Tuesday, July 14, 2009

You multi-task, so should your rooms


Double duty rooms

The largest house in America is in Asheville, North Carolina. It boasts 4 acres of floor space, 250 rooms, 34 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces. It was constructed over six years and was completed in 1895. It served as the family home of George and Edith Vanderbilt. He had created a country retreat where he could pursue his passion for art, literature, and horticulture. The home is still owned by family members, but it is open to the public as a luxury inn known as The Biltmore.
The average home size has nowhere near four acres of floor space. According to the National Home Builders Association, it is more like 2300 square feet. Most American homes don’t have an indoor pool, bowling alley, gym, or home theater, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t have those in your average-sized house. It just takes a little more creativity and perhaps paring down… a touch. Just like we have to multi-task in our lives, our rooms have to do double, sometimes triple duty, too. The difficult part is to insure that the marriage of functional areas can coexist without having to separate under irreconcilable differences.
Here are a couple examples of how the rooms in my home have done “double duty:”
The Laundry Gallery

Who says that an averaged-sized home in Fruita, Colorado can’t have its own art gallery? My children’s happy artwork keeps my new red, front loading washer and dryer, AKA “Thelma and Louise” company and staves of the drudgery of loading, folding, and ironing. I’ve collected inexpensive frames and given a place of honor to my kid’s creative creations. They love seeing their artwork framed on the walls and I don’t have a bunch of papers “cluttering” my refrigerator doors.
Not every art project goes in a frame. When they come to me with a new creation, we look at it with an art critics eye and we decide why it is good, how it is different from the twenty other drawings of Pokemon they have done and if it is worthy of an “art showing.” They learn to hone their art skills and I don’t go broke buying frames.

The Goffice

For a couple of years Secret Agent Man and I co-existed happily in the same office. When his “super secrety “ responsibilities changed from Operations Analyst to Acquisitions, it became clear that he would need a little more space and privacy.
If you are sneaky enough to catch a glimpse of his computer screen, what at first glance may seem like a harmless material requisition, is actually missile launch codes, doomsday scenarios, and other state secrets.
For weeks after being displaced from the office we’ve shared, I worked on my laptop in different corners of the house, but I needed a permanent space of my own to write my articles, blog, update my Facebook status and “tweet” with my “tweeps” on Twitter.
I recently set up my new digs in the guestroom. I bought a new desk and chair and moved it into the room next to my parent’s cerca 1970’s bedroom furniture.
I now call it, the guestroom + office or, "The Goffice."
Deciding on the furniture arrangement was not easy. I knew I wanted my desk next to the window so I could spy on the people in the park enjoy the beautiful view of the Colorado National Monument and the neighborhood park, but in order to do that, perfect placement had to be compromised (Note the bed partially blocking the closet door.) But, all in all, I am really happy with the result.
So, if you come through my neighborhood park, give me a wave and I'll “tweet” about what you are wearing and if you cleaned up after your dog.
Here are some tips on how and when, or when not to merge your rooms:
· Look at the areas of your home which are used the least and think about how they could be more useful. I go against the grain on what most lifestyle experts will tell you. They say that gone are the days of the formal living room and dining room. I disagree. Although, they are sparsely used, I love having two clean and quiet rooms to the left of the front door that are always ready to welcome unexpected guests. But, if this is not your style, perhaps add a desk to your under-used living room to give it more functionality. Perhaps it will attract more use if it had more bookshelves and better lighting to make it a home library. If you are lucky enough to have a formal dining room connected to your kitchen, but “formality” is not your style, I have seen that some families use it as a playroom for their kids. Having the playroom right off the kitchen makes it easy for mom to keep an eye on the kiddos while preparing meals and cleaning up.

· Do not ask your bedroom to be anything else but a bedroom. I visited home recently that had a TV, a computer, a sewing table, and a treadmill all in the same room! How do those people ever relax enough to sleep? You may know I’m a Feng Shui enthusiast and that ancient Chinese philosophy would teach you not to use your bedroom as a workspace or workout room, let it be a calming sanctuary, a respite from the world and nothing else.

· I love the idea of combining kitchen and office. The kitchen is already a hub of activity. It seems like a no-brainer to have your computer nearby. As a laptop user, having my computer in the kitchen with me when I cook is very helpful. I can quickly look up recipes or watch cooking demonstrations. During the school year, I could check the weather, headlines, and school menus while I prepared breakfast and lunches for the kids and never had to leave the kitchen. There’s no need to bring in extra furniture. I used counter space as my desk and a kitchen stool as my seat.

Perhaps I’ll never live like the Vanderbilts. My average-sized home, complete with “goffice” and art gallery are just right size for me, but whenever I dare to dream of living in a place like The Biltmore, an old adage comes to mind, “It’s a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to clean all those bathrooms.”

17 comments:

  1. Love the bowling alley. Now you just need a Pabst Blue Ribbon neon sign on the wall ;)

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  2. I love the Laundry Gallery and am aquisitioning that idea.

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  3. I'll move the treamill out of my room, but I won't take down the flat screen.

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  4. The bowling alley looks wonderful, great idea for a long hall.

    Art gallery, well hope you don't mind me coping. I love a great idea! Since I am decorating my new home. What a great place for kids art.

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  5. I also love the laundry room gallery and will probably make it my own.

    Not losing the TV, either. Sometimes insomnia strikes and Mr. Rugg doesn't want me out here on the computer when I should be in bed with him. :)

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  6. I LOVE the laundry room art gallery!

    I think you have started a trend here, miss Annie.

    If i had a guest room I would consider putting an office in there. Noting for later use.

    I do have my computer and the tv in the formal living room, because the family room/tv room are not yet finished :)

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  7. WOW! 2300 square feet is average? I'd love to have that extra 800 to 900 square feet!
    I don't have a good wall in my laundry room, but I think the kitchen/dining room wall would be a great place for art work.
    We have a small room just inside the front door (I mean TINY) that we made into a Library. There isn't a lot of floor space, but we lined all the walls with shelves and we have a couple thousand books in there.

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  8. I made a little put-put course in the basement for the kids. They love it. They think I am a cool mom, for now.

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  9. The Laundry Gallery is great! :)

    I love having a formal living room and dining room for the same reasons that you do! :)

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  10. Love the gallery idea! We live in an apartment so many of our rooms are multitaskers! I can't wait to have a house and be more purposeful about it.

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  11. I do have a TV in my bedroom, and I think I always will.

    Love the idea of the art gallery/laundry room. Very clever.

    Multitasking rooms is so innovative, annie. Love it. When I get home I will have to re-think many of my rooms, although soon all of them will be empty ; ((((

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  12. Bowling alley hall way = Good Idea. I seriously love it!

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  13. Cute idea for the kids' artwork!

    I have to have the tv in my bedroom so I can watch my "scary shows" A.K.A. Supernatural and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

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  14. When were you in my bedroom?!

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  15. Love the artwork idea, unfortunately nothing could spruce up the laundry, storage, furnace room, unfinished dungeon I have been banished too by the multi-tasking Gods.

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  16. Now *I* want a bowling alley!!

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