Have you had a good look lately at your rec room, a room where you planned to have a space for you and your family to be comfortable? Do you think it looks more like a ‘wreck’ than a rec room? Is the floor a minefield of toys, and do you have trouble seeing the television yourself because the kids who want to play are always in the way? If so, then maybe your rec room needs an overhaul, so that it really is the comfortable space you once envisaged.

When you first thought of having a rec room, you probably created an ideal image of how it would be. Whatever happened to that ideal? The main problem may well be the floor plan, and this can be rearranged with just a simple trick or two. The first thing to do is to put your television set in the middle of the smallest wall. Then have the furniture facing it, and placed quite close; around five feet away is good. Your viewing area is probably smaller than it was, but you can still seat the same number of people, and the trade off is extra space. Put a thick, soft rug in front of the television so kids can sit comfortably on the floor.

Now get rid of other furnishings. Remove anything you don’t use regularly. People often store items in their rec room because they can’t think of a better place for them. This turns your rec room into a junk room, and makes it less than functional. Once you’ve removed those items you should have some free floor space.

So, how should you use this space you have gained? The kids now have extra play space, so sort their toys so that you have play centers. Schools and day care centers usually use this system too. All it means is that toys which fit into a specific category are collected in one area. For example, you can have a kitchen center where all the cooking theme play equipment is placed. You can put a small area rug down here and place the kitchen type toys here. Make a rule that this is the kitchen, and kitchen toys stay here. Other play areas around the room follow the same kind of rule, so that all around the room there are defined areas for specific types of play.

If your children love to read, add a great seating area for their books so they can enjoy and relax. Adding a great seating area for reading may encourage your child to read more than they might have had before. Place chairs, a table, and maybe a few larger pillows in this area to make sure they are comfortable.

Rugs will also organize a space and encourage the design to show its uniqueness. It will define the separate areas yet give you that coziness you want in a rec rooms design.