The useless room

[MOM21SON]

I need help.  Our house is very small.  We do not have a garage, just a carport with an attached shed.  The shed houses our washer and dryer.

There is a side door in the carport that we use to enter the house.  There is also and back door and a front door to the house.

When you enter the side door you are in a room, that most likely was a one car garage at one time.  It is one step lower than the floors in the rest of the house.  There is no other door, just a large framed opening and you step up into the living/dining area.

In the room now is a very large desk, a cedar chest and a small chest(bachelor chest)  And lots of junk. 

Up until about 6 months ago, we used it as a computer room.  However, we no longer have a desk top and no plans to replace it.

So, I need ideas to make the room useful.  It will be used as a entry way.  We are in the south so no need for a coat or boot rack.

Please help!  It is wasted space.  I have 3 walls and one window to work with.

[siamesecat2965]

Can you put up shelving and use it for storage?

[camlan]

Is there a space you are missing in your house? A library? A reading room? A place for a quiet morning cup of coffee? Home office? Craft/hobby room? Workshop? Space for the teenagers to hang out? Storage, as siamesecat mentioned?

What I'd do is look at everything you'd like to do in your home and figure out which activities would go best in your new-found space. Then figure out how to support those activities in that space--furniture, lighting, storage/shelving, soundproofing, etc. You could always close off the opening to the living room with sliding doors, or curtains, or, if you want to spend money, by building a new wall with a standard-size doorway.

[MOM21SON]

Ideally what I would like to do,  put up a wall with a door and close off the door to the outside.  BUT, then I would have to go out the backdoor, onto the screened porch and out that door into the carport shed to do laundry. I can see myself hating that real quick. 

I would close off the door to make it a new bedroom for DS, and use his minature room for storage.

[Black Delphinium]

Sounds like a great place for a chest freezer, if you care to have one.

[Lynn2000]

Ideally what I would like to do,  put up a wall with a door and close off the door to the outside.  BUT, then I would have to go out the backdoor, onto the screened porch and out that door into the carport shed to do laundry. I can see myself hating that real quick. 

I would close off the door to make it a new bedroom for DS, and use his minature room for storage.

A new bedroom sounds like a good goal. Any possibility of moving the washer and dryer into the house--in the room DS would vacate or somewhere else?

[MOM21SON]

Ideally what I would like to do,  put up a wall with a door and close off the door to the outside.  BUT, then I would have to go out the backdoor, onto the screened porch and out that door into the carport shed to do laundry. I can see myself hating that real quick. 

I would close off the door to make it a new bedroom for DS, and use his minature room for storage.

A new bedroom sounds like a good goal. Any possibility of moving the washer and dryer into the house--in the room DS would vacate or somewhere else?

I have dreamt of that for years.  Unfortunately it would be a HUGE plumbing/permit expense.

Maybe I could just quit doing laundry!  ha.

[Slartibartfast]

You say your DS's room is "miniature" - would it be possible to move some functions to the new room?  His current room could still be good for sleeping, changing, and storing clothes, but if you made the "useless room" into more of a hangout spot he might get the benefit of the extra space without giving up his privacy (which he would have to do if you had to walk through his room to get to the carport and/or do laundry).  Something like a comfy chair with a reading lamp near the window, a sofa (the kind you think is too ratty to keep in the house but your DH and your DS love - not that I know anyone with a sofa like that  ), a bookshelf, a small portable table good for homework while sprawling on the sofa or a laptop/tablet if that becomes part of the daily routine, a folding table good for doing laundry on (dump the clean basket on the sofa and fold it from there), etc.

Key to making the space comfortable would be to have good lighting, no drafts of hot/cold air coming in from outside (i.e. a good sturdy door to the carport), and maybe some funky curtains or a funky blanket to go over the sofa to add some character    It would also allow you to move some of the less sightly elements from the more public parts of your house (living room/parlor/den/whatever) and separate your living areas into "the one we keep looking good so we can have company" and "the one we let get messy and don't care as much if it looks lived in."

[MOM21SON]

I just asked DS what he thought and he is on the same page as you Slartibartfast!  He is looking at this http://www.qvc.com/LoveSac-5-piece-Double-Sac-wRocker-Base-&-Pillows-Search-Results.product.H195289.html?sc=H195289-SRCH&cm_sp=VIEWPOSITION-_-1-_-H195289&catentryImage=http://images-p.qvc.com/is/image/h/89/h195289.001?$uslarge$

[Slartibartfast]

I talked my parents into getting one of these (Google "video rocker" for other styles) and I used it pretty much non-stop until I moved away from home.  They're relatively inexpensive, don't take up much space, and they're easy to pick up and move around to vacuum underneath or arrange seating when friends come to visit.  They make them with all sorts of bells and whistles (places to plug in your iPod so the music plays out speakers behind you, seat-warmers, cupholders, etc.) but the basic ones work just fine!

[MOM21SON]

I talked my parents into getting one of these (Google "video rocker" for other styles) and I used it pretty much non-stop until I moved away from home.  They're relatively inexpensive, don't take up much space, and they're easy to pick up and move around to vacuum underneath or arrange seating when friends come to visit.  They make them with all sorts of bells and whistles (places to plug in your iPod so the music plays out speakers behind you, seat-warmers, cupholders, etc.) but the basic ones work just fine!

OHHH, I will show him these!  Thanks!

[mandycorn]

I just asked DS what he thought and he is on the same page as you Slartibartfast!  He is looking at this http://www.qvc.com/LoveSac-5-piece-Double-Sac-wRocker-Base-&-Pillows-Search-Results.product.H195289.html?sc=H195289-SRCH&cm_sp=VIEWPOSITION-_-1-_-H195289&catentryImage=http://images-p.qvc.com/is/image/h/89/h195289.001?$uslarge$

I have a love sac that I bought in college (just one of the round ones) and I love love love it! So nice for taking naps or snuggling up to read or watch tv. I haven't seen that new style, but I'm sure it's just as comfy as mine.

[Seraphim]

And now I want a Love Sack. I have never seen one of those before, but it looks awesome.

[AuntieA]

If it's going to be a "hangout" place, is there any way a standing screen/room divider can be placed to separate the DS area from the laundry sorting area? That would also give DS some sense of privacy.

[m2kbug]

It seems like a good spot to set up some comfy furniture, beanbags maybe, a TV, and the video games, and make that the kid's room or rec room for the family.  Then you also have an extra TV to avoid TV/video game wars.    Or make it a nice little living room or quiet room or clean room.  I always thought a separate living room (as opposed to family room) was wasted space until I had kids.  Then I thought how nice it would be to have a separate area for guests and not have to worry about messes, TV, or video games where the adults could hang out and the kids could do their thing.  Even to have a quiet spot to read or a separate space for crafting projects, so you don't have to put everything away so you can eat at the table would be nice or do a puzzle. 

Blocking view to the room with a room divider or building a wall with some pretty double doors or something could give you some storage space, and still allow your path to the wash. 

I would agree to move the washer/dryer to that room would be ideal, if the funds were there to do it.