Stretching Space: 9 Kicky Ways to Create a Room Within a Room
Wish you could add another room to your home? Consider your wish granted with these easy-breezy (totally doable) tips
Have you always yearned for an extra bedroom? Given up on that coveted dream of having your own in-home library or home-style yoga zone? Squeezed your lifestyle into your home’s perceptible footprint?
If you’ve forced yourself to make do with the layout of your home, think again. With these clever tips and tricks, you can go ahead and add a room or two without moving any walls. Here’s the ultimate guide to creating a room within a room.
If you’ve forced yourself to make do with the layout of your home, think again. With these clever tips and tricks, you can go ahead and add a room or two without moving any walls. Here’s the ultimate guide to creating a room within a room.
Whether you’re a bibliophile or not, there’s no denying that books add oodles of character to any shelf. Observe how this display-unit-turned-bookshelf adds pops of colour while turning an extended room into two mini chambers.
Looking for ingenious bookshelf inspiration?
Looking for ingenious bookshelf inspiration?
2. Add a platform
Install a platform or ledge to create a voguish zone that introduces a room within your room. Build a yoga nest in your study, a coffee perch in your bedroom or a diner along your kitchen counter – with just a platform or a ledge.
See how this countertop in the kitchen by PTA Designs cleverly extends into a breakfast bar outside. Who would have thought that a ledge is all it takes to extend your kitchen into a dining zone?
Find an interior designer on Houzz to help create your room within a room
Install a platform or ledge to create a voguish zone that introduces a room within your room. Build a yoga nest in your study, a coffee perch in your bedroom or a diner along your kitchen counter – with just a platform or a ledge.
See how this countertop in the kitchen by PTA Designs cleverly extends into a breakfast bar outside. Who would have thought that a ledge is all it takes to extend your kitchen into a dining zone?
Find an interior designer on Houzz to help create your room within a room
In this living area, a counter successfully anchors the dining zone. Behind the dining table, an elevation defines the slumber area.
Here’s how to squeeze a breakfast bar into your kitchen
Here’s how to squeeze a breakfast bar into your kitchen
3. Include a built-in screen
A built-in screen can be a fitting way to partition your room into two areas. A screen can fulfil the function of a wall without adding bulk, and also help filter light both ways.
This home shows us how it’s done with a wooden louvre screen that divides an extended room into living and dining zones.
A built-in screen can be a fitting way to partition your room into two areas. A screen can fulfil the function of a wall without adding bulk, and also help filter light both ways.
This home shows us how it’s done with a wooden louvre screen that divides an extended room into living and dining zones.
If a full screen seems too much, a half-screen can work just as well. This living room by RC Design Studio hosts a partial wooden screen that cleverly indicates a change of zone.
Tip: Don’t favour the look of a formal screen? Go for a bespoke bamboo arrangement to inject organic rusticity into your home.
4. Install a glass wall…
Glass can do just the trick when it comes to dividing your room without blocking sunlight. At the same time, you can conjure a sense of visual fluidity between both your mini rooms.
The grid glass wall in this home by Zero9 does a good job of carving out two different living spaces. At the back is a cosy knock-back nook for coffee and contemplation, while the room in the foreground appears to be for hosting guests.
Glass can do just the trick when it comes to dividing your room without blocking sunlight. At the same time, you can conjure a sense of visual fluidity between both your mini rooms.
The grid glass wall in this home by Zero9 does a good job of carving out two different living spaces. At the back is a cosy knock-back nook for coffee and contemplation, while the room in the foreground appears to be for hosting guests.
Tip: Worried a glass wall might close off your space? Add a door to your wall to allow ergonomic movement between your two zones.
…Or a glass screen
The glass screen in this home by The Design House Company features an interplay of glass panels and apertures, channelling an open, airy aesthetic. It serves to create a bijou dining zone within a larger living space.
Find out how you can use glass, resin or metal partitions to aesthetically divide spaces
The glass screen in this home by The Design House Company features an interplay of glass panels and apertures, channelling an open, airy aesthetic. It serves to create a bijou dining zone within a larger living space.
Find out how you can use glass, resin or metal partitions to aesthetically divide spaces
5. Erect a partial wall
A wall that stretches across only part of your room can be easier on the eye than a full-length wall and allow for plenty of cross-ventilation between your host room and nested room.
A wall that stretches across only part of your room can be easier on the eye than a full-length wall and allow for plenty of cross-ventilation between your host room and nested room.
6. Go for a sliding door…
A sliding door is sleek and elegant, and disappears right out of sight when not in use. Define the entrance of your mini room with a sliding door like the one pictured. In this home by Shabnam Gupta, the den is nested within a larger living area and partitioned by way of a patterned sliding door.
Here are 10 sliding door designs you will love
A sliding door is sleek and elegant, and disappears right out of sight when not in use. Define the entrance of your mini room with a sliding door like the one pictured. In this home by Shabnam Gupta, the den is nested within a larger living area and partitioned by way of a patterned sliding door.
Here are 10 sliding door designs you will love
Here, a box-like slumber zone with angular archways rests within a larger bedroom. Characterising its entrance are mesh-effect barn doors that double as focal decor features.
…Or a folding door
If you’re looking for doors of a different kind, folding doors are worth considering when creating a room within a room. With their accordion-like design, they can add depth and drama to both sides of your room.
The glass-pane folding door enclosing this study, designed by The Design House Company, gives sharp definition to the study and the area outside, while also offering the former a shield of privacy.
If you’re looking for doors of a different kind, folding doors are worth considering when creating a room within a room. With their accordion-like design, they can add depth and drama to both sides of your room.
The glass-pane folding door enclosing this study, designed by The Design House Company, gives sharp definition to the study and the area outside, while also offering the former a shield of privacy.
7. Embrace curtains
For particularly tiny spaces, think curtains. Curtains are a light and easy way to create a room within a room without weighing it down. And unlike other dividers, they don’t need much space to be stored away when not in use.
Custom or ready-made? Pinch or pencil pleats? Learn about your curtain options in this guide
For particularly tiny spaces, think curtains. Curtains are a light and easy way to create a room within a room without weighing it down. And unlike other dividers, they don’t need much space to be stored away when not in use.
Custom or ready-made? Pinch or pencil pleats? Learn about your curtain options in this guide
8. Create a cubicle
A see-through cubicle is a great way to create a nested room that still maintains a visual connection with its host room.
Here, the black-and-glass cubicle encloses the sleeping zone, while the peripheral zones are reserved for cooking, working and lounging.
A see-through cubicle is a great way to create a nested room that still maintains a visual connection with its host room.
Here, the black-and-glass cubicle encloses the sleeping zone, while the peripheral zones are reserved for cooking, working and lounging.
9. Split with levels
An elevation instantly indicates a visual breakaway from the rest of the room, making it an ideal option if you have lots of vertical space.
In this kids’ bedroom, an elevated platform, connected by a ladder, hosts a peppy play zone that has an entirely different vibe to the calm slumber area below.
Read more:
How to Part a Room With 10 Quirky Dividers
Types of Room Dividers & Where to Use Them
Tell us:
Which of these options do you see yourself using? Tell us in Comments below.
An elevation instantly indicates a visual breakaway from the rest of the room, making it an ideal option if you have lots of vertical space.
In this kids’ bedroom, an elevated platform, connected by a ladder, hosts a peppy play zone that has an entirely different vibe to the calm slumber area below.
Read more:
How to Part a Room With 10 Quirky Dividers
Types of Room Dividers & Where to Use Them
Tell us:
Which of these options do you see yourself using? Tell us in Comments below.
Slide in an open display unit to nest a room within a larger room. Spruce up your shelves with books, tchotchkes or photographs to create a characterful vignette. Styling your shelves this way can also help provide an added layer of privacy between your two mini rooms.
A square display unit serves as the pièce de résistance of this living area, helping host the dining zone within the extended living room, while also injecting a dose of spiffiness.
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