{"id":762426,"date":"2026-09-07T01:52:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T01:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/762426\/"},"modified":"2026-09-07T01:52:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T01:52:10","slug":"an-oddly-shaped-room-is-made-into-a-functional-living-room","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/762426\/","title":{"rendered":"An Oddly Shaped Room Is Made into a Functional Living Room"},"content":{"rendered":"

We independently<\/a> select these products\u2014if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, older buildings that have been converted into condos or apartments can be oddly shaped and sized. That was the case with this particular Madison, Wisconsin, condo located in Capitol Square. The one-bedroom, one-bath residence featured a generous living<\/a>, dining, and kitchen area \u2014 but also featured a tucked-away, highly angular bonus room that offered a unique challenge in regard to furniture configuration.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe previous owners had a dining space in there,\u201d explains Chris Bailey, the staging coordinator at The Cozy Home<\/a>, the company hired to work on this project. \u201cThe photos from a previous listing showed a workspace in there, but it wasn\u2019t scaled properly. There was a large desk you had to scooch around.\u201d When it comes to staging, the goal is to help people see themselves living in the space, which is especially useful with one that\u2019s oddly shaped. Here\u2019s how the pros made the space more functional, and helped the home sell as a result.<\/p>\n

When working with a tight and oddly shaped space such as this office, it\u2019s important to consider scale. The size of the furniture will considerably impact how the space appears as well as how it functions. A too-big desk can be a nuisance to have to navigate every day, and furnishing the space efficiently can allow for maximum usable space. \u201cIf you put too much or too-big furniture, it becomes less functional,\u201d the stager says.<\/p>\n

The designer and her team went about focusing on anchoring the room. In interior decorating, anchor pieces are typically larger and offer a visual focal point that your eyes are drawn to when first looking at the room. Anchoring<\/a> is particularly important in open-concept spaces where the bounds of the living room, dining room, or, in this case, the office may be fluid or expandable. To achieve this, The Cozy Home put down an appropriately sized rug<\/a> to ground the workspace.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the stagers didn\u2019t just stop at the workspace. They were even able to make this bonus room somewhat multifunctional by adding a chair in the corner to create a reading nook that sort of floats behind the desk.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA chair works well in that nook in the corner because it\u2019s an acute angle,\u201d Bailey says. \u201cIn this space, you\u2019re using that acute corner for the small nook because it sits there and then you can use the open space for the table. You can fit more than if you were to flip it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those working with a similar space might consider embracing those tight corners or small nooks within their home to create a functional retreat, such as a reading nook, or something visually interesting. \u201cWhen you have an oddly shaped room, take those acute angles and look for opportunities or a design moment,\u201d Bailey suggests. \u201cMaybe instead of a reading nook it\u2019s a tall plant or lamp; or use that space because it\u2019s inherently cozy for some smaller niche.\u201d<\/p>\n

The condo was on the market for $324,000 and is currently under contract. \u201cStagers have to work with what\u2019s there,\u201d Bailey says. \u201cWe create privacy where there is none and anchor spaces. A lot of open floor plan homes are not well-thought-out and it can be very difficult to create a cozy space. We achieve this with rugs, scale, and lighting.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We independently select these products\u2014if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":762427,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,1120,96,2294,4655,251770,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-762426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-home","tag-real-estate","tag-staging-selling-home","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/762426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=762426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/762426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/762427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=762426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=762426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=762426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}