There are as many definitions of ‘the most important room’ as there are houses, and even in houses with identical floor plans, people may have different opinions about what is most meaningful to them. The rooms which define us as individuals have, in many cases, little to do with the space itself, but rather with the emotions we feel there. When designing a new room, the important thing is to feel that you really belong there.

The space which we consider the most meaningful to us is, in most cases, the room we spend the most time in. While this makes sense, it does not necessarily follow that we should spend the most time in that space. In fact, in many cases, spending the most time in a certain space can backfire. For example, perhaps a person feels most at home in his or her own bedroom, because in that space, he or she spends the most time alone, either sleeping or reading or enjoying some leisure time. However, that individual might choose to spend the majority of his or her leisure time in another room of the house, perhaps the kitchen or the family room.

Such a person might point out that he or she can often get away with being loud or rude in the smaller room. After all, nobody will bother him or her, and he or she can even avoid having to make conversation with other people. Still, other residents of the house might be bothered by his or her presence. For example, if the person is reading in the bedroom, he or she might disturb his or her partner or spouse with his or her loud reading. Perhaps if the partner were sleeping, he or she would feel even more annoyed. The bedroom is, therefore, not the most important room in the house, and most often, it is not even the most important room in the house to the particular individual.

Upon the other hand, if a person’s bedroom is cramped and uncomfortable, he or she is likely to spend a great deal of time in that room. He or she may lie in bed at night, tossing and turning, trying to find the most comfortable position. In the morning, he or she will probably spend a great deal of time in the bathroom trying to rid himself or herself of the pain of the previous night. The bedroom becomes the most important room in the house, not for the person in it, but for the person in it’s absence. In this case, the discomfort that the individual feels in his or her bedroom is made worse by the fact that he or she feels even more uncomfortable when he or she leaves the room.

The most meaningful room in the house should be the room or spaces in which we spend the most time. If we are comfortable there, we will probably spend a lot of time there. If we spend the most time there, we will probably feel welcome there, and if we are welcomed, we will probably spend even more time there. Ultimately, though, there are no absolutes in this rule of thumb.