There’s always one room in a home that feels somewhat incongruous. Maybe it has awkward proportions or feels unusually dark or cramped. Or perhaps you just can’t work out what its purpose is in the overall flow of the house. Extra space it may be, but spare rooms can confound many of us, with global Google searches for “what to do with spare room” up 20% in recent months.
I’m one of those intrepid Googlers, having spent far too long trawling Google, Pinterest and Instagram for ways to transform a strangely shaped spare room. Grateful though I was for the extra square footage, mine had become a dumping ground for everything I wasn’t quite sure what to do with—until I booked a consultation with interior designer Tiffany Duggan of Studio Duggan through The Expert.
Offering one-hour consultations with leading interior designers, The Expert is an excellent resource for anyone feeling stuck on a particular area of their home. Working with Duggan for just an hour proved incredibly fruitful. After sending over floor plans, dimensions and a list of the issues I wanted to solve in advance, we spent the session working through a detailed moodboard and revised floor plan. She suggested paint colors, furniture, layouts, and storage solutions, all tailored to the practical demands I had for the room, which we explored in more detail during the call.
Photo: Courtesy of Studio Duggan
My own challenges included a window that sat unusually low on the wall, strange proportions thanks to a chimney breast jutting into an already narrow room, and complete indecision over where everything should go. I needed storage, possibly somewhere to work, and, above all, to reclaim the space as quickly as possible. Keeping the door shut on the clutter was also blocking garden views and precious natural light from the rest of the house.
In the process, I picked up some useful lessons on tackling a difficult spare room. Whether yours is oddly shaped, small or simply underused, these are the ideas that made the biggest difference.
Make sure you know what you want it to do
It might sound obvious, but understanding exactly what you need from the room is key to getting it right. Skip this step and you risk redesigning it all over again. “Ask yourself what functionality it needs to offer,” says Duggan. “This can really help narrow down the options and focus the mind on creative solutions that meet your practical needs.” Start with the layout, including where electrical sockets and lighting need to be, before moving on to the more enjoyable decisions around color and decoration.
