Giving New Life to Extra Rooms

Remember when laundry rooms, sewing rooms, and attics were the forgotten parts of your house? Not anymore. Now those old “junk” rooms are places to show off your style.

Mud rooms, sewing rooms and guest bedrooms are all getting makeovers. Beth and Faye from the Woodbury Hirshfield’s say the trend has been growing over the last couple years. “Who’s doing it? Empty nesters turning a former kids’ room into a walk-in closet. Putting a mail station in the mudroom, craft rooms with built-ins, and some rooms serve a dual purpose of guest room and hobby room,” they say.

So how do you make these rooms special? Beth and Faye suggest using colors that you love. You can experiment a bit more, because the room is likely smaller, and it may be away from common areas. “Try a little bit of a wallcovering that’s more trendy than you usually select. Maybe more bling. Maybe a bit fancier.” Scraping a textured ceiling and going with a bold color is another way to add some personal style.

You can use wallpaper or paint to bring life to these formerly forgotten rooms, that’s a very personal expression of your style. They do suggest enameling existing wood trim to give the room a finished feel, but their most important advice is also the most practical: “the remodel must be functional.”

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