In this episode of the My Forever Home podcast, Frances discusses how to prevent having under utilised spaces in your home. She outlines the common areas that often appear on floorplans, which are not well utilised and what you need to think about to ensure all space is maximised in your home. This is to save money now, but for the duration of your time in the home.   SHOWNOTES:  Sometimes, homeowners can rush with getting their floor plans completed as they are so keen to get their home built or renovated.   However, not getting your floor plans right has a long-term detrimental effect on the outcome of your home and can end up costing you a lot more in the long run.  The key is to slowdown so you can review your floor plans with your vision and brief in mind. This will also allow you to review all spaces and rooms in your plans, to see if any spaces are likely to be under utilised.    Under utilised rooms ultimately waste money, energy, and resources. The key is not to jeopardise premium floor space in your home when it could be used for something else.   So what are the most common under utilised spaces;-   The Spare room  Spare rooms are set up for guests to have a comfortable place to stay, but how often do they stay, and what is the spare room being used for all the other days and months when you don't have guests in the room?  Think about creating multiple functions for your spare room for when you don't have guests.  For instance, your spare room can serve as an office while being able to welcome guests every now and then.   Formal dining room  Traditional homes sometimes have two dining rooms, the additional dining space is often what we refer to as the "formal dining rooms". Often this room is never used, or so infrequently, that it doesn't translate to good use of space.   To maximise it, you need to assess how often you are going to utilise the space.  Ideas: 

• It could be closed off and used as a separate room.  
• It could be carved up to add space to another room (i.e walk-in pantry or into the kitchen space) 

Formal living area or Secondliving   Having a second living area is a great idea as it can be used as another living space for privacy. It also enables other family members to watch different shows or do different things. However, the second living needs to be set up correctly for it to reach its full potential.   Think about how you want to use space and how you want them to feel a second living area. Your second living area is a great opportunity to create something different from open plan living.   To do this, you can create a different "feeling" in space by having: 

• Different flooring  
• Heavier style window treatments  
• Different furniture style  
• Different colour palette and textures  

Lastly, you must be able to close off this space off to create a separate zone and mitigate noise from other living areas to fully maximise the uitilisation of a second living room.  In summary  Think about the requirements for these spaces and how they will be used.   Questions to ask: 

• How frequently are you going to use the space?
• How can you create multi-functional spaces?
• How does your lifestyle suit the spaces on the floorplan?
• What do you need for your family and how will this room make a difference to how you live in the space? 

A room that is hardly ever used costs money to build, time to maintain it, energy to heat or cool it and resources to have it there.   It’s all about making your floorplans work super hard and be relevant to what you need.    Upcoming Free Online Masterclass  Learn the key steps to get you on the path to completing the interior design of your own home. Plus kill that crushing question ‘I don’t know where to start’.  Join my brand new online masterclass- "5 Essentials to Know Before You Start Designing Your Home".   Choose from the following dates below: 

• Tuesday 1st March 2022 at 7pm AEDT 
• Thursday 3rd March 2022 at 12 noon AEDT 
• Wednesday 9th March 2022 at 6pm AEDT 

Register your spot now   If you can't make it, I'll send you the replay    Available Resources  Want to learn more about floorplans? Listen to episode 97 of My Forever Home Podcast- “Floorplans and getting them right” as Frances discusses the steps to take if your floorplans are not what you want. Click here to listen to the episode.   Or read our blog on “Creating Forever Home Floor Plans and Getting them Right” to ensure your home can adapt to your changing needs over time. Read the article here.