If you’re currently researching ways to design your home, you’ve likely been spending your days perusing through a lot of pictures online and in magazines. There are plenty of ideas out there on how to design any room in your home, but the family room is one you should give special attention to as it leaves you with a lot of options for customization.

After all, you might want your dining room to be more elegant. There’s only so much personalization you can do to your bathroom. And the kitchen has to be functional.

But the family room is where you can really let your personality and style shine through. It’s the space you’re going to spend a lot of quality time in with your family and friends, lounging, having a good time, and relaxing. It’s important to make space feel uniquely yours and not like some stock picture straight out of a magazine.

Here are five custom design ideas to help make your family room truly feel like yours.

1. Let Your Style Shine Through

A family room is a space for fun and relaxation, so it doesn’t have to be as formal as some of the other places in your home.

Since you have your own tastes in design, it’s likely that the rest of your home has a theme running throughout to tie all the rooms together. Maybe you’re into modern architecture and like things a bit more minimalist. Maybe you’re more into a rustic country look and more traditional rooms divided by walls.

No matter what you prefer, you can incorporate the design choices from the rest of your house while also giving your family a wonderful space to congregate.

Play around with paint colours. Go a little bolder than you might in other rooms in the home. Add in custom windows if you’re a fan of lots of natural light. Develop a space where you’ll want to spend time together.

2. Build Around Your Favorite Activities

The best part of customizing your space is that you don’t have to try and fit your life into pre-existing rooms. This is perhaps what attracted you to the idea of building a new home rather than moving into a pre-owned one.

A family room can have multiple uses and you can cater to your needs through custom design ideas. Perhaps the best way to customize your family room is to consider what your family really likes to do when spending time together.

Do you like to watch movies? Invest in a nice TV, lounge chairs, and a great surround sound system.

Play games or do puzzles? Centre the room around an epic table and add on custom cabinetry to hold all of your games that either display or conceal them to your liking.

Do you or the kids frequently have friends over? Some comfy chairs and a more open layout can lead to hours of great play dates and memorable conversation.

By thinking about what it is your family loves to do, you’ll start to get an idea of how to add things to make your family room be the best space possible for you and your loved ones, while not adding in extras you will never use.

By structuring your space around your life and interests rather than what looks nice in the pages of a magazine, you’ll enjoy your space more in the long run.

3. Add in Personalized Decor

Decoration makes a room feel like your own.

Chances are, you’ve got a lot of great photos of your family tucked away on a file on your computer or your phone. Why not bring them into physical form and enjoy them every day?

You can do this more artistically than simply hanging a single photo in a frame on your wall. Choose a bunch of your favourite photos and hang them all up to create a special mural of your favourite memories.

This doesn’t have to be permanent either. If you create a photo wall, you can always change out old pictures for new favourites as the seasons shift and your family grows.

As well as photos, you might have other things that are special to your families such as heirlooms or favourite pieces of art. Feature these items on your shelves and walls; they’ll be more meaningful than a print or sculpture than anyone can pick up at the store.

Also add in recessed lighting to make your photos, art, or heirlooms really pop.

4. Keep it Functional

You want your family room to look nice and capture your personality, but at the same time, you need it to be functional. Custom design ideas can help make your space use in a way that works seamlessly with your lifestyle.

Different families will have different needs. What are yours?

Families with young kids may want a play area with easy-to-access toy storage, while those with teens may prefer a cool hangout area to watch movies and play video games.

Families with adult kids or no children may want a more minimalist space where they can unwind after a long day and listen to podcasts or music or read a good book or the Sunday paper.

No matter what your needs, every household requires proper storage to reduce clutter. Incorporate storage space seamlessly into your room design through furniture items that have multiple uses. Add an ottoman in your favourite colour that is also open to store your current reading material or pick up an old truck where you can store blankets to use on brisk winter evenings.

Window seats allow you to enjoy the outside world, and they can also offer you functional storage space underneath.

Some of our floor plans allow you the option for cabinet space in your living area. This works great for any family. Consider putting your TV inside a closeable cabinet. This adds to the style of the room, as well as helps you to avoid the distraction when not in use. Keep things neat by storing remotes and DVDs inside the cabinet.

5. Add Coziness

Have you heard about the Danish concept of hygge? It’s the feeling of being content and cosy by enjoying simple, comforting things like spending time with your loved ones.

Your family room is the place to let this happen and customizations make it easy for you to get the perfect comfortable place to spend your evenings and weekends.

Many of our floor plans have the option to add in a fireplace. Nothing adds to a cosy atmosphere and brightens up cold nights like a fireplace. Your family can sit in front of it and enjoy the warmth and light.

To make your space even cosier, how about adding a rug? Especially if you have hardwood floors, this is a good way to add comfort and insulation. Plus, a rug can also help tie a room together. Choose one with colours that complement those of your chosen paint colour or a featured piece of art.

Don’t forget to add in plush blankets, candles, and greenery to add to the cosy atmosphere you’re creating.

What design features are you most excited about adding to your new home?