For the living room of this retro ranch in Mandeville Canyon, Myers’ clients knew that they wanted an extra large L-shaped sectional for the family to lounge on. When Alan Koch bought this 1933 cottage in Portland, Oregon, he knew he’d be finishing the 600-square-foot attic sooner rather than later. 1- An extra room is perfect to be a closet room. This Old House has gathered its favorite basement and attic bonus rooms, as well as shed and garage conversions, three-season porches, and more, to help you get inspired to find that hidden space in your home. Sometimes the extra room you’ve always wanted is right under your feet. Draw a rectangle. Fold-back window shutters, pale flooring, and clear sight lines make the light-filled room feel much larger than it is. The small 1950s ranch suited its new owners, except for one thing. The new basement level added 915 square feet of living area and solved the moisture problem with perimeter drains and sump pumps. The left side has 2 double doors. There is an extra “room” that is 11-by-15 feet to the left of the main living room that currently has no purpose. Softer spaces feel much cozier and inviting so be sure you have plenty of upholstered pieces, too! “The look is classic, even a bit quiet, which contrasts with the house’s exuberant architecture,” Fallon says. The old farmhouse had dark rooms, dead ends, and no place to park the kids' boots. The number one complaint people have about their homes is that they just don’t have enough space. My living room is a living room/dining room combo. How to Turn a Reclaimed Beam into a Fireplace Mantel. Ask This Old House master electrician Heath Eastman explains the uses and purposes of different types of electrical boxes. But practical matters like layout, storage and lighting directly affect comfort, Turn your styling errors into successes with these solutions — and the help of a good designer, Identify your home’s purpose and style to make everything from choosing paint colors to buying a new home easier, Find out how different hues can nurture sensitivity, counter restlessness and encourage confidence in children, The little things can make a big difference in improving the way your home feels, If you’re just starting out in a new place, consider these furniture options that you can take with you to any new home, Fit all your work surfaces, equipment and storage with comfortable clearances by keeping these dimensions in mind, These methods of cooling your home and its occupants are cheaper and kinder to the planet than running the A/C. For one Southern California family, a garage renovation evolved from a casual playroom for their two young kids to a well-appointed media room geared just as much to grown-ups. Now, everyone wants to spend the night in their little backyard gem! Homeowner Susanne Hudson, a garden designer, snagged the five 11-foot-tall finds for $90 each at a flea market years ago and recently put them to use to define her Douglasville, Georgia, deck like enormous white pickets on a fence. Saved by Libby Oehrlein. With its prime location overlooking the yard, a porch offers the perfect place for serious relaxation in mild-to-warm weather. That’s not a problem with one of these compact, ultra-efficient units that heat water as you need it. But when the dust (and fiberglass) settles, you'll enjoy a fatter bank account and more comfortable indoor temps year-round. The Boughtons in Brooklyn, Mississippi, inherited a sad, lonely shed when they moved into their home. The rustic-looking family room is now a gathering spot for their daughter and her friends. If you had the luxury of a spare room, what would you use it for? You may be tempted to push furniture up against the walls in a long, narrow living room to open up the space, but the effect will only highlight the shape of the room, making it feel … Room corners are overlooked and underutilized in a lot of homes. Her husband, John, who was already planning to replace the roof and siding, took up the challenge. Talk about a champagne problem! Hung from rails set atop corner posts, they enclose a 16-by-16-foot deck, giving it the elegant air of a glass-lined conservatory. But they were also saddled with a dark front entry next to a front room that served as an ad hoc mudroom, and a “treacherous” narrow staircase. 4. Make the most of your floor space by having specific living room corner furniture. My living room is very narrow. please help, Brighten a room and clean the air with a houseplant that cascades artfully, stretches toward the ceiling or looks great on a wall, Bye-bye, 2020! But how to get it when the first floor was jammed with the kitchen, living and dining rooms, the home’s sole bathroom, and two tiny bedrooms, one soon to be a nursery? While the ceiling was low, it wasn’t too low, and moisture—that bane of basement remodels—wasn’t a problem. Home Decor. Sometimes in the search for more living space there’s no place to look but up. The previous owners had put a pool table in there (as seen in the pictures). Use a screen as a movable wall to break up a long expanse of wall and separate the rooms. John gutted the apartment, cut holes for three new windows, stripped the plaster off the walls, and finished the ¬exposed lath inside with a dark stain and polyurethane. That’s what Matthew and Darci Haney found while renovating the three-room upstairs space in their Carlton, Oregon, cottage. Friends come in through the front door and are escorted to the family room, bypassing the formal living room all together. “Since we planned to stain it green and barn red, I used pressure-treated lumber, along with a metal roof and composite decking,” Carl says. Given the house’s small lot and strict local zoning laws, Brewster sketched an addition in the only spot it could go: above the attached, unheated garage. The living room is awkward. It’s a nice large space but I just have no idea what kind of furniture to put in there and how to arrange it. Carpet Selection: Durability, Weight, Style, 15 Simple Ways to Create an Open Floor Plan. Over the winter months, Karl Jungbluth in Boone, Iowa, designed this 12-by-6-foot screened-in room to use standard lengths of lumber with very little waste. Guests can hang a left to check out the wine cellar or plop down on a sofa facing the stone fireplace and a TV. Swathi Anup, if you're into reading, I'd suggest a little entryway reading area: bookcases that are warm and inviting, a really cozy armchair, a lamp, and maybe a small table with flowers. An industrial table with stools is good to have if you plan to work on long projects, too. From the average cost and building options, to fitting windows and doors and building materials, read our guide to garden room … Architect Darren Helgesen incorporated that spirit in this attic redo at a century-old house in East Hampton, New York, where he used warm finishes and smart details to turn the dark, sloped-ceilinged space into a shipshape two-bedroom suite. 36 Home Design Trends Ready for Takeoff in 2021, 10 Ways to Add Warmth and Personality to Your Bathroom, 8 Things Interior Designers Want You to Know, 10 Easy Ways to Give Your Entryway and Front Yard a Holiday Boost, Porch Decorating Ideas for Thanksgiving to New Year’s, 10 Common Decorating Mistakes and How to Fix Them. Whether it is for that favorite morning routine of a cup of tea & the newspaper, some Yoga, stretching & meditating, or simply a refreshing game of billiards to recharge your batteries after a long day at work, an extra living-cum-recreation room with comfy furnishings like a cushy sofa, some floor cushions & … A great way to visually … That leaves you with a wasted space that can cost a mint to decorate. Mistake #1 Not being strategic about where you locate this room in your floor plan. Why add on when you can add under or over? “Green, brown, and white, the natural colors of patina in a garden, are a built-in color scheme,” she says. In a small house, every bit of space needs to work hard, as homeowners Samantha and Bryan Langdeau soon realized after buying their 1,200-square-foot Cape in Waterbury, Connecticut. “And now it’s the ultimate sleepover space.” Snug built-ins with below-bed storage, roof windows, pine flooring, and lots of glossy beadboard opened up the attic and made it more functional. The new basement level added 915 square feet of living area and solved the moisture problem with perimeter drains and sump pumps. At 700 square feet, it could be a seven-person ¬office, she figured, but “I wanted it to feel open, like a loft, with lots of light,” says Beth. If you’ve already decided your sitting room’s layout and have an empty corner, it’ll be easier to fill the space with occasional furniture, like a single chair and side table. We deal with what to do with extra living room space day, ” she says functions and design to... 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