Careful planning and ingenuity helped Morning Star Builders fit an office and wrapping station into a narrow laundry room. "The custom pull-out cabinet was designed by a trim carpenter with heavy duty drawer glides. The inner parts came from Proslat. And, believe it or not, the wrapping station was created using a paper towel holder and hooks," say the team at Morning Star Builders.

When it’s laundry time, the craft and wrapping supplies slide into the custom cabinet so they don’t take up valuable space.

To turn a small bedroom into a multifunctional space, designer Kathleen Appel took a hard look at the room’s existing features. "The room had two closets, and one was cedar-lined and visually interesting," says the designer. She chose that one to turn into a home office and craft area, removing the doors but leaving the closet rod intact. "I found shelves and a cork board that could hang from the rod using iron hooks," she says.

A close-up of the cedar-lined closet shows how designer Kathleen Appel cleverly used an existing rod to hang office essentials.