Perhaps homeowners' biggest complaint - aside from never having enough time - is never having enough space. If you're one of the lucky ones blessed with an extra room in the house, and you can think of 101 uses for the space, a recreation room may be the perfect solution. From gaming room to media room to workout space to home office, your recreation room can become a multi-functional space suitable for the entire family.

"The beautiful thing about a recreation room is that at the end of the day, people can just close the door, and leave their games, projects or whatever they're working on until the next day," Champley said. Indeed, your recreation room can become your solitary escape from the rest of the house, whether it's for work or play. Below, Champley offers some tips for making the most of your space.

Australia native Karl Champley has been in the building trade business for more than 20 years and is a member of the Master Builders Association of New South Wales. He is also a Registered and Certified Housing Inspector in the United States. His award-winning homes have been featured in prestigious publications such as Better Homes and Garden and Vogue.

The trend in recreation rooms today, Champley said, is that they're used for just about anything. "Generally if you're talking about Manhattan or Los Angeles where real estate is expensive and homes are typically smaller, people are using those rooms for just about anything," Champley said. "Even in the Midwest, people are doing this as well. If they don't have a home office, the recreation room serves as an office." What trend comes in at a close second? Using recreation rooms for hobbies such as scrapbooking and sewing is the runner up. So how do you create a room suitable for more than one task? The answer, Champley said, is storage.

"I'm a big believer that people need to take as much as possible off the floor and get it up on the walls," Champley said. "The more floor space you have, the more you can utilize the room for so many things." Consider using bookcases, installing cabinets and using fold-out tables. "Try to rearrange everything so that it has a designated area," he said.

If you're designating part of your recreation room as a home office, for example, you may want to consider using a large wall cabinet that will hide your computer and office supplies when not in use. This way, you open up the space to more options when you're not working.

Champley recommends a soft, durable surface for recreation rooms, such as carpet. "In recreation rooms, you're usually on your hands and knees, so you want the surface to be soft," he said. A recreation room doesn't have to sport drab carpet. Instead, look to STAINMASTER® carpet and the many different fashion-forward carpet styles available to choose from; even with bright colors and stylish textures, STAINMASTER® carpet is known for its durability and stain resistance. So, if you spill coffee, or the kids go crazy with their finger paints, you have added protection with STAINMASTER® carpet's built-in stain resistant features. Champley notes that acoustically, carpet is preferable for a recreation room as well.

Multi-functional recreation rooms can be divided into different spaces or left open. If you're leaving the space open, Champley recommends using the same color and style of furniture throughout the space to create a more uniform look. If you choose to section off the space, bi-fold doors or curtains are simple solutions. Champley also said that the room can be divided by using area rugs and mats to signify particular spaces and create a distinct shape for the area.

Whatever the purpose of your recreation room, Champley offers this as food for thought: "When it comes time to sell your house, you want your recreation room to be able to pass as a spare bedroom or a family room." So keep the space open, clutter-free and multi-functional.