someone else could organize something that would work best for me. But honestly, the good sort girls really took the time to understand what my needs were when it came to all the things they were organizing and this made it super helpful when I started actually using the space. I kept it organized too because it worked! The way it was set up helped me not go straight back to my old chaotic ways!

LINKS:

BIG ITEMS:

Ikea storage system - EKET customizable

Desk - Ikea

Rug -

Peloton (discount code)

Desk Chair

built-in white metal chairs (4)

White metal chairs set of 2

small ottomans

rattan pendant light

STORAGE STUFF:

wire baskets

white wire baskets

clear bins

white bins

clear bins, small

zipper pouches

3 tier riser

clear letter trays

acrylic drawer organizers

label maker

KIDS TOYS:

Bolga basket

wooden magnetic tiles

floor mat

Well, we made it to the end. The part where I show you the embarrassing part of the room; the before images. Enjoy the comic relief! And thanks for being here!