How to maximise space at home

Discover how to maximise the space in your home, including alternatives to having a dedicated home office, investing in functional adaptive furniture, and how to zone your home.

What is home zoning?

‘Home zoning’ is a way to maximise space in the home. It can be used in any part of the home to help design flexible living spaces with multiple functions. Utilising your décor, furniture, lighting and shelving cleverly will help subtly distinguish between sections of a room to create different zones and define the space. Function-first and adaptive design are a focus for interiors in 2025.

Home zoning is sometimes referred to as ‘broken plan’ living. Take the family room in a property like our Richmond, from the Heritage Collection. By positioning an L-shaped sofa around a focal point, like a wall-mounted TV or fireplace, and fitting a rug that grounds this snugly, you can create an intimate, cosy area that’s clearly designed for relaxation. Fireplaces are one of many features you can add to your new home as an upgrade, with a choice of styles available to choose from via My Redrow. You could then create a ‘reading corner’ by the window with the addition of an accent occasional chair.

You could also consider using an alcove or adapting park of your wall space as a workspace, with a desk or wall mounted shelving illuminated by angled lighting. Home zoning in this way means one room has three distinct zones, each with its own function.

Five tips to make the most of the space in the lounge

1. A corner sofa is a great option for those looking for small lounge design ideas. Finding one that suits the proportions of your room and available wall space is key.
2. A love seat or occasional chair positioned in a bay window is a great way to create a reading area.
3. Choose a sofa bed if you don’t have the luxury of a guest bedroom. Sofa beds are the ultimate piece of flexible furniture and can work equally well in a study come guest bedroom.
4. Mounting your TV on the wall can free up space that would be taken up with a TV unit.
5. An ottoman is an item of multifunctional furniture that can double up as a clever storage idea for your belongings as well as for use as a coffee table or footstool.

Love lounging? Check out our guide to creating the perfect living space.

Five tips to maximise space in the kitchen

Create defined areas for cooking, dining and living / socialising. Our innovative new kitchen visualiser, available in our customer experience suites, will help you plan your kitchen design using real-time computer-generated imagery. Discover the top kitchen design trends.

1. Incorporate a kitchen island or breakfast bar: to create defined areas for cooking, dining and living / socialising. If the room is large enough, an island, like those we offer via My Redrow can provide extra storage and an additional work surface. A kitchen island also acts as a low-level partition that doesn’t block any natural light and can even double as a home workspace.
2. Think about how each area could be individually lit or decorated with complementary hues or patterns. Consider a feature paint colour in the family area in a statement tone and use the same paint on one wall in the kitchen to create coherence.
3. A tiled or hardwood floor will give the cooking area a very different feel to a cosy rug in the family area. There are a range of Amtico and tiled flooring options available on My Redrow from wood plank effect tiles to Herringbone, while we love to style our show homes with a long-wearing sisal rug with a contrasting edge.
4. Roman blinds work well in kitchens, while curtains on a track in the same fabric work brilliantly for patio doors.
5. We offer a range of options and upgrades to help make the most of the storage space in the kitchen with features including under-hob drawers, racks and tiered cupboard organisers for staples like herbs and spices. Learn more about what’s included in a new build house.

Three storage tips to help keep your kitchen tidy

We love a good kitchen decluttering hack and some of the quickest and easiest include:

1. Decant bulky items: Use glass or transparent containers, complete with sophisticated labels to identify contents, to free up space and create a neat, cohesive look. This can also ensure you don’t overbuy as you can always see what you have in stock.
2. Try hanging hooks: They’re perfect for suspending cups, herb pots, pans, chopping boards and tea towels. Put them at eye level and you’ll never forget where your belongings are stored or use them inside cabinets and cupboards to create extra storage space.
3. Go vertical: If you’re running out of cabinet and drawer space, wall space storage organisers are a great alternative, and can add interest on the walls. Similarly, drawer organisers can help ensure you don’t overfill your drawers and can easily find things when you need them.

Five tips to maximise space in a bedroom

1. Maximise wardrobe space: Opt for fitted furniture rather than freestanding.
2. Maximise space in a small bedroom: Use rugs to create the illusion of different zones
3. Create a wraparound effect: Use feature paint colours or wallpaper to define focal points, like a workspace or dressing area
4. Opt for a storage bed: Options include drawers or a hydraulic lift storage to use the entire base to store items such as bedding, towels and out of season clothing.
5. Hanging storage in children’s bedrooms: Makes a great home for soft toys, while wall mounted bookcases are also a great space saver.

Six tips to make the most of a spare room

If you’re lucky enough to have more bedrooms than you need, follow these tips to help make the most of your spare room. You could even combine some of the functions to help maximise the potential of the space.

Design a reading room: with a comfortable accent chair, simple floor lamp and bookshelves!

1. A cinema room: a great way to create a snug area to spend time together. Simply install a large wall mounted TV or projector and enjoy the luxury of a home cinema experience. A sofa bed or day bed for seating is a great way to ensure the room doubles as a guest bedroom too.
2. Playroom ideas: combine cosy flooring, plenty of storage and space to play including a table and chair for homework, crafting and reading, with wall space for artwork.
3. Plan a ‘hobby room’: where you can enjoy doing what you love, be it painting, crafts, model trains or sewing with workspace, storage and display space .
4. Workout in a home gym: You’ll need to factor in the size of the equipment and access to plug sockets. Flooring is also a key consideration. Choose a material that offers stability as well as cushioning support. If your budget doesn’t stretch to shock-absorbing ‘workout tiles’ or rubber flooring, then either custom mats made from foam, or even dense carpet, should work.
5. Dressing room ideas: Whether you consider them the ultimate luxury or a modern-day essential, dedicated dressing rooms are increasingly in demand. So much so they now come as standard in several of our designs, such as The Highgate, The Blenheim and The Richmond. Wall to ceiling wardrobes will help maximise space but also inspect alcoves and the space above the doorframe to see if you can add extra shelving. These can be ideal for seasonal or ‘special occasion’ items that you only use rarely. Add a dressing table and a full-length mirror, paying attending to good lighting, too – installing LED strips can give a daylight effect, which can be softened with dimmers when needed.

Or if you’re considering moving to a home that’s better suited to your needs, check out our guide to rightsizing v downsizing.

Flexible furniture solutions for homeworking

With millions of us requiring a space or office for working from home, flexibility in your living space is key.

Maximising space for a home office means creating an area that looks professional for video calls, while giving you the option to close the door or store everything out of sight once the working day is over.

A dedicated room is the ideal, but you might be able to utilise an unused corner of the living room, kitchen, bedroom or landing for your home office furniture.

Our six tips for creating an effective home workspace include:

1. Prioritising a high-speed Wi-Fi connection: This is taken care of in your Redrow home thanks to fibre to the premises broadband (FTTP).
2. Invest in good lighting: No-one likes working in gloomy surroundings. To avoid unnecessary clutter, think about wall mounted lighting as part of your built-in office ideas.
3. Are you sitting comfortably? Take care to choose a chair that’s at the right height and ergonomically comfortable.
4. Substance over size: Now that many offices are paperless, a desk doesn’t have to be large, often room for a laptop is all that’s required. We offer a range of stylish freestanding and fitted home office furniture via My Redrow to suit different sized rooms.
5. Opt for clever storage: Hanging storage pots and racks are great for holding pens, notebooks, scissors, staplers and other stationary, alongside some natural greenery to oxygenate your surroundings and boost your mood. A single shelf placed above provides the perfect home for bulkier items like box-files and reference books, and another great place for trailing pot plants to sit.
6. Screen off your space: If you do have a dedicated room that can serve as an office, you can close the door at the end of the day and leave any work troubles behind. Switching off from the daily grind can be harder if your workstation is on full view in the living room or kitchen. So, to avoid mixing business with pleasure, think about screening it off, or creating enough storage so you can hide your office equipment at night. A coffee table or console with a hidden compartment desk can work well.

If you’re looking for flexible study space ideas to create the ideal dual purpose space for co-working, homework and more read our guide. 

For those still wondering ‘how do you solve lack of space at home?’ then regular decluttering is a great way to ensure you make the most of the space in your home. A pre-Christmas clear out helps make room for the gifts you receive and free up space. Read our storage hacks and cleaning tips by room.