Back-To-School: Designing Multifunctional Small Spaces before and after

Back-to-school has us thinking about the infamous “dorm room.”  Such a small space with generic and mismatched furniture. Decorating your first “space” is a coming-of-age ritual: looking for inspiration for bedding, wall art, plants, etc…  However, keeping a small space functional and cute can always be a little tricky. This got us thinking about Mary’s small space guest room (about 86 sq. ft.). We teamed up with DHP furniture once again (you can see previous posts here!) to create a multifunctional room that’s perfect for students and young professionals alike with the help of some of our favorite pieces.  With names like “Brittany” and “Jasper” (a happy coincidence!) we couldn’t help BUT snatch them up for our Back-to-School inspired room. Check out the before and after of Mary’s new space!

Mary’s small space started out quite basic. Here’s what it looked like before:

As you can see, nice and clean, but pretty boring. She needed a little something more.

She jazzed it up by adding wallpaper, replacing the floorboards and top moldings with something more substantial, removed the carpet, and replaced the window. Looks stunning, right?! It feels like a woody refuge now.

Next up was adding in the furniture. One of our favorite things about DHP was how compactly everything shipped.  Even our futon, could fit up and down a narrow staircase with ease! No need to hire a crew of movers.  These aren’t your run-of-the-mill bachelor pad futons either! Our futon, “the Jasper,” comes in a variety of shades from mustard yellow to olive green.  Better yet, it’s on Walmart Rollback until September 13th! 

Our lovely “Brittany” chair is a brand-new product from DHP’s famous Novogratz Brittany Collection.  Aside from it having the perfect name, it makes a great reading chair with a touch of mid-century modern.  It also comes in a slew of fun colors from pink to orange which makes it an ideal accent chair for any small space. The Jenny Lind bench is a favorite for a multi-functional room.  It’s the right size for a small coffee table or ottoman. Flat enough for reading material, but stylish enough for a visual treat.  Its cushioned top also gives you extra seating in a pinch!

Another beautiful accent chair is the Casi.  Its camel colored exterior is the perfect nod to nature to complement our wallpaper.  (In fact, we may want more for our dining room table, thoughts?)

DHP was wonderful to work with!  Their pieces made shopping easy even though picking our favorites was tricky.  All in all, we love how the room came together.  I mean, how cute is this wallpaper from Sandberg Wallpaper!  What are some other ways you’ve found to make small spaces multifunctional this semester? Any tips and tricks?

Sources:

Grey Jasper futon
Pink Brittany chair
Casi leather dining chair
Jenny Lind white bench
Sandberg Wallpaper 

This post is sponsored by DHP.  Thanks to the brands who allow us to focus on clever and original content for you!