Today’s floor plans need to accommodate today’s lifestyle. Every household has its own needs and priorities. When choosing a new home or a floor plan, what is most important to you? How about flexibility? Look for a flex space—like a room or loft—that gives you more possibilities to tailor the home to you and your family. What is a flex space used for? Whatever you want!
How to Use Your Home’s Flex Space
Home Office
This space has become one of the most common uses for a flex room. Working from the bedroom, living room, or kitchen island just doesn’t foster a productive work environment. A dedicated home office gives you a quiet place (with a door!) where you can keep all of your equipment, materials, and work paraphernalia in one, undisturbed place.
Guest Room
Now that people are feeling more freedom to travel, you might be welcoming overnight guests. Set up your spare room to make them feel comfortable. Include a dresser or armoire (if there’s no closet) so they can unpack.
Playroom
Move the more raucous and toy-strewn activity to your flex space. This option allows you to keep your living room more organized and restful. Having a separate playroom makes it easier to entertain adults in your main living area’s open floor plan, too—like having the kids’ table at the family Thanksgiving dinner.
Learning Center
The sudden shift to distance learning and virtual classrooms created a challenge for many parents. Students need to be able to focus on their classwork, which requires that parents limit the distractions. Converting a flex room to function as a home classroom or learning center provided a study-ready place for everything from participating in online classes to doing homework and exploring creative learning. Equip the space with tables, storage space, and even a snack area. When a child can focus in an environment dedicated solely to learning, they put themselves in the right mindset.
Home Gym/Yoga Studio
Getting in a good workout was right up there with “Going out to eat” on the list of things most missed during the shelter-at-home period. Exercise equipment manufacturer Peloton more than doubled its sales in the fiscal year 2020 to people yearning for a physical challenge. Peloton’s subscriptions rose 137% in the first six months of the country’s shutdown. Americans want their workouts! Having an extra room where you could create a home gym is a nice feature.
Library
Is reading a relaxing experience you want more of? Use your flex space to afford you the luxury of basking in your collection of books and magazines. Include a comfortable sitting area with pillows and throws to enable a good snuggle with a good book. Give the room task lighting to prevent eye strain. Stash snacks and slippers, and make sure you have a dog bed if you’ll be sharing this library with your canine companion.
Bar/Lounge
Picture those cozy pubs with a bar off in the corner, low lights, and stools where you could sit for hours. Your new home’s flex room could easily become that intimate bar where you can retreat for your libation of choice. Treat your friends to a tasting party. Serve up your homebrew. Adding a kegerator, wine chiller, and sink adds the finishing touch.
Game Room
How about putting your fun in one place? A game room uses your flex space for anything from video games to board games to playing pool, ping pong, foosball, virtual reality, arcade games, or whatever else your game night includes.
Hobby Studio
Without a dedicated place for hobby equipment and supplies, the home crafter must set up a workstation and then tuck everything away when the crafting is done for the day. Imagine how much easier it would be to have your own hobby studio! Keep your sewing machine set up, organize your supplies so you can get what you want without hunting through boxes and bins. Your easel and current objet d’art are undisturbed. Let the inspiration flow freely without the limits of a temporary workspace.
Movie Theater
It doesn’t take much to create a home theater in your flex space. Install room-darkening shades on the windows, set up a large-screen TV, add reclining seating, and click on your streaming apps. Set up a snack bar with a popcorn machine, mini-fridge, and a well-stocked supply of movie munchies.
Music Room
Another use for a flex room is to indulge your passion for music. Whether you’ll be playing instruments or inhaling the beautiful sounds of your favorite music, focus on enhancing the acoustics. A carpet or rug can absorb some of the sounds, but you might need to invest in soundproofing fixes, like acoustic ceiling tiles and additional insulation on the walls.
Happy Place
Do you need a place where you can retreat with only your thoughts to keep you company? A flex room could become your happy place. Use it for those zen-filled moments of meditation or yoga. Surround yourself with visual reminders of your joy. And live with the peace of mind that you can always run away from whatever is bothering you without leaving your home.
Find Flexibility in your New Home
New Home Inc is taking an innovative approach to home design. We’ve studied how people like to use their homes and created floor plans that support that lifestyle. Our standards include unique features like a smart door delivery center and messy kitchen (like a flex space for your kitchen)—just two examples of how we future-proof our new homes for sale in Raleigh. When you’re buying a new home now, choose a builder who is thinking far beyond your move-in. Contact us at New Home Inc to start moving on the right path to your future.
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