We are having an optional space built above our garage. They call it a carriage house, others call it a bonus room. It’s a nice space, sort of like a studio apartment. It has a room with a walk-in closet and bathroom attached. It has a small alcove for a built-in wet bar (ours will not have this, at least initially). In some plans, it has a walk out patio. We did not opt for this because we didn’t feel it would get proper use.
We didn’t have a clear plan for this room, but we knew it was way cheaper to add extra room now than it would be down the line. So we took our time deciding what we’d do with it. We thought a bit about using it for Matt’s office. It would work well for that since it would be away from the hubbub of the main house, but for now, it’s a bit too far from our kids who are home in the afternoons and are still pretty little and need some oversight. We also decided Matt and I having separate office spaces was a waste of space since I don’t work from home a lot. We thought about it as a guest room. That idea was nice too, but we didn’t really want to dedicate any one space for guests* since we don’t host people overnight very often and it seems a waste to pigeon-hole that much space to only be used for a few days every year. Others suggested it as a kids’ family room or a media room, but we’d rather keep those activities a bit closer to the main activity of the house.
Eventually, we hit on the idea of making it a workout room. A workout room makes a lot of sense for us because our lives have changed so much in the past couple of years and getting to the gym has become harder than ever. I used to make it to my bootcamp/crossfit gym 2-3 times per week. Due both to changes in my life and changes at the gym, I haven’t been there since August. I used to always get up early, workout and get into the office early, around 6:30. Now it seems that no matter what time I get into the office and whether or not I work through lunch or not, I can’t leave until at least 5, so that has become less appealing. Our evenings have become very consumed by kiddo activities, and basically, we find that the best time for us to workout is whenever we can manage it!
This has been the hardest room for me to figure out. I have a decent idea of what I want, but I really don’t want to spend a ton of money and I don’t want to do anything too permanent that would narrow the room’s focus in case we want to do something different with it later. So the compilation above is kind of what I have in mind. Colorful is the watch word. Looking around, I saw tons of home gyms that didn’t appeal to me because they were either trying too hard to look chic (read: chandeliers?!?!) or spa like (lots of moss green and Chinese characters on the walls). This is much more what we’re into.
- Don’t know if we’ll paint the walls, but I want some fun stuff up on them. Saw that great “Suck it up, buttercup” wall cutout on Etsy and I must have it! No “Breathe” or “Dedication” in my gym. Just fun.
- I want some of the elements of Crossfit that I liked the best. I want a cage for pull-ups and hand-stand push-ups and some still rings for rows and dips and some boxes for jumping around on and lifting me up to cage-height. The great thing about X-fit is that it’s a pretty grass-roots kind of workout and meant to be pretty cheap to furnish a gym by some great DIY – we’ll probably take that route. Eventually some kettle bells and weights would be nice.
- We already have our beloved treadmill that has over 1500 miles on it (most of them mine!!!) but one thing we’d really like to do is to be able to run together on the ‘mills and hang out (as though we’re on the road). We’d also like to have an elliptical or maybe a weight machine. This is all pricey stuff, so we’re making it our business to watch Craigslist and find some good deals. They are definitely out there.
- Two words: SMART TV. Actually, I don’t care if the TV is smart as long as I can get my Netflix, Amazon, Youtube and music through it. From yoga and workout videos to music and TV/movies to keep us going, this is essential for the space. And happily, these go on sale and/or show up on Woot regularly for not too much. We might also elect to just take the TV that was in our bedroom and do without in there – the primary reason we even had it there was for treadmill time anyhow!
- I’m not sure what to do on the flooring. Builder-grade carpet will be installed and I think I’ll be happy to leave it like that for the foreseeable future. We have some yoga mats we can put on top of the carpet for more padding. There are also some foam tiles designed to go over carpet that are pretty cool, but I don’t think I can part with the cash.
- Another thing I love about the idea of this space is the fact that I kind of get my very own locker room. When I workout in the early morning hours, I can shower and get ready there without going back to the bedroom to disturb Matt. It’s also just private for uninterrupted workouts.
Behind the kitchen, this is the space I’m most looking forward to in the new house. It’s 100% not necessary and also really exciting.
* We are not yet sure what we will do for guests. Likely, we will keep things as we’ve had them before, with our futon in the playroom. If we decide to finish out the basement at some point in time, we may opt to include a bedroom and bath specifically for guests, but that is a ways into the future.
Pretty neat. Best of luck whatever the room turns out to be!