Have the kids recently left for college? Moved into a larger, newer home with an extra bedroom? While oftentimes these spare bedrooms are turned into just that, rooms where overnight guests can comfortably rest their heads, there's no reason that it can't become a multi-use space, especially with the right room design features. Consider how a few stylistic touches and functional additions might transform a boring spare bedroom into a great storage space, or a useful home office.
Start with versatile flooring
Because you're about to turn your room into a jack-of-all-trades, you'll want to make sure you've got flooring versatile enough to stand up to any sort of purpose. Anderson Floors produces products that meet this criteria perfectly. Take the Gnarly Plank collection for instance. Considered by Anderson to offer the best look and value in hardwood flooring, the oak boards of the Gnarly Plank line are beautifully distressed and authentically antiqued. Each board is crafted in random widths to mirror the styles of America's historic homes. This is flooring that will last for ages, and it has the range of style and plentiful character to match and complement a variety of room designs and purposes.
Carve out an office space
No one loves bringing their work home with them, but you're sure to find a home office incredibly useful. From daily management tasks - bills, taxes - to personal projects like catching up on emails or checking Facebook, it's great to have a designated spot to keep your computer and files. And considering all you need is a desk, you can rest assured that you're only taking up a small corner of the room itself, leaving plenty of space for other purposes.
Maximize on storage
One of the major advantages of having a spare bedroom is having a spare closet - but that's sure to fill up quickly. Use simple organizational tips - drawer cubbies, shoe racks, back-of-door hanging storage - and plenty of hangers to keep your closet organized. But also use any spare bedroom wall space by installing shelving for books, CDs, electronics, guest toiletries and any number of other items. Just because you can relegate the clutter of other rooms into your new multi-purpose space doesn't mean you can let it get cluttered itself!