How a Multi-purpose Family Room Can Strengthen Your Relationships

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All families have their own priorities that are unique to their own circumstances. But every family has one common desire – to bond with each other and spend quality time together. As a family, our quality of living greatly depends on the ability to care for others and how we share our joy, happiness, concern, values, and how we connect with each other on a regular basis. And having a multi-purpose family room in your home can strengthen your relationships and bring the whole family closer.

If your home does not have a common seating area where all the family members can gather to catch up, to share stories, to enjoy their hobbies together, to relax and connect with each other, then there is a possibility that you are not spending enough quality time together.

A home is more than just a place to eat and sleep. It is where we work, where we play, where we relax and unwind, where we take care of our loved ones, and where our families blossom. That is why, our spaces need to be as flexible and as varied as we are to serve our various purposes well.

So, what is a family room and how it brings your family closer?

A family room is an informal all-purpose room in a house. It is different than a living room though many people confuse a living room with a family room. A living room is more formal, and therefore style, decor, and appearance get more attention than comfort and intimacy. They are great for entertaining during formal occasions and usually have more formal furnishings in them than family rooms do.

But a family room is designed to be a place where family and friends gather for group recreation like talking, reading, and watching TV, and enjoy other family activities. And it is one of the most important rooms in any home. This is where the family gathers after a long day of work or school, where family members connect with each other and spend a lot of time together. It is a place where memories are created.

A multi-purpose family room can be the center of your home and strengthen your relationships by providing a relaxing place to interact with each other. This means there should be plenty of seating in the family room for everyone to spend time together, and that the seating should all be very comfortable.

Unlike in a living room, where the style of the furniture is just as important as its appearance, furniture in a family room should be able to stand up to daily use and abuse without tearing or staining. Families who have children will benefit from choosing furniture that is durable and hardy so that it does not need to be replaced very often.

When this room functions as a multi-purpose room, it becomes a place where your little kids can play with their toys, where your husband can relax and watch TV, where your young child can work on a project, and where you can read a book or work on the computer, or maybe take a quick power nap if needed. If you have such a room that can be used to meet your family’s various needs, it becomes easier for you to keep your home more organized and neat.

Our story:

Many homes do not come with a family room. They only have a living room or a great room with an open living space. Like ours. When we built our modest home fifteen years ago, an open floor plan was the latest trend. It still is. So, our floor plan included a spacious great room instead of a formal living and a separate family room. It was serving our purpose quite well until recently.

As our kids grew older and we started sharing more and more common interests together, I strongly felt the need of a separate living room so we could claim this great room to ourselves completely, to enjoy more relaxing and carefree intimate time with each other. Having a multi-purpose family room to bring the whole family together in a comfortable way would serve our needs and strengthen our relationships.

Since we didn’t want to upsize and move into a bigger house, we decided to turn our least used formal dining room into a separate living room. It was easier for us to do so due to the convenient location of the room in the front. We loved our formal dining room, but it was a huge waste of space. Like most other families, we only used ours a handful of times per year.

Since the room sat largely unused, and we needed more space that we could use and enjoy more frequently, we converted our wasted space into a beautiful and inviting formal living room to receive guests. And turned our great room into a cozy and warm family room that we all love and cherish together.

And I must say, after reclaiming more functional living space in our home, my family and I are now enjoying more relaxed time together without having to worry about entertaining any guests in that same room again. It feels like a new found freedom that we never had before!

Final Thoughts:

A multi-purpose family room opens a lot of possibilities. Ultimately, they let a house breathe and ensure that every family member in your home has something they can be getting on with. When multiple people are gathered in the same spot but doing different things (or sometimes enjoying the same thing together as a family), numerous conversation topics open up. Your family can show a stronger interest in one another’s hobbies and activities, bringing you all closer together as a unit.

If you do not have a family room and you will like to have one, you may consider doing what we did in our home (providing you have a formal dining room or a home office that you do not use as much as you would like to), and enjoy your togetherness in a more creative and relaxed way.