Room Layouts

This will probably expose me as a big fat geek, but I’ve been creating some of the rooms in Google Sketchup to see how we should remodel the new house once we’ve moved in. Yes, this is how I spend my free time.

So first up we have this awkward area next to the breakfast nook. There’s a fireplace but it’s not really centered in the room. The area isn’t big enough to use as a living room or TV room. It would have been perfect as a playroom if it wasn’t the first thing you saw when you entered the house. So we had the idea (OK, it was AJ’s idea) to make it into a library.

In our old house in Pasadena, we had a wall of books and I really miss having all my books out in the open – right now they’re in boxes in my closet. This is what it looked like (yay Ikea bookshelves):

I loved this room.

In the new house, we’re going to have built-in bookshelves put in. This is what I am envisioning:

Click on image to enlarge

There is only enough room for two small armchairs and a small ottoman/coffee table. I’m thinking this chair from Urban Outfitters:

I'm obsessed with turquoise right now. AJ is not sold yet, but he will be. HE WILL BE.

So yeah, as you can see, it’s sort of an odd little area. I think using it as a library will make it really nice (and my books will finally have a home again). Because of the carpet to tile transition between the library and the breakfast nook, I decided to have floating bookshelves rather than having them sit on the floor.

In the breakfast nook, there is currently no island – we are planning to have one built in to match the current counter and cabinets, with the counter extended so the boys can sit and do their homework while I cook. Plus it’ll give me more storage as the kitchen is a bit small. It’ll be my bar cabinet.

Click on image to enlarge

Anyways. Moving on…

We also want to have the office furniture custom built. This might be later down the line when we have money again.

The office is TINY (Click on image to enlarge)

The office, which is the smallest bedroom in the house, needs to serve as an office, guest room, and sewing room. But it’s the only room that can be the office because it is set away from the other bedrooms and faces the street in front of the house. AJ rents office space outside of the house, but he needs a place to pay bills and file documents and to work if he needs to be at home for some reason. So that’s his Mac on the right next to the window. I’m on the left with my nice big screen personal computer (so I can IM and read blogs all day) and my work laptop.

I really would have preferred to have the desk unit along the wall of the window, but there would have been no room for the sofa bed. In the image above, the closet is to the left, and the door is on the wall closest to you,which I’ve made transparent.

I was planning to put my sewing area inside of the closet (which is why my desk is on the left), but seeing how the room is so small, it might look too cramped (even though I’d have a curtain covering the sewing area when not in use). I’m not sure yet what I am going to do but I really do need a sewing area, and there’s no other place for it.

My idea for the sewing closet:

Click on image to enlarge

I designed this before I actually saw the house so it’s the only design that doesn’t take into account the actual dimensions of the space. Plus, given that my desk will be right up against the closet in the office, we’ll have to put the clothes rod (for when we have guests) on the right side rather than the left as in the image above.

So, what do you think? Any advice/words of wisdom? Other than “get a life”?

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