Design Principles for a Simple and Organized Room | Ana Marcu | Skillshare

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Design Principles for a Simple and Organized Room

teacher avatar Ana Marcu, Home Wellbeing, Licensed architect

Watch this class and thousands more

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Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Watch this class and thousands more

Get unlimited access to every class
Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Lessons in This Class

    • 1.

      Introduction

      2:24

    • 2.

      Class Project

      0:47

    • 3.

      The Status Quo

      4:03

    • 4.

      The Biggest Challenges

      5:44

    • 5.

      Simplify The Shell

      4:03

    • 6.

      Zoning

      3:21

    • 7.

      Style and Shape

      3:51

    • 8.

      Color

      4:28

    • 9.

      Alignment

      3:30

    • 10.

      Function

      4:34

    • 11.

      Final Thoughts

      0:54

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About This Class

Design a room so well that it never needs decluttering. Learn to diagnose visual clutter, master spatial clarity, and choose storage that truly fits your lifestyle. Discover how design—not constant tidying—creates lasting calm.

What is this class about?
In “Design Principles for a Simple and Organised Room,” architect Ana Marcu invites you behind the scenes of a real-life family room transformation. This in-depth course reveals how to design interiors that feel effortless, tidy, and harmonious—without the endless cycle of decluttering. Ana challenges the myth that organizing starts with purging and instead guides you through the essential design principles that naturally keep a space simple and functional.

What will you learn?

  • How to analyze what’s working and what isn’t in any room
  • The hidden design reasons why rooms look messy or disjointed
  • Key principles like zoning, visual alignment, and simplification
  • How to choose and place storage that suits your lifestyle
  • Techniques using shape, style, and color to create unity and calm

Who is this class for?
This class is for anyone overwhelmed by visual clutter, confused by interior layout, or striving for a more peaceful and intentional home. Whether you're decorating a new room or refining an existing one, you’ll walk away with practical strategies and deep insights into design logic.

Why should you take this class?
Rather than chasing minimalism or organizing fads, you’ll learn to apply foundational design principles that lead to a space that feels easy to maintain. The lessons are grounded in Ana’s architectural training and extensive experience—and are delivered in a friendly, thoughtful format designed to transform how you see your home.

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Photo Credits:


All transformation visuals © Ana Marcu
Other photos: https://at.pinterest.com/vi_de_ar/sabrina/

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Meet Your Teacher

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Ana Marcu

Home Wellbeing, Licensed architect

Teacher

About me:

I'm a licensed architect and have over a decade of experience in the design and architecture industry. I have worked as an in-house architect on various projects with a strong focus on furniture, interior design and experience design. I have a double degree in Architecture and "Building Science and Technology", and I am deeply passionate about design that generates great emotional experiences for people. I've recently started my little design studio, and I'm excited to teach you everything I've learned to help you create a great home for yourself.

Transform your surroundings, transform your life!

Your home environment profoundly impacts your mood, thoughts, behaviour, performance, and overall well-being.

Learn how to design a livi... See full profile

Level: Beginner

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Transcripts

1. Introduction: This class, I'll take you behind the scenes as I'm redesigning a real family room, a space filled with life, memories, and a lot of things into one that feels calm, cohesive, and easy to maintain. Along the way, I will highlight the key design principles that make a space feel simple and organized, not through de clattering, but through design. Is a big misconception that the only path to an organized room is through declattering, minimalism, or just having less things, and that's really not the case. Declattering is one of the last things you can do to keep a room organized because if you design it well, keeping it tidy becomes effortless. So in this class, I want to highlight all the other steps you can take to avoid declttering. Learn about how to diagnose what is working and not working in a room. Some of the biggest reasons that keep a room cluttered and disorganized, will learn about visual and spatial clarity through zoning, alignment, and simplification. We will look at how to choose storage that fits your lifestyle and the function of the room, and finally, we will look at how to use shape, style, and color to create unity and calm. Is probably one of the most in depth classes that I have ever made, because you will essentially look over my shoulder through the entire design process, and I will do my best to highlight what design principles I'm using and how implementing them impacts the design of the room so that hopefully by the end of this class, you'll be able to understand what aspects of your room make it look cluttered and disorganized and what you can do to change. If you're new here, welcome. Anna, I'm a licensed architect based in Europe and in these classes, I distill decades of architecture, education and experience into small bite size lessons to help you design your home. To go even deeper, check my class minimalist versus maximalist interior design and my YouTube videos, room organization with AutiClattering, and color room simplification with AutiClattering. They're really going to expand your understanding of space organization. Enjoy this class, leaving a review really encourages me to do more classes and helps others find them too. If you'd like more personalized help with your own space, feel free to reach out my contact details, are the description, and in my profile. If you're ready, let's start the class. 2. Class Project: The class project, I have prepared a downloadable PDF worksheet which can be found in the class resources. There you can find a checklist with questions group by lesson. After watching each lesson, I would like you to review the questions connected to the lesson and reflect on the room you are trying to organize. What small change might you make for big impact? Which of the lessons speaks to you the most? Which seems to be the easiest to implement for? Point of this class is not to implement everything, but to understand the root cause of chaos and make those changes that will make the biggest difference for you. In the class project, do share a photo or a page from your worksheet with some thoughts on what your next steps for the organization of your room will be. I look forward to seeing them. 3. The Status Quo: Before we start designing, we need to understand exactly what we're working with, how the room is used now, what's working, what's not working, and what the space is really asking for. The way I typically start my design process is now the Pints board, but by assessing the possibilities of the room and the needs of the people living in. The rumor about to transform was submitted by Sabrina, a stay at home mom in Canada with two boys aged four and eight, here's what she. Are having a bit of a problem with our family room downstairs. We want to feel welcomed a place where our entire family can relax, play games, maybe watch movies, read a book, be together, and have fun, create lasting memories. We have approximately 500 books that need a home, 1,000 CDs. Yeah, we still have those and many, many toys, as you can see, with very little storage. We also use the space as a little office, mainly to print things at the moment. How do we analyze a room before designing it? The first thing we need to do is to understand the user needs. If I quickly remove all the toys from this image and just look at the furniture, I can see that this could indeed be a living room, a room where sitting and relaxing are the main focus. However, if I look at how the room is used, considering all the toys, the keyboards, and the art, I can see that the demands of the room encompass a multitude of creative activities. Sitting is only a side gig, it's not the main gig of this room. So there is a mismatch between how the room is furnished and how it's actually used. Sabrina also mentioned that there is a living room in this house. The requirements of the room don't need to be the same. They could in fact focus more on activities, on creative activities and making things rather than sitting. Number two, we have to identify the challenges of this room. In a later email, Sabrina mentioned that this room is located in a semi basement area of the house and has a vinyl floor on concrete, which makes the room feel cold and uncomfortable. It is also heated with a gas fireplace, which she wants to upgrade. Not clear to me if this is the only source of heating in this room, but I suspect so. There's also an electric panel to the right side of the fireplace that must remain accessible, an architectural constraint that will influence sound design decisions. Finally, Sabrina mentioned that the current ceiling light is too harsh, which affects the overall comfort of the space. Are three challenges that will have to be addressed in our design. Number three, designed to support the family values. Upon examining the items in the room, I can see that this family is very creative. The room is filled with toys that involve building with tiny pieces a keyboard, paintings, books, CDs, and tools. These aren't just items. They're expressions of how this family lives, learns and connects. That tells me that this space needs to support a large variety of creative endeavors which might change and evolve over time. Number four, define a design style. Sabrina likes mid century modern, a style known for its warm mood tones, clean lines, and playful use of color. That gives us a great anchor when selecting furniture pieces. But rather than making the entire room feel like a mid century set, we'll use a few key pieces to reflect that style and build a functional updated context around. Summarize a successful design starts by reading the room, identifying how it's used, what problems need solving, and what aspiration the family holds for it. In this case, we're dealing with a creative multifunctional space in a semi basement with temperature and lighting challenges and a strong potential to become a hub for family creative connection and expression. In the next lesson, we'll jump into the biggest design challenges and look at the three hidden reasons most rooms stay stuck in a state of disarray. 4. The Biggest Challenges: Some two, the biggest design challenges. Before you dive deep into finding solutions for your design, I thought I talk about the three core reasons that will always keep a room in a state of disarray. When I tell you what they are, it will sound obvious. But at the same time, many of you will face one, two, or all of these challenges and would have done nothing about it. I just want to bring these problems to the surface and give you a chance to take them seriously. Let's get into them. Number one, lack of comfort. The room that is very likely to remain in a state of disarray is a room that no one wants to use because it feels physically uncomfortable. In Sabrina's case, her room is in a semi basement. It's cold because it relies on a gas fireplace for heat which likely only runs intermittently. Add the Canadian winters and a vinyl floor to the equation and you have a room that while it has a lot of potential simply isn't comfortable enough. For people to be there all the time. There are many other reasons a room can feel physically uncomfortable. Rooms facing North in the northern hemisphere never get direct sunlight and are particularly dark and cold. Rooms in older homes with poor insulation can also feel unwelcoming. Traps, mold, and poor window closures all contribute to discomfort that prompts people to stay away from this room for as long as possible. Before designing anything, you need to address the reasons this room feels uncomfortable first. Only when you enjoy being in the room, are you able to have a vision for it. But as long as the room remains uncomfortable, no design and certainly no budget will ever be available for it. For Sabrina's room, I recommend radiant floor heating. I find this one the most pleasant and luxurious forms of heating. Imagine walking in the house from the cold Canadian winter and stepping onto warm oak engineered floor. Oak is not just beautiful, but the matt wire brushed finish is practical for spaces where wear and tear is expected. This should make the room both comfortable and functional. As for lighting, the problem is not the land size, but rather the light. One type of light that has become increasingly prevalent on the market is the skylight simulator. They're not actual skylights, but they are very good at mimicking the sky and also the natural light, changing color throughout the day from crisp blue light in the morning to warmer tones in the evening that supports the body circadan rhythm, making the overall mood more comfortable. I have to say that they really fool the eye and the body into thinking that you are looking up at the clear sky. Problem number two, lack of storage. Here's a truth that needs repeating. Messiness is not a character flaw, it's a storage flaw. Most people aren't inherently disorganized. They're just trying to live in a space that lacks sufficient storage. If everything is visible in this room, tools, toys, art supplies, it's because there isn't a good place to put them. Is the solution here? Even a simple addition like more shelves can transform chaos into order. Sabrina already has a small library on this wall, but it's stuck to the brim with toys. Just expanding this in all directions to make this a wall to wall and a floor to ceiling storage is going to do a lot for the tightness of this room. The third problem is a lack of vision. The final and most paralyzing issue is not having a clear vision for a space where you don't have enough space, functions just get stacked on top of each other. But when you do have space, it can be challenging to determine how a room can truly contribute to your family's life. Sabrina described this room as a family room. Now for everyone who is not from North America, me included, family room is distinct from a living room. A living room is a polished space to impress guests. The family room is the kick off your shoes and spill popcorn real life living space. These types of spaces are typical for the 1950s homes that were designed with both status and function in mind. But here's the thing. The 1950s homes are designed to represent a 1950s life. In the 1950s, the TV was the latest technology and it became the reason around which families came together. The family room had a TV centric layout. In this day and age, however, things are different. We cannot escape screens. While I'm not saying we shouldn't have screens in the house, I think that would be unrealistic. I think the centering the TV and the activities that require no interaction between family members to refocus on activities that positively engage the family members with each other would be a more meaningful use of the extra space and a better solution for the century we live in. From what I can see from the toys, keyboard, and the materials already here, this space appears to be intended as an arts and crafts room rather than a TV centric one. Not just a playroom, but a creative family hub where playfulness, creativity, and making things are encouraged and expected. A place that welcomes a little messiness, embraces experimentation and supports every family member's creative spark. To summarize this lesson, there are three hidden reasons why rooms fail. There's discomfort, lack of storage, and lack of vision. Address these upfront and you're setting yourself up for success. Now that we understand the primary reasons that can hinder our designs, let's begin shaping the shell of this room to better suit our needs. 5. Simplify The Shell: Simplify the show. Before adding furniture and the core in a room, you need to shape the shell of the room to support the new functions. This is the time when you look at shacks that cross the room, things you might have to hide or reveal, you might redirect electrical wiring, break walls, reshape walls, increase or decrease the ceiling height. And so on. I don't want to overwhelm you guys with technicalities, but for the purpose of making a space look simpler and more organized, we are going to look for ways to adjust the space slightly to support the subsequent functions better. Arts and crafts rooms are naturally messy because they always pack a great variety of items in all shapes and colors. To prevent this space from looking even messier, I'm seeking ways to tie things up from the architecture, which will make the space appear even more cohesive when everything is in its place. How do I implement this idea in Sabrina's room? Let's start with the fireplace. Since Sabrina has already expressed interest in changing it, we are using that as an opportunity to redesign it to serve the space's ultimate purpose better. The current stone texture of the fireplace isn't terrible, but it adds unnecessary complexity to a room that is going to look highly complex anyway. Moving it doesn't just make the room look simpler. It also opens up fireplace design options that weren't previously available. Since Sabrina already mentioned wishing to change it, I picked a simpler looking one. The second thing I want to do is to increase the depth of the fireplace protrusion from 14 centimeters or 5.5 inch to 30 centimeters or 11.8 inch, about the depth of a standard bookshelf. Why is that? This creates space for built in shelving and a variety of fireplace options. Sabrina already has gas infrastructure and I've heard that gas is cheaper than electricity in Canada, which is definitely not the case in Europe, we'll add a modern gas fireplace. The fireplace won't be used for constant heat, but rather for ambience. Is visual design becomes way more important than its power. A sleek embedded unit will add that cozy touch without overwhelming the space. Next up is the ceiling. Based on the proportions of this room, I'm assuming that the oom height is around 2.3 meters or 7.5 feet. This is a rather low ceiling room. When the ceiling of the room is painted in a dark color, it makes people even more aware of it and it makes the room look and feel even smaller than it actually is. By contrast, painting it to white or very light pastel visually raises the ceiling and makes the room appear taller and more airy. The wooden ceiling slabs don't need to be removed, but painting them in a light color would help them disappear visually and contribute to that quiet unified shell we're aiming for. Then there are the walls. When color comes in contact with light, it radies around it and mixes with the colors it comes in contact with. To give an extreme example for you to understand, if you're painting a yellow painting in a red room, the yellow painting is going to look orange. This is why a clean white or off white color would be very useful for a creative room like this one. It keeps the focus on the art and the creativity projects rather than on the background. This also helps maximize the room's natural light, an important feature for any artist. Summarize our lesson, you simplify the shell by neutralizing architectural distractions, flattening textures, lightening ceilings and using neutral wall colors. This creates a calm, flexible space where everything else, storage, furniture, and creativity can shine. In the next lesson, we'll explore how to define zones within your room so that each activity crafting, storing, relaxing has a clear home. 6. Zoning: Lesson for zoning. In this lesson, we will discuss zoning, a principle that brings clarity and calm to a room, especially one that's likely to become visually busy, such as an arts and crafts space. Here, I want to share an architect's trick with you that decorators tend to overlook. Aligning the furniture with the architecture makes a space look much simpler and clearer. An architect will always trying to do is to make the furniture look like it's merging with the walls or springing from the floor. You can't do that with every piece of furniture, but wardrobes, benches, cabinets, beds, and kitchens are often examples that architects will design to make it look like the furniture merges with the wall. You will notice that these examples of interior design typically make the space look very clean, simple, and well structured. How do we implement this idea in our room? Start by the door. On the left side, I plan to install a tall storage element that spans from wall to wall and from floor to ceiling. Sabrina has already had the intuition to add a storage element here. I just want to make it bigger. This transforms what could have been a wasted space into a structured storage zone. To the left of the fireplace, which now puts about 30 centimeters, we can place another vertical storage volume. This balances the architecture and continues our wall to wall storage area. Now on the right side of the fireplace, I'm creating a small desk zone. It's a good spot. There's already an electric panel and a TV here, connectivity is available. This can be a casual workspace for Sabrina, allowing her to supervise the kids or have a home office. Next to the desk underneath the window, I'm adding a low bench. This page serves multiple rows. It provides storage. It has a flat surface for kids to play on or display their artwork. It is a seating area for adults when needed. This layering of functions is key in multi use spaces like this one. Opposite to the fireplace, I'm introducing a seating area with additional storage underneath. This will serve the family while the kids are still young. Later, as they grow older, this area can evolve into a large workspace table placed either against the wall or in the center of the room. This keeps the room flexible and future ready. Of this area, I install a pegboard that spans from door to wall. Pick boards are one of the most versatile elements in organizing a creative room. They can adapt to the changes in interests of the family over time and can store a wide variety of objects and tools. It also acts as a wall protector against toys and objects being slammed in the wall. You can see, every piece of furniture that I have suggested in this room also has storage included because creative rooms definitely need a lot of storage. To summarize this lesson, creating zones in the room really helps the eye navigate better and it creates more clarity in the room. Use large simple furniture volumes to carve out zones and align them with architectural elements like walls and windows for sense of order and ease. In the next lesson, we'll look at how our choices of style can affect our overall sense of clarity and organization. 7. Style and Shape: Style and shape. In this lesson, we will explore how to create unity in a room through the use of style and shape. If you break down a style at its core, it's a collection of shapes and colors. For example, the mid century modern style with Sabrina is is characterized by clean, sharp edges, modularity, dark brown walnut wood, and geometric shapes such as circles and block of contrasting colors. Using matching pieces of furniture is appealing when selecting objects for a room as the language of the style is repeated in the room consistently. Repetition creates rhythm and structure giving the eye a sense of unity in the room. It doesn't perceive the space as a group of different items, but rather as an entire organism working together spread out through the room. When it comes to Sabrina's room, I didn't want to cover the entire room in mid century modern design pieces. That can quickly feel like a thin part. Instead, I selected a few statement pieces that embody the spirit of the style and pair them with custom and more contemporary solutions that allow those pieces to stand out. One of my favorite pieces is the IMs storage unit, EU 420. Designed by Charles and Bray IMs in the 1950s, these storage units are iconic for a reason. They came in different heights and could be customized with drawers, panels, and open spaces in colorful or neutral finishes. Charles and Ray Imes were incredibly versatile designers and they brought a playfulness to their designs, which I think is visible in the storage jots and it is very fitting to the type of room we are creating. Feel a lot like lego pieces that can be stacked together and customized to create various designs. The circular shapes on the panel also serve as a subtle reminder of lego pieces. One of the finishes that I like in the storage unit is the one in dark brown color, which is very typical for the time. For this room, I have chosen 400 series units to anchor the main storage wall and 100 series units to build a low pinch under the window. That brings me to the second key element in this lesson, repeating one of the unique features of the EU 420 is the circular shape on the panel. To make this room feel a little bit more cohesive, you can see this circle on other parts of the design as well. You can see it on the pegboard cutouts behind the seating area. You can see it in the round tree trunk stools. You can also see it in a few well chosen art pieces. Finally, you can see it in the form of the iconic Verner Panton flower pot lamp. The flower pot lamp is another famous mid century design. Still in production today, this playful circular lamp brings a joyful energy perfect for creative space. Its soft curves echo the circular forms already present in the Em storage details, helping to unify the space. Circles are gentle, friendly, and non threatening. They make a space feel approachable and light hearted, which supports the overall purpose of this room to be a place of joy, creativity, and connection. Using a consistent shape like this not only creates unity, it also guides the eye and offers visual rest in an otherwise busy environment. Summarize our lesson, you make a space feel more organized by choosing a consistent array of shapes. In this case, they represented in the SO 420 storage unit and the circle. This repetition reduces visual clutter, creates con and rhythmic flow throughout the room. The next lesson will dive into color and how it can support the feeling of structure and organization. 8. Color: Color. This lesson is about how to use color to make your space look simpler and more organized. Clearly, the bigger the number of different shades of color you use, the busier a room gets. In a creative hub like our room here, a large number of colors would be inevitable because of all the items that will be on display. All the games, the books, the art, the tools, the devices, all of them will bring their own color into the mix. There's nothing you can do about it. In situations like this, you want to start with the smallest number of colors possible. As you move up in the number of colors, as you will inevitably have to do, you can go two ways. You pick shades of colors from the tone you already started with. This makes a space feel more unified. Number two, picking neutrals, colors like black, white, or various shades of gray will work well with whatever tone you have going. How do we implement this idea? When it comes to this room, I made a clear decision early on that I will use mid century modern pieces and the ones I picked featured a dark tone of wood. This shade of color has to be in my scene, no way around it. The other shade that I have to work with is the oak wood on the floor. I wanted to have a lighter wood so that the room doesn't get too. But also oak is highly praised for its durability, which would match the functions of the room. From the outset, I already have two shades of natural color, a dark, slightly reddish brown and a light brown with tones of yellow. I need to stay focused here and keep the number of colors to a minimum. I made a few very conscious decisions. One is to pick all the elements of the SO 420 in this dark brown color, all the shelves and all the panels of both the 400 units and the low 100 units. It's not a given because they come in many different variations and you can make them as colorful as you want. However, that would have added to the complexity of the room and I didn't want to do that. Then I picked the wood shade of my chair, the seating area, and the wood trunk sto in a similar shade to the floor. They could be oak, but they could also be other similar shades of wood. The idea is to have tones that are very close to each other. When items are physically close together and have a similar color, or I subconsciously groups them together. Feel like they could be from the same family. That's a neat trick to remember. Finally, I picked some neutrals. The seating cushions on the bench are gray. This keeps the overall complexity of the room low, but it is also a shade that can withstand some wear and tear without looking too shabby. I also picked gray for one of the storage elements on the shelves by seeing the same color in more places in the room gives the impression of order and cohesion in the room. Repetition of the storage elements together with the color really helps me group them in my mind. I personally am not a fan of open storage, but mid century modern was a style that was very much a fan of open storage. To combat having too many objects on display, I'm using storage boxes that when repeated simplify the complexity of the space, making it look more unified. The other neutral that the room is abundant in is white. White maximizes the light in the room, which is critical for any space where detailed work, creativity, and focus are required. It reflects natural light into the corners, making the space feel brighter and more expensive. This is also the color of choice for other pieces of furniture. Example, every other shelf, except those that are part of the sun 20 is white. This is a deliberate decision to create contrast between the old and the new shelves. This makes the old furniture pieces stand out even more while also making the room appear lighter. The pegboard and the additional table are also kept in white. This consistency helps them blend into the shell of the room, reflecting light and allowing the more expressive pieces to take center stage. To summarize our lesson, you bring common cohesion to a space by sticking to a defined color family. Your furniture blend into the walls and use a consistent palette, especially neutrals to make the bold elements and your creativity stand out. In the next lesson, we will talk about alignment. 9. Alignment: Alignment. In this lesson, we're talking about visual and spatial alignment, specifically how to align new furniture elements with existing structures in your space for a more cohesive look. Alignment in interior design is about more than just straight lines. It's a visual cue that connects elements across rooms creating harmony and a sense of intentionality. When things line up, whether it's shelving, furniture or architectural features, your eyes relax. There's a subconscious sense of order and the space feels calmer, more balanced and often more professionally designed. How do we implement this idea? Let's go through some alignment decisions I have taken in the process of designing Sabrina's room and hopefully by the end of this video, you will understand how to do it for the room you are redesigning. Let's look at the shelves. I wanted to start with the Em storage unit 420, but I also knew I wanted to expand the storage area around them. When adding new shelves, I use the existing ones as my baseline. If the old shelves have a specific spacing between them, I match that with the new shelves and I continue that with the shelves on different walls like the ones next to the fireplace. The upper shelf where the beamer is matches the shelf basing as well, and so does the shelf above the table. It continues at the same height as one of the shelves on the other side of the fireplace. These continuous lines create a sense of order and stability in the room. Also wanted to align the fireplace to the shelves. Again, not a crazy detail, but it's little details like that that make the space feel simpler and organized. Is it the end of the world if they're not aligned? No, but a little bit here and a little bit there helps the eye feel like it's in a well planned room and it helps it relax. Number two, the bench, the pegboard holes, and the shelf above it. Another alignment that I wanted to see was the beaver shelf, the pegboard holes, and the seating area. I didn't wish to extend the shelf all the way to the door as it might scare you when you enter the so I aligned it with the seating area and the pegboard holes. This creates a tight modular feel almost like a built in. It's also a fun detail. The pegboard itself, however, is aligned to the wall and the door, providing both wall protection and ample storage area. When is alignment not worth it? Not everything needs to be aligned perfectly. Example, I initially wanted the seating area to match the height of the IM storage unit for a clean line across the room. I use the ideal seat height didn't match the IMS storage unit height. Enforcing the alignment would have compromised comfort. I also don't think that the proportion of the seating area I created would have been nice. In cases like these, remember that function matters more than blind alignment. Alignment should serve the space, not constrain it. It should work around function, not the other way around. Summarize our lesson, you achieve alignment by referencing key existing lines such as shelves, furniture, and architecture and ensuring new elements visually relate to them. This creates rhythm and order. However, not every alignment is worth pursuing if it compromises usability. In the next lesson, we're going to talk about function, how to make sure everything in your space not only looks aligned but works seamlessly with your daily life. 10. Function: This lesson, I want to go back to the overall vision for the room and show you how I want it to work now and how I imagine it working in the future when the kids are older or perhaps gone from home. There are essentially three things I focus on. The first thing I wanted to do is to make this room a paradise for small kids, keeping furniture low and accessible to their size. Number two, I wanted this to be a breeze for parents to keep tidy by adding storage to all the major furniture pieces of this room. Number three, I am also focusing on multi functionality so that the space can adapt quickly to new family interests and hobbies. For example, the large cushions and pillows can become forts, or they can be put away in one of the drawers to make space for a large play surface. But when the grandparents or parents are there, it can be used as a normal seating area. Designing a room it's not just about its utility now, but also how it would work later. Being able to plan those changes in the design from the beginning really makes a massive impact on your time and budget. Once the kids are older, I imagine the seating area being replaced by a large workshop table, a place where things can be made or built. It can also serve as a larger table for art or any other activity. The location of the pegboard opposite to it would be just as useful as it is now to store tools. Board serves dual function. It stores various toys, gadgets, and tools, and extends all the way to the floor to protect the wall against toys or other objects being slammed against it. I'd also like to discuss the TV situation in this room. As you are aware, the objects we surround ourselves with influence our habits. Big objects placed centrally in a room tend to capture a lot of our attention. Consider your couch, the kitchen, and the dinner table, all place centrally in an open space. Large items placed centrally will naturally draw our attention to them and encourage us to engage with them. Our attention directs our action, meaning that with a big screen TV in the center of the room, one can easily get into the habit of turning on the TV all the time. I don't want to pretend that a TV should not exist, but I don't want to make watching TV the most important activity of this room. When Sabrina discussed her vision for this room, it centered on connectivity with her kids, creating memories, crafting and nurturing creativity. So a TV can be somewhat of a hinderness towards her vision of connectivity with her family. To make sure that the TV does not get turned on all day every day, I want to make it invisible for the room by adding a beamer. I want watching TV to become a deliberate and cinematic experience with the family rather than a mindless distraction. There's also a computer screen on the table next to the fireplace, which can be activated to watch things. However, because it is smaller, I hope it does not become the focus of this room. Should that be the case, perhaps a laptop would be a more suitable option here. By designing the room this way, the mindless decision in this room should be to create something rather than zone out in front of the TV. Next to the seating area, a low bench provides additional seating for adults, a play surface for children, or a display surface for art. It also offers ample storage for toys and games that kids can easily access, allowing them to be active in keeping the space tidy. Also place the printer inside this bench for occasional printing. The printer is connected to the computer at the desk. The floating desk can be used by Sabrina for remote work if she needs it when the kids are small. In the long term, it can serve as an additional work surface. It can also be a place to paint and exhibit art for the painter in the room. Art can also be displayed on the bench for family members to admire. Over the table, we have a shelf that exhibits various paintings. These just lean against the wall hiding the electric panel, which can be accessed at any time. Let's have a final look at this room. Let me know what you guys think about it in the comments. 11. Final Thoughts: Final thoughts. Congratulations for completing the class. Designing a simple and organized womb takes intention, creativity, and a willingness to rethink what is possible in your space. I hope you found many takeaways in this class. But the one I hope you remember is that messiness is not a character flaw. It's often a storage flaw. If you do nothing else but create more storage in your you'll immediately notice an improvement in tidiness. If you're looking for more design inspiration, I share more ideas and room transformations on my YouTube channel. If you like this class, I would appreciate the review. It encourages me to do more classes and it helps other people discover the class. Your feedback truly makes a difference. If you'd like personal help with your space and be happy to hear from you, you can always reach out to me. Details are provided in my profile and in the description. Thanks again and happy designing.