Many of us have that room in our homes that has become the multipurpose room, or the room where everything happens. Maybe you don’t have a designated office space or a place to do crafts with the kids, and this room steps in as a multipurpose room where you do all those things that don’t have a space carved out in the rest of your home. Unfortunately, this gets messy, unorganized, and cluttered quickly and can end up with you avoiding the area altogether. So how do you take back control of this multipurpose room and create a place where multiple things can happen while still staying clean and organized?
Pay Attention and Take Notes
You might not even fully realize just how many different things you do in this room. So it’s crucial, before you even start your journey, to start paying attention to how the room is used not only by you but also by everyone in the home. It might also be helpful to do this for every room in the house. You might find that one activity might be better suited for a different space, and if you can offload something to a separate room, you’ll make life easier on yourself.
The Power of Purging
We aren’t suggesting you use the Marie Kondo method and throw out everything that doesn’t bring you joy, but maybe it’s time to go through your things and donate some items that you no longer use. It’s incredible how much space this can free up, and you might be surprised by how many things you hold onto that you don’t need anymore. The more space you can create for the hobby’s or work you do, the happier and more productive you’ll be.
Organize Items Within Room
Now that you have a better idea of the types of uses this room serves, it’s time to start the reorganization section of this project. It’s best to start by taking everything out of the room and stacking it in sections according to what activity it serves. For example, if the coffee table was your home office, pile all your office supplied together. If your kids use the TV as a gaming station, collect all their games, controllers, and devices in one location. Now you can visually see what the room was hiding.
Delegate and Coordinate
Keeping our original example, the kid’s gaming systems might work better in their bedrooms on a smaller TV. Or maybe your office space is better suited for the corner in the basement where none of the workout equipment fit. No matter what it is, delegating some of the multipurpose room’s purposes to other locations within the house will allow the space to feel more open, and it won’t get as messy as often. But, of course, you’ll also have to coordinate with the rest of the household and inform everyone of the room’s new purpose, and what types of activities are or are not allowed in there.
Get Clear and Organized
Now that the room has a few things off its plate, it might be time to invest in new organizational tools. Often when a room gets messy over and over again, it’s because the things within it don’t have a proper place. When you can get clear with yourself and the rest of the home about where everything goes, it’s more likely that things will return to their original place. This also means it needs to be easy. For example, if the remote to the TV goes in the cubby with a flower vase on top, and you have to remove the flowers to put the remote away, it’s less likely that the remote will be put back every time.
To achieve this, you might need to think about adding more storage options. Maybe some open shelving on the walls, a bigger cabinet in the corner, or a desk with more drawers to keep art projects and other office supplies. This will ensure you’ll know exactly where everything is at all times, and it’s more likely to stay that way when it’s straightforward and easy to clean up.
Try, Try Again
It’s unlikely that you’ll get this process entirely right on the first try. However, it’s important to remember that this is a work in progress, and trial and error is necessary to reach your goal. Once you’ve completed the first round of reorganization, keep paying attention to the items that are continuously left out, what the kids fight about, or what irritates you when you come home and find it scattered on the table. Then, take more notes and give it another go.
Taking on this kind of project can be overwhelming, so take it in steps, take your time, and don’t rush. It will get messier before it gets better, so keep at it, and we’re sure you’ll end up with a space you’re happier with and more likely to use.
