You have decided to turn your spare room into a haven. Awesome! Of course, executing a vision can be trickier than having one. This blog post offers actionable ideas for turning that extra room into a haven.

Decide What the Use Will Be for the Room

Haven can mean anything from a meditation space, hobby room, music room, yoga room, den, library, sewing room, or even a guest room that doubles as a relaxation space when people are not over. It is good to visualize what the room will be used for and how. That helps you stick to your desire for a haven above all else. Never lose sight of that overarching goal for the room to be a place of rest, relaxation, or refuge.

The word, “haven,” can vary from person to person. Generally, havens are peaceful with soothing colors and no electronics. They may feature plants and comfortable furniture geared toward relaxation. For example, a twin bed sofa would feature well in most, if not all, havens.

This early point should be when you decide if your haven also needs to have a second or multipurpose use such as a guest bedroom, storage space, or home office. Will you be sharing the haven with anyone else and to what degree? For example, only with the occasional overnight guest or part-time with a spouse who works from home two days a week? Decide on spacing and proportions. Will the room be split roughly in half or be designed so that different uses can occur naturally in it? Does the room need to be set up for two people to be in it simultaneously?

Keep Lighting in Mind

Stay mindful about the availability of windows (or lack thereof) when planning a haven. For example, if you desire a meditation room, it might be tricky if the space is in the basement and does not have windows. Fresh air and natural light can be key parts of meditation sessions. Not all is lost if your meditation haven won’t have windows, of course. You can bring in standing fans with air purifier functions to get refreshing breezes.

Lots of natural light is best for havens. If yours is in the basement, recessed and track lighting are good options, as is task lighting for reading, crafting, or playing board games. Use indirect lighting to highlight artwork, collectibles, or unique features. It can be difficult to add recessed lights if your spare room is in a finished basement, but track lighting is easier.

Make a List of the Pieces You Need

For instance, if you envision your haven as having a heavy focus on meditation, you will likely need nature in some form or the other, perhaps with a small indoor water fountain, spider plants, succulents, sand, and seashells. Other essentials could include lavender, crystals, bells, chimes, meditation cushions, mirrors, a sofa twin bed, and various pieces of furniture.

Choose Relaxing, Soothing, or Neutral Colors

White, light-gray, beige, off-white, light-yellow, light-blue, and light-green are good starting places for wall colors. Avoid going dark or overly bright/splashy with the wall paint because it can be disruptive and is a hassle to change if you end up not liking it down the road. Meanwhile, you can add your preferred touches of color, personality, and charm to the room through choices such as throw pillows, artwork, lighting, rugs, and furniture pieces.

Eliminate Electronics

If you really want to, you can keep the electronics. However, consider including accessible storage space for electronics in your haven. That way, you can easily stow the laptop, cellphone, or tablet when you need a screen break. Otherwise, you could try to turn off notifications while you are in there so you won’t have to deal with constant pings.

Now, your idea of a haven might include a TV or video game system. That’s fine! No judgment here. Still, it isn’t a bad idea to have space to store your other electronics so you can truly immerse yourself in fine shows, movies, or video games.

Add Functional Furniture Pieces

Extra rooms tend to be on the small side, so multifunctional furniture comes in especially handy. A twin bed sofa saves valuable space by combining a couch and bed. It should make a great addition to your haven even if the haven does not double as a guest room. If you want to read, watch TV, chat with a friend, meditate, catnap, and sleep in the room overnight, a sleeper sofa offers you various ways to do these activities.

Other furniture ideas for a haven include ottomans, rockers, recliners, bookshelves, desks, chairside tables, end tables, and occasional tables. If you’d like to get creative in your haven, a writing desk could also function as an art or painting desk.

If your haven is multipurpose, for example, serving as a place for you to read, a sewing room for your spouse, and a guest bedroom, go over the list of pieces you made earlier. Think along the lines of a twin bed sofa and consider what other uses/pieces could be combined. Brainstorm storage solutions for better organization and less clutter.

Get Furniture Ideas

Check out the Gallery Furniture’s latest sales and offers HERE to get started creating your haven for less! We offer different types of twin bed sofas and various types of office, living room, and bedroom furniture.