There are few elemental joys as the epiphany of achieving residence in one house long enough that upon scavenger hunting through the kitchen in pursuit of a midnight snack you comprehend that you made it through clear space without turning any lights on. With the exception of stubbing your toe once or twice you could walk your house floor plan in cave-like blackness and still manage to cross free space circumventing the obstacles called furniture.

Don’t get too excited. This is probably because you are a furniture+wall=perfection type of designer. In your mind, sheesh even in my mind, furniture needs to have physical connectivity to the wall. Even if its shadow touches it, all is well in the space or our amateur interior designer hearts. Yet the dozens of square feet left to catch the daily muck of our shoes has so much more potential than we grant it. It is within these empty dwellings that the definition of a room (or two, if you play your cards wisely) can be found. You can turn your living room into living room and study with just a switch of some furniture.

It’s normal to want to take the four walls in our rectangular room and turn them into a page out of magazine and then situate our furniture into a circle resembling a camp fire Kum ba yah, let’s open our hearts session.

STAGE ONE: Repurposing Functionality

But what if you placed your main large sofa mid way through the room, with it’s back facing nothing but open space rather than wall? Its back now targets the new office of your home. Come on, you know you have enough space to achieve this. Behind the sofa place a practical sofa console which is just another addition to the end result of space defining. Wide-open spaces can now have double purpose. In your new office use a fully functioning desk that hides all the disorganization in the form of stacked bills and paperwork and converts it into a piece of exquisite furniture. A ladder bookshelf and cozy chair and you just turned one room into two. You are a mathematician, or is it a magician?

STAGE TWO: Follow The Yellow Brick Road

One of the most important elements that can help defining rooms like this is the floor. Rugs make a world of difference. They show an individual the flow of the room. If a rug is straight, so people will walk, but if it lies at an angle that’s the way the traffic will flow. Taking one wide open space and adapting it into several wall-less rooms you will want complimenting rugs, but something that will easily translate into different portals.

STAGE THREE: Breaking Up Mundane Spaces

Then there’s your kitchen. It really needs updated but the budget and your spouse say no. There’s no adequate place for a seating arrangement to break the room up but a kitchen cart island will help give this room a new face. So now the expanse between the east side, west side is broken with a charming utilizable room defining detail.

STAGE FOUR: Makeovers, Unders and all Arounds

For the rooms of our home that are cramped but need some allure by way of space defining try repurposing the closet. Yes, it’s true, closet space in many homes is in the deficit as well as our bi weekly paycheck, but one of the many things learned form C.S. Lewis is the magnificent power of the wardrobe. So throw open wide the double wide closet and reinvent a clothing hideout into a reading nook. Your kids are going to love this! To the left and right install cool shelving. Sprawled in the middle of this area a warm inviting chaise lounge and held upon its pillow-soft seating the next edition in your children’s favorite sequel. From the ceiling dangle some Chinese lanterns and a canopy of bright colorful Arabian curtains. Now this is a place where the imagination can blossom and the sound of pages can be heard turning. [DIY project for a hideout by PrettyHandyGirl]

STAGE FIVE: Let there be Light

And lastly the secret to multiplying the room count of your house is floor lamps. Just like a great play put on by your kindergartener or those presented on Broadway, where the lights are shining is where the party is happening. Actors come alive under theater lights and magic is created from the ceiling and sidelines and so it will be in your new room. If you have two designated places in your room it will be easier to convey the message that you have now completed a DIY space defining makeover.

Ah, nothing like getting the benefits of a bigger home by defining the space you already own!