Finding Purpose in a Multi-Purpose Space

In the last year, we have tackled many projects on the house and the office has become a dumping ground for various tools, materials, paper, clothing, and dog items. It is the place that shoes are thrown on the floor. It is the place that mail is set on the table and subsequently forgotten. It is the place that sees the most foot traffic and also the entry for our close friends. Organization and decoration in this space continued to scoot further down the to do list as other projects became priority. So over a year after the office was finished, it looks exactly the same, just with more clutter.

After coming to terms that this would not be solely an office space, I began brainstorming how this room is currently being used and how I would like the this room to ultimately perform. The multi-purpose space must be:

• An entry - a place to drop shoes and dog walking supplies
• A workspace - I work from home full time and The Mister works from home part time so the office must be able to function as a workspace for two
• A craft room - a place to store ribbons, papers, fabric, etc., with room enough to create
• A command center - a place for schedules and sorting mail
• Accessible - there are four doors which enter the room so all of the walkways must be clear and accessible
• A guestroom - we currently have two bedrooms so it would be nice to have the ability to house additional guests

Then I created visuals showing some ideas for this space. (It is a lot easier for me to share my "vision" of the space with The Mister in order to get him to buy into the idea by creating a sketch of the room and layout.) The sketches below allow for access to each of the doors and encompasses the must haves above.

Option #1

1 - L-shaped desk
2 - Command Center
3 - Shoe and coat station
4 - Murphy Bed
5 - 9 cabinet cubby

Option #2

 

1 - L-shaped desk
2 - Command Center
3 - Shoe and coat station
4 - Additional Desk
5 - 9 cabinet cubby
6 - Sleeper Loveseat

Option #3

1 - L-shaped desk extended to edge of window
2 - Command Center
3 - Shoe and coat station
4 - Sleeper Loveseat
5 - 9 cabinet cubby

As most plans in our household continuously evolve, I am sure this multi-purpose space will be no different. I am looking forward to see the evolution of the space and hope that we can meet all of the must-haves on our list.