Creating multifunctional spaces at home

A multifunctional space is a room or section of your home you can use for a number of purposes. Nuru Ashaka, a home owner, says that there is no standard way to use or create a multifunctional space as long as it meets and serves the purpose for which it is needed.

For instance, many rented apartments and homes have a bigger living area, with no provision for a dining room.

In such an arrangement, the living room serves as a two-in-one- living and dining room, with a somewhat big open kitchen.

“If the living room is small and there is space in the kitchen, you could place the dining table in the kitchen. The beauty is that lately, you can buy a dining table set of an average size with the number of seats your family members can occupy that can be squeezed in any corner of the home,” Ashaka says.

Customising work and play area

Circumstances such as the Covid-19 outbreak meant that you had to find space for a home office but also a children’s study area. This meant that you and the children would have to share the dining table when it is not meal time. If the dining table is small, some children could use the bedroom whileothers study in the dining room and other rooms.

“If you built your house and you had not planned for office space, you have to create space either in the living room or bedroom for a small working table and fix it there. Foldable tables also serve different purposes because of their flexibility. This depends on the need because the space is not going to increase,” Ashaka adds.

Some living rooms are bigger than dining rooms and vice versa and not all bedrooms can be of the same size. There are also rooms whose purpose cannot be defined and can serve all purposes.

If you do not have a laundry room, Ashaka recommends having a mobile and foldable ironing board to use in any room, except the bathroom and keep it away after use since it does not take up a lot of space.

The idle balcony

The balcony is one of the areas that can serve many purposes. For instance, if you rent an apartment with a living room but no dining room, the balcony can serve not only as a dining room if you have a table that fits well but also as a play area for children when it is not time for meals. However, if it is time for meals and it is raining, you can use the living room as a temporary dining room. It is your home and it is all about identifying the space you need to have something done. Any space you identify can serve the purpose you need.

Anthony Katabazi, also a home owner,  agrees with Ashaka, arguing that any home space can be turned into a multipurpose space depending on what you need. It is more about how you design it.

Most house designs are made with no provisions for multifunctional spaces. As such, when the need arises, you have to improvise and create one. For example, the growing trend of apartments over the years, which often have basic living space and not normally designed for the general luxurious, and sometimes wasteful living, means you have to create multifunctional spaces in such a home.

Recently, the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Katabazi, caught many people, including himself, confined in spaces they thought were big enough or in which they never spent much time, thus prompting the need to design spaces for multiple uses within the shortest time possible.

“I did not have a home office and study room for my children but one of the children’s bedrooms served as a study and office during the day and turned into a bedroom in the night.

For those that needed maximum concentration, the sofas had cabinets that could be used as office tables for a laptop to fit because they could be lowered to suit the user comfort,” Katabazi shares.

“The bedroom space was limited and it was cost effective because I contemplated buying movable working tables but the family budget could not allow,” he adds.

Unlike Katabazi, Stewart Mugabe says external play areas for children can be hard to come by especially if it is not only not safe for children to play but when one or all of them are allergic to things such as dust or pollen.

“I bought all the necessary toys and put them in the children’s bedroom to make their play as pleasurable as it could be. To create more space, their bed is pushed to one corner of the bedroom to allow them room to exercise by running around,” Mugabe says. 

Homeowners will frequently look to use their limited space for multiple functions.  Often the exact space you  need does not exist but you have to look for any available alternatives that can do the work you need. It is not like you have bought a washing machine and you have to find where there is a water sink or power source. Where you find space for what you need is where you create it.