ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Guide to Modular Design in Your Home

Updated on February 2, 2011
Click thumbnail to view full-size
Modular SofaModular HeadboardModular ChalkboardModular ShelvingModular Kids' Carpet
Modular Sofa
Modular Sofa | Source
Modular Headboard
Modular Headboard
Modular Chalkboard
Modular Chalkboard
Modular Shelving
Modular Shelving
Modular Kids' Carpet
Modular Kids' Carpet

Modular design loosely refers to all things that are designed in such a way that they can be taken apart and rearranged into a different configuration. For example, some cars have seats that can be rearranged to face backwards or different directions. Sometimes modularity in design is even more general than this and just means that a part can be removed without affecting the rest of the item. In cars, for example, the tires can be removed without affecting the rest of the design of the vehicle. Modular design is available in many different industries. The area where it interests me most, however, is in home design and furniture design.

Modular Home Design

Modular homes are homes that are manufactured in pieces that can then be put together in different configurations once they arrive on the site where the home is to be built. Prefab homes are examples of modular homes. Many pre-fab homes can be put together in different formations and can be turned into one-bedroom, two bedroom or three-bedroom models with different additions. The basics of each room stay the same but the design of the home itself can be modified. Modular homes intrigue me, especially cutting-edge one-of-a-kind designs.

Modular Sofas

Although modular homes are interesting in terms of creative architecture, it is really the inside of the home that interests me most as far as modular design is concerned. There are many different home furnishings that are made these days in a manner designed to be taken apart and rearranged. The most obvious example of modular furniture is the modular sofa.

The modular sofa can typically be arranged in these standard ways:

o   The modular sofa can be one very long sofa. All of the parts of the sofa are placed together in one row. Many modular sofas have a “chaise lounge” section that is typically placed at the end of the long sofa. However, because of the modular design, this piece could be placed in the center of the long sofa if preferred.

o   The modular sofa can be set up as one long L-shaped sofa. Most people don’t have enough length in their living room for a single long sofa made up of all of the pieces in a modular design. For that reason, it is more common to see the pieces put together in an L-shape, usually in a corner of the room.

o   One sofa and two chairs (or something similar). Many people opt to move the pieces of their modular sofa around to make several different pieces of furniture in one space. You may have one long sofa and two small chairs. Or you may have two short sofas and an ottoman. This depends on the specific design of your modular sofa and the number of pieces it contains. These pieces may be set up in a circular fashion (facing each other) to facilitate group conversation or they may be set up in different parts of the same room to allow for different tasks to be completed in different areas of the space.

The great thing about the modular sofa is that you only have to buy one single item and you can have several different furniture options for your living room over time. This suits different events that you may have in your home and allows you to make design changes without added costs. All of the pieces will match so you can have a “set” of furniture without actually buying a set.

Modular Cabinets and Storage

Another type of modular furniture that I’ve often seen (and you probably have as well) is the modular cabinet, entertainment center or storage shelving unit. The standard example of this is the cube-based storage system. You buy the different cubes separately or as a set. You can then arrange them in a variety of different shapes, stacking them or laying them out horizontally next to each other into a design pattern that you prefer. You can add additional cubes if you run out of space for your items. Typically the same type of modular design may be used to create an entertainment center with the exception that is made up of differently-sized cubes, some elongated and large to hold items like a TV and others shorter and smaller to hold VCRs, game systems and DVDs. One great thing to note about the modular shelving unit is that you can always break it up into smaller units and place them in different parts of a room or house so if you decide to rearrange your storage system you won’t need to buy new shelving to do so.

Modular Home Accessories

Recently I’ve seen a trend towards modular design in home accessories as well. Lots of random things may be created with a modular design. Some examples of items that I’ve seen include:

o   Modular chalkboards. These are chalkboard tiles that can be placed together into one large chalkboard or taken apart to make smaller chalkboards. The large chalkboard is great for writing family messages. The small chalkboard option is great for writing a message to a single family member and putting it in their room for them to see.

o   Modular room dividers. Many people use room dividers to create separate spaces in large rooms. Modular room dividers allow you to make the room divider taller or longer as you see fit. If you get a modular room divider with different colors for the pieces then you can also create a great little work of art by putting together the divider in a way that appeals to you visually.

o   Modular headboards. There are some cool modular headboard designs that allow you to turn your bedroom into a little work of art. As with other modular items, you can add and remove pieces to make the headboard wider or taller or just different in shape.

o   Modular carpet tiles. These are carpet tiles that can be placed together to form carpets with a different design or color pattern. You can rearrange the tiles easily when you want, which is a great way to make a big change to the design of a space without actually having to pay out more money to make a change.

Have you seen any other cool home accessories that are made with a modular design?

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)