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A person who lives alone or with a partner will be able to maintain a home with delicate furniture, lots of light colors and ornate pieces. However, when you’re designing a home for multiple people (and children), it’s time to look at practical pieces. Thankfully, designers continue to create fun-looking designs that are still practical. Practical furniture doesn’t equate to ugly furniture. In fact, it’s up to you how creative and interesting you want to make your home. In order to get started, consider the following practical furniture pieces you’ll want to include when you’re designing for style and practicality.
1. Convertible Sofa
A convertible sofa is convenient because you and your family can use it when you want to relax and spend time with each other. However, when guests come over, it’s okay if you don’t have a formal guest room. You can simply turn the living room into its own private area for your guests. Pull out the sofa bed so they can relax and get comfortable. To make an open area more intimate for them, set up some standing partitions that allow them to enjoy a bit of privacy in a smaller space. A convertible sofa even works in an office area. If you’ve designated a room as an office space, put the sofa mattress in that room. When you’re holding meetings or need a comfortable place to sit during your office hours, the sofa is there. If you have a guest coming for the weekend, you can easily put them in the office and pull out the sofa bed for their privacy and comfort.
2. Trundle Bed
If you’re used to having a lot of your children’s friends, cousins and family members visit, a trundle bed is a perfect solution. It’s easy to store directly underneath the bed. It’s also perfect for keeping everybody close together. Trundle beds can be chic because they’re easy to conceal. Just make sure that the top bed has bedding that easily covers the sides of the bed.
3. Extending Table
It’s pretty typical for family members to congregate in one area of the home. For most people, the kitchen tends to be that space. After all, the food is in the kitchen. Plus, the kitchen usually contains a seating area and a table. It’s the perfect place to do homework, eat breakfast or play a board game. Knowing that your kitchen table will be used for multiple purposes, invest in a table that extends. If you’re part of a family of four, the smaller table will work perfectly when it’s time to eat breakfast or do homework. For those nights when you’re hosting Taco Tuesdays at your house, you’ll have more people and more food to go around. For those festive occasions, it’s better to extend the table so that it can hold more people. Usually, tables extend from the middle so they’re very easy to set up and break down. This is an efficient way to save space and get the most use out of one piece of furniture.
4. Sectionals
Sectionals are phenomenal because they can take up the space of an entire room without feeling too heavy or bulky. This is mainly because one sectional can serve as enough seating for an entire family. A sectional usually houses an ottoman for multiple people to use. Look for sectionals that include storage spaces. If you have young children, they can easily store their toys in this area. If your family loves to read, the storage unit can hold various books, magazines and tablets. Try not to use it as a “catch-all” for everything because it’ll turn an efficient storage space into a trash can, and that’s never ideal. This is one of many great practical furniture ideas.
5. Storage-Friendly Coffee Table
Coffee tables are nice for holding up coffee mugs, art display books and photo albums. They can also serve as the centerpiece for a great board game. If you’re going to get a great coffee table for your home, make sure it doubles to provide storage space as well. Some coffee tables unfold to turn into comfortable ottomans or small tables for a tv dinner. If you and your family love to curl up on the couch to enjoy a great movie, store a few blankets in the coffee table’s storage space.
Conclusion for Practical Furniture
Always remember that you can decorate and jazz up any piece you find. It’s also okay to accentuate each piece. Instead of using the standard pillows that come with the soft, head to a big-box retailer in order to find interesting throw pillows in different sizes and colors. Rearrange the furniture in a way that allows for lots of foot traffic and comfortability. Also, don’t forget to measure all of your pieces before you purchase them. Get the measurements of the rooms they’re going in as well. If a large sectional can’t fit through the door, all of its practicality goes out of the window. By taking these steps and investing in these five pieces, you’ll be well on your way to creating a stunning yet practical home for those who live in it.
