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S/o Movie Room Thread—What extra room would you want?


Carol in Cal.
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I was thinking about my friend’s movie room/man cave area, and mused that if I had an extra room or extra little complex of rooms, that’s not what I would use it for.

Either I would have a large entertaining area—like in older Victorian houses.  A huge dining room (dining hall?) leading through a big wide doorway area into a huge living room, with fireplaces and several conversation areas, that could be pushed back for dancing.  Or I would have a large British-looking library, with a fireplace, window seats, floor to ceiling bookshelves, cozy loveseats by the fire, and velvet drapes, appended to a large private office with a carved ceiling, computer and standing desks, and a Sheraton writing desk; as well as lawyer bookshelves.

People who know me would be surprised that I wouldn’t pick a weaving room, but actually I like to weave near other people, and so while it would be nice to have some sort of dust free display closet for all. My. Yarn., I wouldn’t dedicate a separate room to it.

What about you?  What would you have?

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That sounds lovely!

I would like room to have a sit down dinner for at least twelve and a space to store dishes and such.  (Is that a butler's pantry?)

I love our house but I wish entertaining were easier.  I have to really get creative with what I serve and how I prep.

Eta: how could I forget?  I want a second bathroom!!!

Edited by happi duck
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A fourth bedroom.

As DH gets older and his snoring gets worse, I'm tolerating it less and less.  I wish I had someplace to go where I could sleep.  Maybe someday I'll be using one of the kids rooms for that, but for now I go to the living room couch, which works until DH gets up to go to work.

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In a fantasy world, I’d love a library or study filled with books.

In the real world in my tiny house I’m torn equally between two rooms:  a mudroom or a pantry.  My house is tiny.  You walk directly from outside into the tiny living room and there is no where to put shoes or coats or all the odds and ends that are best kept in mudrooms.  People always bottleneck at the door because it’s all just so small.  

I have to keep my food in three different places because the kitchen is so small:  some food is in the basement, some is in the dining room in a sideboard, and some is in the kitchen.  

So...a well-designed mudroom with storage or a large walk in pantry with shelves and drawers and places to stock cleaning supplies and small appliances.  

 

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5th bedroom/guest room on main floor for guests/elderly parents/sick family (surgeries, etc...)

Hang out room for kids large enough for a pool table, some round tables for playing games, a lounge area for TV watching/video game playing

Sewing room where I can leave my stuff out for the many months I don't touch it but don't want to put it away! 

Outdoor TV/lounge area with a grill, a bar with a fridge, all overlooking the pool, 

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I've been thinking about this a lot because we've downsized.  I would definitely have a multi-purpose room .  I like the library idea, but I'd want it to also be a weaving room.  

right now my loom is in the TV room.  It's too small to hold a couch/tv and my macomber loom and weaving supplies.   

My plan is to enlarge the space... once we have money to do so.

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We have all the rooms I want, but what I really wish for is a house with an attached barn. I could just open a door and be right there in my horse barn, and I wouldn't have to walk outside to do chores if the weather was bad. That would be heavenly.

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26 minutes ago, Selkie said:

We have all the rooms I want, but what I really wish for is a house with an attached barn. I could just open a door and be right there in my horse barn, and I wouldn't have to walk outside to do chores if the weather was bad. That would be heavenly.

 

When we had horses and livestock I wished for this too but it would have to be a rather thick / well insulated door to keep the hay dust out - as much as that is possible.  🙂

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When my children were little, I used to think it would be nice to have a gym. A nice wooden basketball court that could be used for all sorts of indoor games, would be a great place for messy crafts, and would be fun for having neighborhood kids over. And then we could fill it with tables when we had parties.

I am not an athletic person at all, but I thought that would be a great multi-purpose room.

There is a $1 million dollar house not far from us that has a fabulous pool room with a vaulted, wooden beamed ceiling. So beautiful, and fun for parties. I enjoyed looking at those pictures over and over and dreaming. But just a dream. Plus, the rest of the house was nothing special and actually needed some updating.

Edited by Storygirl
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I'd have a dedicated dog grooming room. It would have a large tub for bathing with niches or adjacent shelves for holding shampoo and conditioner, room for a grooming table with plenty of clearance all around it, built in cabinets and drawers for storage, lots of electrical outlets and good lighting. And hard flooring for easy cleaning, of course.

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1 hour ago, PrincessMommy said:

I've been thinking about this a lot because we've downsized.  I would definitely have a multi-purpose room .  I like the library idea, but I'd want it to also be a weaving room.  

right now my loom is in the TV room.  It's too small to hold a couch/tv and my macomber loom and weaving supplies.   

My plan is to enlarge the space... once we have money to do so.

Right now my loom is in a room off of the great room that has a wide doorway with no door, so it's sort of in but not of the great room.  That's ideal from my perspective--not tempting enough to be messed with, but not isolated.  There are also windows on three walls in that room, looking out into pine trees and a big, gorgeous dogwood, which plays into my elaborate childhood fantasies of living in a tree.

I also have a table loom warped up and right in the great room at present.  Even more accessible.

Mostly what I lack is great yarn storage.  And reed storage.  Reeds are my decor nightmare.  I've actually thought of looking for an old gun cabinet to store them in, but those are very expensive because of the security features.  

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My top extra room would be a library (instead having bookshelves on every available wall in every room and hallway, plus a place to read in peace and quiet that's not a bedroom).  Second would be a storeroom (instead of putting things in the non-climate controlled garage/attic).  Third would be an exercise room (instead of putting the exercise equipment in the non climate-controlled garage).  Fourth would be a hobby room (a place for dh's trains and such that's not the non-climate-controlled garage, and a place for kid creations that's not the dinner table or the floor of their bedrooms).

Really, except for the library, what I want is a basement.  Our previous house had a finished basement with a storeroom and plenty of room for exercise equipment and kid/adult hobbies.  But there's no basements here, and the size of house to match having a full basement is ridiculously huge and expensive.

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Another bedroom in this house. Really, two would be even better as I have one kid living in the computer room (not a legal bedroom) & I'd like to be able to separate the boys someday. In five years, my needs will likely be different.

I know my dd#2 wants an art studio with lots of windows. Dd#1 has always wanted a secret room adjacent to her bedroom where she can slip away to read & not be bothered. Ds#2 would want a "maker room" where he could build & store his projects without me making him clean up. So, basically, he wants a workshop (is that a man cave?).

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Library/office. In my fantasy world, only a library, but in real life the “office” space on this house is in our bedroom, which I feel is less than ideal. Also I bang my hip into the desk either going to bed or going from my bed to the bathroom at night at least twice a week, so there’s that.

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Why I don't want an exercise room:  I like to exercise outside.  And it really doesn't get cold enough here for that to be completely impossible for more than a few weeks per year if you can adjust the time of the day for it.

What I want instead:  I'd like a large white awning, maybe 12 by 12 or so, with rolldown, clear plastic sides, set up on a wooden platform.  This would mean I could exercise outside but out of the sun whenever I wanted to, protected from the rain.  I could have the breezes blowing through, or not.  It would have natural light.  What I would keep there would be my old Healthrider (similar to a rowing machine), a cabinet of barbells and leg weights, an exercise 'table' that is thickly but firmly cushioned for floor work, (because I know that although I can currently get down onto the floor and get back up again, the time is coming, alas, when that second part might not be possible), and a place to put a pitcher of water and a big glass to drink it from.

Ideally there would also be a nearby hot tub.  Hmmm.  Maybe skip the exercise tent and just get a hot tub.  Hmmm.

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5 hours ago, Seasider too said:

 

Sounds like you want a yurt. 

Actually I want a yurt PROPERTY, which is a very different thing.

But for exercise, the point of the structure was to be able to see out at all times.  Yurts are opaque.

And here is the yurt PROPERTY.  It has a large yurt gathering room.  It also has a yurt treehouse bedroom.  And it has a floating yurt on its own pond.  In addition, of course, to the large, comfortable house with inlaw quarters also on the premises.  Check it out; it's remarkable.  http://twobearsdancing.info/property-brochure-2/

 

Edited by Carol in Cal.
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We’ve done a major downsize.  It’s fine for now, but if and when ds ever marries and he and his wife have some grandchildren for me, I’d like a third bedroom (our condo has 2 BR/2BA).  The one thing I really miss is having a laundry room.  Our condos don’t have in-unit washers and dryers, though there are several on-site within our complex.  In fact, it is fewer steps from my bedroom here to the community laundry room than it was from the MBR to our laundry room in our last house.  But, it’s still a pain, and you can’t do laundry in your bathrobe..  Dh knows I don’t like it, so he does all the laundry now.

So, I’d wish for a third bedroom and a washer and dryer - stackable in a closet would be fine!  

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29 minutes ago, Seasider too said:

 

Wow that’s quite a property!

I was thinking you could roll up the sides of a yurt. Maybe what I had in mind is a platform tent?

Adding the link because maybe you want to order one.😁

https://www.coloradoyurt.com/tents/the-basics/

This is a brilliant idea, actually.  Mine was much more mundane.  I was actually thinking of one of those craft fair booth tents, the kind where you have a roofing thing that lets light through but not actual sunshine, and has detachable or roll up sides.  That platform tent is much more hefty, and I imagine that it would last longer.  A little dark, maybe.  But it’s so inviting.  Probably too nice for exercise equipment in the back yard though.  No, this would be for back yard glamping when the house is hot in the summer.  (We don’t have appreciable quantities of mosquitoes here, so open air like that would work just fine.)

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I have a long, long list, lol. If I ever get the land I want, I think I’m just going to have an entire auxiliary building! 😉 

One of the more unusual things I want, though an average basement could easily suffice (but I wanna make it pretty!) is an elaborate food storage room. I try to keep a decent emergency food supply of a couple months for a family of 6-7, but it’s HARD in a small house!

And I don’t have a basement, so that’s on my list, too, lol. We spent time last night in the hallway because of a tornado warning. It’s a tiny hallway!

 

 

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20 hours ago, happysmileylady said:

The house we are in has exactly the rooms I want.  A play room for the kids, a sun room in the back (they call it a Florida room) and an extra room that I primarily use for crafts.   I honestly can’t think of an extra room I would want beyond that.  

 

ETA. I do wish the kitchen was larger but in terms of actual rooms it’s great.  

Same. We've moved enough times that when we bought (well, built, but from a stock floor plan, not custom) this house, we knew what we were looking for/needed. We bought this house intending it as our "forever home" so we took time to get it right. 

We have all the bedrooms we need, bathrooms, computer room, movie/tv room, game space/sewing space.....I'd like the dining room to be a smidge bigger (or find a smaller table that still fits the numbers we need at holidays), and one of these days I may flip the computer space and sewing space, because then I could add a door and have at least a shot at a cat-free sewing area, but otherwise this house perfectly suits our needs, and should for a long, long time.  

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5 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

I have a long, long list, lol. If I ever get the land I want, I think I’m just going to have an entire auxiliary building! 😉 

 

 

 

I actually have an auxiliary building plan myself.

A vacant lot just two lots away from our cabin came onto the market.  I figured we could buy it for cheap (hah) and just put up a big garage there--the kind with doors on both ends that you can tow in and out of, for a truck (that we don't yet own) and a boat (ditto) (A girl can dream.).  

The realtor is a friend of ours and clued me that the county does not issue permits for just garages anymore, because folks were building them and then living in them, in unsafe and/or unsanitary conditions.  So we would have to build a house as well.  OK, I thought, what would we love to have at the cabin that would lend itself to this project?  And I figured it all out.  It starts with the two level garage--since the lot is an upsloping one.  So the ground level would be the pull through garage as previously described, but with two parallel paths through it.  And then above that, and large in footprint because it would start at the same spot but be further up the slope would be a big wood and metal machining shop for DH, with room and power for big tools and also a well lit bench area for tying flies for flyfishing.  That would look and function like a basement for the next owners.

A level above that would be bedrooms and a bathroom.  The bedrooms would have storm windows set up to capture the prevailing winds, and since they would be sandwiched between the basement and the upper floor they would be cooler on hot summer days than the ones at the cabin.  There would also be a master bath and another bath.  The master bedroom would be set up as a bedroom for us to use on very hot nights, as would one of the others, for guests, and the third one would be available to be a bedroom for the next owners but would be used for yarn storage.  Yes, the whole thing. 

Then the top floor would have a kitchen, half bath, large, tall great room, and library.  While we used it, the kitchen would be for dyeing fiber and messy craft projects involving paint.   There would be a long plastic table in there for warp painting. The great room would have windows looking down through the pines into the valley/sunset, and would have my weaving looms, a flat screen TV to play movies, disguised with a tapestry, and comfortable couch/loveseat area for watching or planning.  It would also have a big table or desk for drawing or planning or staging things, and for cardmaking and bookbinding projects, and a built in bookshelf for equipment.  A small closet would hold my big collection of tablecloths, nicely hung up for wrinkle free storage, and my reeds.  The library room would have floor to ceiling bookshelves and a library ladder, and a big natural granite boulder fireplace with a visible granite boulder chimney.  There would be an office area there, with a large computer desk and some drawers for supplies.  There might also be a cabinet with free weights and a stashable exercise mat, a big one.  I like having that kind of thing available but don't like it to be visible.  I would not need a treadmill or other aerobic machine because just walking around up there is aerobic enough.

Up the hill out back there would be a large barbeque grill built of indigenous granite rocks, and a little gazebo with screens all around it with a daybed and a bistro dining set.

Hence we would have all the functions we lack in our current cabin, in a structure that could easily be changed back to a 'normal' house if we needed to sell it.

Figuring this out was super fun.  Now to win the lottery so we could afford it!
 

Edited by Carol in Cal.
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I would have a giant studio/gym room, with a dance floor, matted martial arts floor, sprung tumbling floor, and small basketball court.

We could add on a couple of bathrooms, bedrooms and a kitchen and that would be my family's dream house.

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I want a BIG studio/classroom, with an outside entrance and attached bathroom and sibling/parent room (with a 2 way mirror or closed circuit TV so parents can watch, but my students can’t see/hear them) where I can be set up for Piano lessons, group music classes, academic tutoring, and homeschool clubs and avoid bringing the mess into my house or having to keep my home ready for outsiders. 

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5 hours ago, rebcoola said:

We have a lot of bonus rooms now that work well for our stage of life.  A movie room, game room, and a school room/library.  But what I want a Winebrary a library - slash wine cellar!

When we were looking at cabins, there was one that had a wine closet.  It was very long and narrow, and had wine racks from floor to ceiling.  It was on the ground floor and had no outside walls, so the climate control system was never really stressed.  

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Honestly, I don't think I really want a bigger house. Ours is sufficient and very cozy/comfortable. But I suppose some of that is related to finances, so...if that didn't matter, I'd like a guest room with it's own bath--mainly for our adult kids to have when they visit. And I'd like a library/music room with some comfy seating, lots of windows, and maybe a corner nook where I could put a nice treadmill without its being too blatantly in the way. 

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Library/music room. Which is the plan for my current house. We have two living rooms and right now my mom and I each get one. Down the road, I want to turn mine into a library (which it almost is anyway), maybe put in a baby grand piano, and house some other instruments. 

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We just bought a house that is just under 3000 sqft and it has all the rooms I wanted/needed. First floor master so my parents could move in with us. An electronics free room that houses are books, boardgames, art supply with a table to do them on, and a second table to play board games at. It has a living room, computer room, huge laundry room with utility sink, and 4 additional bedrooms upstairs (one of which is our playroom/guest room.)

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16 hours ago, rebcoola said:

We have a lot of bonus rooms now that work well for our stage of life.  A movie room, game room, and a school room/library.  But what I want a Winebrary a library - slash wine cellar!

 

We saw one house that had some space in the basement that was unfinished.  The owners had turned it into a winery of sorts......they made their own wine in there!  

I have no idea how you make wine, but I thought it was cool.

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This is our "wish list" for the new house.

1. A place to put a pool table

2. A place to have a theater room, although it could be the same space as the pool/rec room, it will have surround sound (because we already have it not built in, so we will take it with us). It won't be a sound proof room, but unless the house already has it, I doubt we will put one in.

3. Outdoor pool is a must for me.  I would love a bathroom or "wet room" off the pool so kids don't drip through the house at all.

4. Downstairs bedroom with full bath for guests/parents

5. oversized extra garage for DH's wood working tools

6. storage (lots of it). This current house has it in the basement and it is great

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13 minutes ago, Terabith said:

Are hot yoga rooms in residences a thing in California?

They are uncommon but are popping up here and there.

Alert readers may well ask why I, a Californian, did not include this in my fantasy auxiliary cabin.

It is because having considered this carefully, I have concluded that:  

1.  I am much more likely to injure myself than benefit myself by assuming most yoga positions that I have seen.

2.  Yoga out here is becoming increasingly a spiritual practice, which is inconsistent with my faith.  Although it started as 'just the moves', which were beneficial for many and which I see no spiritual harm in.

3.  Hot tubs are more suitable for me than hot yoga rooms.  So if I did the fantasy auxiliary cabin, I would add a hot tub to the deck or back area of our existing cabin, because I figure we would not need the entertaining space in the back as badly if we had the aux.

There used to be a trippy CA cuisine restaurant in South Lake Tahoe that had private hot tubs available for guest to use after dinner.  Each one had it's own tall redwood booth with no ceiling.  They were absolutely awesome--sitting in a hot tub while being snowed on after a fantastic meal is just heavenly.

Edited by Carol in Cal.
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A workshop for DH

 

A gym would be awesome!  Maybe with padded floors!

 

A pantry 

 

A utility closet

 

A mudroom.  Our entryway setup is terrible.  We're actually in the process of turning an unused room into a mudroom/foyer/extra pantry storage/etc., and it will be lovely when it actually is done. 

 

(We have a schoolroom, and I do have a craft room.  It is tiny, but it is all mine, and DH built me custom built-in shelves and tables.  The only thing it is really lacking is a little more storage space.)

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