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A hobby room is a dedicated space within a home designed for personal interests, creative activities, or leisure pursuits. It allows homeowners to have a private and organised area for hobbies such as crafting, gaming, music, fitness, or reading. Hobby rooms are often customised with specialised furniture, storage solutions, and equipment that suit the activity, ensuring a comfortable and functional environment.
Hobby rooms are most popular in countries with larger living spaces or strong DIY and leisure cultures. These include:
- United States & Canada – Many homes have basements or spare rooms used for gaming, crafting, or home gyms.
- United Kingdom – Garden sheds or spare bedrooms are often converted into art studios, woodworking spaces, or music rooms.
- Australia & New Zealand – Popular for sewing rooms, home bars, and outdoor hobby sheds.
- Germany & Scandinavia – Known for woodworking, model-building, and home libraries due to long winter months.
- Japan – Small but highly optimised hobby rooms, especially for gaming, music, and miniature collections.
In Singapore, where space is limited, hobby rooms are typically multi-purpose and compact. Some of the most common hobby room setups include:
- Gaming Rooms – With the rise of e-sports and online gaming, many Singaporeans set up gaming spaces with high-performance PCs, ergonomic chairs, and LED lighting.
- Music Studios – Soundproofed rooms for playing instruments, recording music, or DJing. Popular among musicians and music teachers.
- Home Gyms/Yoga Rooms – Given the compact nature of HDB flats, small workout spaces with foldable equipment, mirrors, and mats are common.
- Art & Craft Studios – Some homeowners dedicate space for painting, sewing, or DIY projects, often incorporating good lighting and storage for supplies.
- Mini Libraries & Reading Nooks – Book lovers convert small spaces into cosy reading corners with bookshelves and comfortable seating.
- Wine & Whisky Rooms – Enthusiasts sometimes transform a small room or a section of the home into a mini bar or wine cellar.
- Aquascaping & Fishkeeping Rooms – A niche but growing trend where hobbyists create planted aquariums with elaborate designs.
If you're looking to build a dedicated space for your hobby, this post is for you. These inspiring homeowners renovated their homes around their hobbies, working the space to incorporate their hobby seamlessly into the home's design:
Music Room
This homeowner turned functional sound proofing pads into cool design features by placing striped, white panels over them. The room was also kept to a white palette to help create the illusion of spaciousness.
Billiard Room
This games room was built around the impressive billards table and the space given a gentlemen's club look and feel. Wallpaper with a monochromatic mural above the wood panelling adds to the warm, cosy effect of the space.
Karaoke Room
If you love Hello Kitty, you'll be dying to have this room too. This homeowner converted her basement into a music and karaoke room and decked it out with Hello Kitty paraphernalia. How much they're worth? Well.. Definitely over a few thousands for sure!
Home Library
Wooden bookshelves, old-school armchairs; this homeowner gave their living room the look of an old English library with a modern twist.
Toy Figurine Display
To display his collection of Bear Brick figurines, this homeowner asked for a display shelf. The interior designer created a cut-out ledge within a concrete-look divider to create an edgy, urban-cool display shelf.
Shoe Collection
This homeowner found the safest place to keep her beloved collection of shoes: the bomb shelter.