The Lower Level Bonus Room Plan

The lower level storage room, what is it? It was always supposed to be the third bedroom, with some leftover space (all for resale value). Right now it's a large, unfinished room with mechanical equipment and the occasional spider. This season we are giving this room purpose. Here we go.

First up, what are the main priorities for this room? It's varied. We want to be able to work on messy projects in here, and the space occasionally needs to act as a comfortable guest room. Overall, we want this room to be flexible for the long term. So, let's get to the plan.

Try to take it all in.  We've got a guest room on the lower left with a murphy bed and closet. When not in use, it's just a wall of storage that doesn't take up square footage. The guest room is divided by a few sliding doors (shown in orange) on two tracks, so they can either be moved to form a temporary wall to create the guest room, or they can be rolled further up to become the doors to the supply closet, which leaves the guest room completely open. The right side has a house library, work space, and sitting area. Read, create, and relax. The upper left quadrant is a closed off mechanical room. Access is through a supply closet, which is going to house two rolling storage carts full of art supplies. 

So, our solution is to have a guest bedroom that disappears when not in use. This way we don't lose square footage for a space that will only get used a few times a year.  

So lets run through a few scenarios to see if this plan will meet our needs.

Can Tyler build a kayak in here? Yes. 

Unplanned house guest? Yes.

I bought a new book. Will it fit in the library? Yes.

In-laws extended stay? Yes. Technically it's all a guest suite.

Kids play room? Yes.

A place to watch tv when your spouse doesn't want to? Yes.

Future kid's bedroom? Yes.

Art studio? Yes.

Space to hang up lots of ideas or artwork? Yep, check out the wall o' inspiration.

Folks, I'm excited. When the snow hits, we are starting this.