Multi-Purpose Guest Rooms E It Cozy Or Watchasmallt.V

S E C A P S E L B I X E L F RIGHT: This attractive cherry wall unit features lighted bookcases and hidden storage. When the bed is down, the Appeal cabinetry provides a cozy surround. Flex photos courtesy of ManhattanCabinetry.com Multi-Purpose Guest Rooms by Lisa Jensen WHAT MAKES YOU FEEL MOST WELCOME square-foot den into a home office, library and “This type of flexibility is one of our primary when you’re an overnight guest? I like being guest room. Built-in shelves surrounding the focuses in our current designs,” comments shown to a cozy, tucked-away room with a large double window are filled with magazines, Rob Phillips, home plan designer for Design bed dressed up in catalog linens and a down biographies, children’s books and photos. Basics. “Most of our new designs incorporate duvet, adjoining a full bath stocked with Next to a new top-notch sleeper sofa (mat- a flex room that can be used as a den, an fluffy towels and wrapped soaps. tress tested to ensure comfort!), we placed a office, a homeschool room or a craft room, Of course, before we built our new home, trunk-turned-coffee table that stores pillows on an everyday basis and also occasionally be I showed my guests how to yank open the 10- and bedding. My desk and computer sit on used as a guest room.” the opposite wall, next to a great reading year-old family room sleeper sofa, which usu- MAKING SPACE A PLACE – OR TWO ally spit out shriveled snacks from the last chair. The room can be closed off with One of today’s hottest new homebuilding slumber party, a balled sock and a plastic French doors. trends, the “flex” room appeals to homebuyers limb or two from a Polly Pocket™. I’m pretty thrilled with this space – and so is who want to make the most of every square When we built new, creating a comfortable my family. Everyone loves to read, study, work foot. Whether it’s in a bonus room, loft, den, guest room was foremost on my agenda. We or watch a small T.V. here. Guests have found top floor of a Cape Cod, or finished lower merged our street-facing, main-floor, 13 x 14 it cozy, private and convenient to our half bath. level – whether it becomes a home theater, 30 www.HerHome.com music room, home office or place to meditate locate it near the foyer or side entry of the “It’s great ambience for guests, and for – this personalized space can be designed to home, so they won’t have to travel through homeowners as well,” Hughes says. “It’s espe- lessen the chaos of daily life and accommo- other parts of your home to get to it,” advises cially nice over a fireplace.” date your changing lifestyle. Jennifer Pippin, a residential design specialist If you homeschool, you can connect your from Cornelius, North Carolina. THE PLUS? T.V. to the Internet. “Kids love surfing the Innovative and packed with surprises, today’s DETAILS MAKE THE DIFFERENCE Internet on a giant T.V., and parents love a flex room can offer perks that yesterday’s Not So Big House author and architect Susan bigger display screen for teaching,” Hughes overnight guests – as well as homeowners – Susanka promotes alcoves, which offer an comments. When parents are done browsing never dreamed of. “alternative space within a larger space.” A websites with kids and lessons for the day are sleeper sofa can be nestled beneath the eaves done, homework and learning supplies can be Want to hide a home office that looks “all tucked out of sight in built-in drawers. business?” Consider investing in multi-pur- of a low roofline in an alcove. Or, consider pose furniture. The Closet Re-Organizer adding an alcove in your flex room with a A futon, a Murphy bed or another bed wall unit from specialty furniture makers like Company in Toronto (www.ClosetOrganiz- built-in desk that can support your laptop and The Closet Re-Organizer Company or Modern er.ca) offers a revolutionary custom cabinetry a T.V. for guests. Add a small table with a Spaces, can keep floor space open when system that can incorporate a table, desk, chair or two for game playing, bill paying or you’re using your flex room for schooling, shelving, storage drawers and wardrobe space conversation over coffee. sewing or scrap-booking. – in every décor style. If the budget allows, barrel vault the ceil- The highlight of this system is an orthope- ing in your flex space for interest and a STILL MORE ALTERNATIVES dic, latex mattress that rolls out of the rear of tucked-in feel. Such a nook will offer family Gopal Ahluwalia, vice president for research the cabinet or shelf unit base with the touch members and visitors a special refuge. for the National Association of Home of a button – then disappears just as swiftly Whether you’re outfitting a home office or Builders, says the most popular spot for guest when it’s not needed. The multi-functional an “away” room – Susanka’s coin phrase for a rooms and flexible extra living space is the system can also house high-tech media more secluded quiet space – shelving on bonus area over a three-car garage. equipment or transform into a dining room. either side of a window seat and drawers below “It’s a great multi-purpose space,” he com- Based in San Francisco, design-and-build it provide practical and eye-appealing use of ments. “You can make it a playroom, a home firm Modern Spaces (www.ModernSpaces each square foot. Cantilever the seat out fur- office, or a media room – it can change as your .com) is the U.S. distributor for ip20, a Euro- ther to accommodate a twin-sized sleeping family grows. Teens especially like to hang out pean manufacturer of high-end, space-saving niche with a built-in mattress. Add over-sized in this area. And when you add a full bath, it modular wall components that can define a throw pillows to create a cozy study spot or makes a great guest room for the college work space, provide ample storage, and reading nook. student home on weekends, or a mother-in- include a contemporary wall bed system. Got books? Beyond building in a wall of law suite.” (You can search for plans with finished rooms over the garage by visiting You can easily cozy up a home office that’s shelves, you might also drop a shelf a foot or so down from the ceiling and encircle the HerHome.com/homeplans and checking used primarily for paperwork and personal “F.R.O.G.”) projects. A trunk that holds files can double room’s perimeter. If your ceiling height is as a coffee table. A computer can be rolled taller and space allows, add a rolling ladder High-tech media components including out on a cart, hidden in an armoire or closed for easy book access. Ensure plenty of natural surround sound, computer stations and wall- into a ready-to-assemble closet organizing light by adding transoms above shelves. mounted plasma screens can be added to this system. A sleeper sofa can be paired with a For guests, look for over-sized reading trendy bonus space. cushioned window seat that flips up to reveal chairs that transform into twin sleepers; add Such a room is a far cry from the sleeping linens, pillows and storage space for guests. two in your library, or combine one with your porch. Depending on where you live, this might be yet another option to consider – Phillips comments on the importance of window seat retreat. particularly if you love the sounds of crickets lighting in a guest room that doubles as a A home office, library or frequently used and wind chimes, looking at stars and enjoying work space. “High, transom-type windows hobby room can share a two-sided fireplace a light night breeze. or corner windows retain maximum wall with your family room – a perk your guests space for furniture placement, while reducing will love during brisk autumn visits or the Historically, a screened porch located on the chance for glare on computer screens. A Christmas holidays. the second floor above a ground-level veranda, the sleeping porch was a common place to combination of general and task lighting is In a media room, Grand Rapids, Michigan keep cool in the twentieth century. needed, and drama can be added with light- architect Eric Hughes notes that a wall-mount- ing accenting special ceiling details, ed plasma T.V. screen can “hide” behind one Today, including a sleeping porch in your a bookcase or a window seat. Incorporat- of VisionArt’s fine art prints. When the T.V. blueprint just might lend a little magic for ing a dimmer switch can create a soothing, is turned on, the specialty ink-sprayed canvas guests staying overnight during summer evening atmosphere for guests. I also suggest subtly rolls up into a customized months or in a climate which is warm year- including multiple access locations for hardwood frame. With a touch of a button at round – and become the perfect place for you data/communication wiring to allow for more the show’s end, the canvas elegantly drops to rejuvenate, too. than one furniture arrangement.” back down to conceal the screen. (Visit No matter which kind of space you create, “If it’s a home office that needs access for www.digitallyenabled.com and click on be careful.

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