There are so many different kinds of rooms you can find inside a house, so many in fact, that it can actually be something of a challenge to keep track of all of the types of rooms there are.
There may even be types of rooms that you are not totally familiar with, old fashioned rooms, or new modern rooms.
You need to know what the types of rooms are, so next time you go looking around for a new home, or if you decide that you want to expand upon your current home, you are well versed in your room options.
This is why we are going to give you a list of all the rooms you can find in a house, with a full description of what each type of room is used for. We want to help you to better understand the types of rooms in a home, and why they are there in the first place!
For those of you who have the itch to build your own home soon, it would be wise to pay attention to our list, as it could help you to expand on ideas for what you want for your next home as you draft up your plans!
The 30 Types Of Rooms You Could Find Inside A House
We will first touch on the rooms you will find first as you enter a home, and then focus on the most common rooms you will find in a house. If you are looking to find out more about a specific room.
1. Foyer/Entrance Hall
Most of us would not count an entrance hall or foyer as being a room, or an important one at all. But, they really are. This is the first room you enter whenever you walk into a house, they give you the immediate impression of the home, and tell you all you need to know about it.
It is what separates your personal world from the outside world, so you should pay a lot of attention to how it looks and what is kept in it. In some small apartments, these foyers are short hallways, you take off your shoes and your coat, perhaps have somewhere to put your keys or an umbrella.
A lot of homes also have a mirror in this space, so we can make sure we are looking good before we venture outside! Family photos and artwork also are usually found in this space.
Large homes will usually have less decorated foyers, with shoe organizers, adjoining closets and so on. However, even here you can find plants or flowers and other decorative elements.
2. A Kitchen
Kitchens can be the first room you enter, or can be found at the back of the house near the yard. The latter arrangement is usually the favorite, as it will usually allow families to leave their kitchen and have a meal on the back porch.
If you have a studio apartment, or a small apartment, the former option is much more likely. Kitchens can have a variety of layouts, you can have a sink built into the countertops, with an oven and dishwasher found below in many cases.
However, these could also be placed on cabinets instead, which is common for those who are unable to bend down to load the appliances.
Other cabinets are typically used for storing dishware and cookware, and some kitchens even have an island that can increase kitchen storage space, allow for more food prep space, or even serve as a casual/ informal dining area.
3. A Keeping Room
No idea what a keeping room is? You aren’t the only one! However, you might actually have one, and just be totally unaware of what it is! You probably have a kitchen that actually acts as a keeping room! Confused? No worries…
Kitchens are pretty popular hand-out spots, typically because it is one of the warmest spaces in the home, however, if the kitchen is a bit overcrowded, you could direct some food traffic to a ‘keeping room’. Keeping rooms are areas, accessible via the kitchen, however, many of these are made into just one room.
The room would be centralized via a fireplace or hearth, where a family can sit, talk, prepare food and so on. This is now why so many modern kitchens will have sitting areas near or in a kitchen, even when a house has a dining space.
The function of keeping rooms has been adapted to merge with the kitchen, however, the spaces are easily separated if you should want this.
4. The Pantry (Food & Storage)
Many of us will have a great collection of spices, dishware, cleaning supplies, and non-perishables that will have piled up over years, and they all need a place to go. Luckily this is what pantries are for!
Pantries typically contain a mixture of items, all arranged in shelves and containers, but primarily, it is there to store whatever won’t fit in your kitchen. It is typically the place where we store large oven dishes, spices, pickled goods, preserves, and even long-life foods, such as potatoes!
With a large enough space, you could even fit a freezer in a pantry too! Although, this is not always possible! In some smaller houses, pantries can be a single cupboard, it can be a room or just a space, but pretty much every home has a pantry!
5. Dining Area
Dining rooms are formal eating areas, they are usually fitted with a long table and many chairs, more than you would find in a kitchen at least. The chairs and tables here are usually the most expensive and glamorous in the home too. Some families may even have these custom-made for them!
The dining room is essentially a place to show off the class, elegance, and wealth a family has, it is a room that does the bragging for you! If you are lucky enough to have a spectacular chandelier it will probably be located above the dining table!
Even liquor cabinets and tableware in this room will be posh, glamorous and often, made of glass. These are basically display cases and storage units all in one.
6. Living Space
Not every home will have a posh, elegant formal dining space, but pretty much every home has a living room. Living rooms are rooms that are made to complete the function that several other rooms do, even the dining room in many cases.
However, living rooms are generally rooms in which to relax, entertain guests and enjoy those cozy days off. In a living room, you will find a comfy couch, some chairs, probably a coffee table, and many also put cabinets, bookshelves, stacked with photos, books, ornaments and so on.
There will also be a TV here, and if the home has only one TV, it will be found in this room. With larger houses, there may be more than one kind of living room. Each of these rooms will have a slightly different purpose, these are often known as the parlor and the family room. We will talk more about these later.
7. The Den/Family Room
Family rooms, or ‘the den’ will be a more casual living room, found in big houses. This room will be generally smaller in size than the primary living room, and could be found in the basement or on the second floor of the house.
If the parlor or living room has matching, glamorous furniture, then the den will usually be a space with mismatched chairs, knickknacks, beanbags and so on. Much like the primary living room, family rooms can have aspects of other rooms that we mention today. It could easily be a home theater, music room, game room, and so on.
It will have a lot more character than the other areas of the home which are more for ‘show’, it is comfy, and homey, and has the most personality representative of the family living there.
8. Reception Room
A majority of people will think reception rooms are the same as living rooms, but this is not 100% the truth. The reception room can also be known as the parlor, which represents the same purpose as a public reception room.
Depending on how big and extravagant a house is, a single room could play both the role of the living room and the parlor. If a house had more than one living room, the parlor/ reception room, is usually the living room closest to the entrance to the house. This makes sense as public reception rooms are only used to entertain guests.
This may come across as something of an old fashioned concept, but there are plenty of cultures which practice this, and will still set aside a part of their homes for the purpose of entertaining guests now.
Family members will not use this area of the house in their normal lives, but the area will be maintained and cleaned in case of the sudden arrival of guests.
In some places, where a family’s reputation is critical, these rooms will be the rooms which house the family’s most important and prized possessions. This can include musical instruments such as grand pianos, old artwork, trophies, antiques, and so on.
9. A Home Office Space
Home offices have been popular for a long time, however, now more than ever they take precedence in a home, with more people freelancing or working from home, they are important rooms.
Before this, however, home offices were often used for keeping accounts or estate ledgers, but now they are often full workspaces for those who work from home.
Home offices are usually pretty conservative with decor, often brown, navy, white, or grayscale schemes, and most prefer their offices to be uncluttered. As well as a desk and chair, these spaces often incorporate rugs, plants and a few other enjoyable features to brighten them up.
The further contents in these rooms depend on the individual occupying it. It also depends on the profession of the individual, architects would likely have a drafting table, perhaps scales, pencils, and so on. Programmers would often have lots of cords, hard-drives, and so on.
10. Bathroom
Bathrooms contain a bathtub or shower, or both, as well as a sink and toilet, some may even have a bidet, although some toilets now have this as a built-in feature!
As well as the traditional features, bathrooms usually have cabinets or shelves which are fitted with a variety of cosmetics, skincare products, medicines, and so on.
It is also traditional in these places to have a mirror fitted above the sink, often serving as a way to hide the door(s) to a medicine cabinet. That being said, bathrooms should have towels, a bathroom mat, and pretty much all else you’d expect to maintain hygienic form.
11. Laundry Rooms
Most of us will place our washers, dryers, and so on wherever it is convenient to do so, it depends on the way the house is laid out. This makes a laundry room a laundry-specified space which does not have specific placement in every home.
It could be in a basement, or in a bathroom, or even a totally separate room in the home. Whatever the case, you would need to ensure that the room this is used for is very well insulated. In order to have a good laundry room, the floor should be tiled to prevent any potential water damage.
However, as tiles will almost make noise more resonant, the room will need to be more soundproofed. You can suppress vibrations coming from washers or dryers by putting rubber pads underneath.
As well as the traditional machines put in here, laundry rooms will also have a range of detergents in them. A large laundry room will have one or two drying racks as well, for items which cannot be machine dried.
12. A Sun Room
Sun rooms often get the most light in a house. They are often rooms which have ceiling to floor, and wall-to-wall windows, skylights, and french doors. They are not massively common, but they are brilliant to have. These rooms are often fitted with comfy chairs and sofas, so they are similar to living rooms in some ways.
However, sunrooms are ideal for having a morning coffee or enjoying a comfortable breakfast, they are not the most comfy rooms in a home.
Sun rooms can easily become like a greenhouse in the summer months, with glass walls and a lot of sun, you can find they will get really hot. However, this does mean they work very well as conservatories, and often do!
13. A Library
If you are a bookworm, and you have quite a hefty collection of books, then it should be displayed neatly and proudly! It might seem like it takes a lot to build up a nook or library. All you need is some sturdy bookshelves, a step stool, and a ladder so that you can reach the highest shelves. ⍤! And, don’t forget the sitting area.
You will be reading in the library, so you will want it to be lit well, so that you can read clearly. You want to ensure that you pick a room which gets plenty of light naturally entering through the windows. If you do not have windows available you could get lamps and standing lights, and while ceiling fixtures are good, you should not rely on these.
Libraries are areas which can also belong to other rooms in the house. It could just be a couple of bookshelves in your living room, bedroom, or office. If you want to put your books somewhere, or if you need a whole room to display all the novels you love, go for it, you could create a whole library, fill a shelf, or make a cozy reading nook!
14. Powder Room (A Half-Bath Room)
Primary bathrooms are not the only place that people can go to in order to relieve themselves, in small homes it may be the only place, but, in larger homes there will often be another space. Larger homes will often have a secondary bathroom, or powder room, where you can use the facilities when the main bathroom is occupied.
This is also known as a half bath, which is smaller than a main bathroom, and will only typically have a sink and a toilet, some will not even have a mirror above the sink.
15. Closets (Storage Rooms)
A majority of homes, even small ones will have at least one closet for storage, larger homes will have huge rooms for collecting various items. If this room is in your home, you probably use it to store pressed linen, cleaning supplies, and so on. In cases like such, it is usually referred to as a linen closet, or a broom closet.
Yet, even if these rooms are not included on purpose in your home, these often still occur naturally. This will often be the case when a child moves to college, and their room ends up collecting various items, as a room for all-purpose storage.
16. Walk-In Closet
Sifting through shirts before work? No, thank you. Taking up space with a free standing wardrobe? Yuck! Why bother with either of these not-so-fun situations when you could have everything neatly arranged in a walk-in wardrobe built into the walls?
Standing closets give you more space to work with than drawers and cabinets, and some organizing tools can be super helpful, but nothing quite beats a walk in closet which allows you to easily see more of your clothes, while also saving on space that may otherwise be taken up!
Even if your walk-in closet is not that large, it is still a room in its own right, much like a storage room. Small walk-ins often have a hanging rod with shelves, and some containers and shoes on the floor.
Big walk-in closets can display your clothes, keeping them separated by type of clothing, color of clothing, and you could even keep each style of shoe on a different shelf too. Oh, and with big walk in closets, you could even have a whole drawer for belts, watches, and jewelry too!
17. The Master Bedroom
Master bedrooms are always the most important room in the home, this is where homeowners sleep, so it needs to be stylish but also calming and soothing. However, it shouldn’t be aggressively different from other bedrooms.
Although this bedroom is usually the biggest in the home, the exact size of it depends entirely on the actual size of the home. However, it needs to be able to fit a queen sized bed and a wardrobe in it. Ideally, you want to be able to fit some end tables, alarm clocks, lamps and even a bookshelf or other in this space as well.
Having a vanity table is ideal too, putting one at the end of the bed is traditional, as you can just roll out of bed and get ready quickly before you need to go to work. With a huge home, master bedrooms can also have an en-suite/ private bathroom as well, and a walk in closet.
18. A Kid’s Bedroom
The kid’s bedroom will be smaller than a master bedroom, unless you are keeping multiple kids in one room, which would require the biggest bedroom available in the home.
However, kids’ rooms are typically rather small, which can end up with massive discussions about where to put the beds, but it is important to remember, a bed is not all a kid needs. Kids do everything in their rooms, they do homework, play, sleep, learn and more.
You should put a desk and desk chair in there, perhaps a games console and a computer. However, book shelves can be a good fit too! However, a first priority should be beds and dressers/ wardrobes.
19. The Nursery
Should you be about to welcome a new baby into the family then you will need to have a nursery in the place of a kid’s room. This means you need different furniture, you need a chest of drawers, a crib, and a changing station as priority. You can then add in more, such as some whimsical decorations, a rocking chair, and unique lighting.
You cannot only rely on outdoor light of course. Many parents will install a night light or something similar for their children, and even if your child doesn’t need it, it can allow you to stay ‘sleepy’ during the middle of the night changing and feeds.
Some parents will worry about the quality of air in this room, and if this is the case, getting a dehumidifier, air purifier, heater, or all of these can be ideal. Let’s not forget the baby monitor too, as it is beyond practical, and can give you peace of mind.
Placement of the crib is especially important. You want it to be positioned so that you can easily peer in on your baby from the door without disturbing them too much.
20. Guest Rooms
If you have an empty bedroom in your home, then this will traditionally end up taking on the role of the guest room. Furnishings in these rooms are typically minimalistic. They will have a bed, some basic amenities and such.
Family bedrooms will have a lot of character, but guest rooms do not and are usually basic. Of course, they can have some basic decorations. Between the staying of guests, guest rooms are often left totally empty, and the homeowner will usually only ever go in there to clean.
This makes certain that the room is fresh, pristine, and clean for whoever may stay next. In a small home, a guest room can be any room that suits the purpose in the house, it could even be a kid’s room or the living room!
21. Game Rooms
Now, while many homes will have the above rooms, or at least most of them, we are moving on to rooms that not every house will have to have. Although these rooms are not necessary as the previous rooms, they can still be important, fun and key spaces to have, if you have them.
One of these rooms is the game room, it can be the next level of a playroom. This room is ideal for families, or homes for roommates. What we love about game rooms is that there is no set definition, it can really just be whatever you want it to be!
If you adore video games, put the console of choice as the centerpiece and point of focus in this room, You hook up the console to e high quality TV, get a couch, some beanbags, or gaming chairs, add some snack tables and maybe some game merchandise, and hey presto, the dream game room!
You needn’t focus a game room around a console, however, you can also focus it around some more old fashioned games, you could install restored, old-fashioned arcade games such as Pac-Man, pinball, air hockey and so on.
If you are an alternative gamer, you may want to give this room a focus on tabletop options, displaying cards and board games on shelves, setting up some chairs and a table, and ta-da. Of course, if you enjoy Dungeons and Dragons, this could easily be the ideal location for your DnD games to take place too!
22. Play Rooms
Playrooms are a room for kids to love, oftentimes parents who do not want their kid having too many of their toys in their bedroom (nighttime distractions) will often convert a specific space into a playroom instead.
You can put all the Barbies, LEGO’s, stuffed toys, action figures and so on in this one space, and it will become a room where imaginations can run wild. You needn’t collect toys from all over the house when you have a room designated for play and play related mess.
From this day forth, all mess will be here, it is the perfect solution for messy problems. Should you have a TV going unused, you can even set up a mini movie theater for the kids in here as well, using Netflix kids movie section is ideal for this as you can ensure they only watch age appropriate content.
23. A Music Room
It is unlikely that most homes will have a music room, however, if you have a musical family, setting one up just makes sense! It is not uncommon for one kid to get a guitar for other kids to want a bass guitar, drum set, piano and so on.
Eventually the range of music instruments will become painstaking, and you will need a specific space to contain the noise made from this wide variety of instruments. So, before you relocate all of the instruments into one space, always make sure that the space is soundproofed, or you will end up regretting it.
Once you have done this, you can make the music room look stylish. Have storage options for each instrument, hanging guitars on walls, or have a standing rack. You could also have some recording studio gear set up in here too.
All that is needed for amateur beginners is a laptop and microphone, however, if you are more of a pro musician then something a bit more hardcore will be required.
24. A Home Gym
Home gyms save you the money of having to pay out for a ridiculously expensive gym membership, fitness enthusiasts love these rooms. You put together one room with the set purpose of working out.
You needn’t rush out of the house, or share any equipment with strangers, and you can sweat up a storm and the bathroom is only down the hallway. However, if you have a small home gym, what can you put in it? Actually there is so much you can do, even with a small space!
Get a yoga mat to start, or fit out the whole area with fitted interlocking gym mats. With a very small home gym you can at least do yoga, lift weights, perhaps fit in a multi-tool exercising machine, get a pull-up bar, and so on. With a bit more room you could fit in things such as a treadmill, boxing bag, cycling machines and so on.
You will also want to fit an AC or fan in here, but a big window will do as well. It won’t smell pleasant here if you are sweating up a storm. A mini fridge is also ideal if you are often sipping on shakes.
25. The Basement
Basements are rooms found underground in homes and are most often the most underdeveloped rooms in the house. A lot of people do not even finish the application of drywall before moving. This usually stays this way until the family decides to finish it… some years later!
Yet, even if a basement is unfinished it can be useful, as this is often the space where people keep breaker panels, furnaces, water heaters and so on. If you can get rid of the spiders and bugs which tend to set up their residence down here, and insulate it appropriately, basements can easily become a useful extra room, or two.
If you are lacking a room we have mentioned, the basement might be the best place to spruce up and turn into one of these rooms!
26. Home Theater
Home theaters are awesome epic ideas which have become more popular in recent times. They give you the perfect experience for watching movies, usually even better than the experience you get at the local theater. You will need some comfortable seating, a snack table or two and a TV.
However, we think a projector is even better with a screen or black wall space. You should get some dark windows or blackout curtains for this space to block unwanted noise and light. Laying a carpet and adding some acoustic foam to the ceiling will also help to enhance the cinematic experience aurally.
Adding a weatherstrip to the door to the room can prevent any sound leaks, and once all is set you just need movie snacks! Speaking of movie snacks, getting your refreshments from the kitchen is easy, but you can always get a microwave with some microwavable popcorn in this room for a better experience.
If you have some spare cash to splash, buying your own popcorn machine is ten times better! Why not add a mini fridge too! You needn’t leave the room to get any snacks or drinks, it can all be kept there in one easy-to-access place!
27. Wine Cellar
Thinking back to the basement, if you have every other room you need in the house, you could transform the basement into a wine cellar, but conditions need to be right for this. Most wine needs to be stored at a temperature somewhere between 50 degrees Fahrenheit and 60 degrees Fahrenheit (10 -15 Celsius).
Temperatures could be higher, but there should be no drastic changes in temperature. You also need humidity to be rather high so that the corks do not dry out. These conditions are sadly, also, the ideal conditions for mildew and mold growth, so you should keep an eye on this.
While mold and mildew won’t affect the wine if sealed correctly, it can become hazardous to the home and to health if allowed to get out of control.
28. Root Cellars
The basement could also be treated as a root cellar. If you should only wish to make part of your basement into a root cellar you should use the Northeastern corner or the foundation wall, as these spots tend to remain the coldest through the year.
Much like a wine cellar, root cellars have specific conditions they need to meet. Root cellars need conditions around 32 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit and humidity levels should be between 85 and 95 percent! Some basements may naturally have these conditions, and so you can store root vegetables here.
You can also use it to store jams and pickled veg. However, always ensure there is enough airflow as you will need to prevent mold.
29. Garage
Garages are useful, they can be part of the house or separate from the house. Main garage doors will usually open up to the drive-way, and families tend to have 2 parking spaces here, one in and one out of the garage.
Garages can take on other functions though, often used for tool storage, automotive accessories, and more. Some can be whole workshops in some cases!
30. Loft/Attic Space
The attic, or loft is the highest room in the home, right beneath the roof of the building, often meaning it will have a ceiling that is slightly slanted. It can often be unfinished, and is usually used for storage, although you can often find it taking on the purpose of another bedroom, or extra living space.
How Do Small Homes Incorporate These Rooms?
Some homes do not have a huge amount of space, and when this is the case, homeowners will typically turn to combining spaces into one. A kitchen can be a dining room as well, and can be connected to the living room, with the pantry in the cupboards.
Living rooms can serve many functions, it could be an office, movie theater, and even a guest room. Basements and attic spaces also make for great spaces to be converted. With little space, you can get very creative!
To Conclude: Which Rooms Are The Most Essential In A House?
Our list talks about all the rooms a house could have, but not all are necessary for a household to be functional. If you’ve ever hunkered down and lived in a studio apartment you are probably aware that all you really need is a bathroom, kitchen, living room and bedroom.
In a studio apartment, bathrooms are usually the only walled off areas and the rest is open space.
Even if you do not have all the space for every room on this list, it is good to see exactly what your options are in a home, whether you live in a grand mansion or a tiny studio apartment, it can help you to furnish your home the right way! As long as you have the basics, your imagination can do the rest!
