Design Mavens of DL, help me, please!

"Library/office" was the first thing that occurred to me. OTOH, I have always preferred a non-basement laundry room. You can keep your books in one of the bedrooms or the living room. I vote laundry room.

You could convert it into the half bath laundry room, which would let your guests go to the bathroom without having to go upstairs into what's considered a more private area of your house. But based on the floor plan, I would say that the space lends itself to an office, a place to keep a desk / books / papers, even though it is rather small.

I don't like the idea of first/second floor laundry rooms. Something goes awry there you have the potential for serious water damage. At least in the basement, the cement floor won't be ruined. Basement floor laundry areas are usually sloped to a drain in the floor, so if there is an accident the water runs to the drain and not to any finished part of the basement.

And since you already have a den/office in the basement, I vote to leave it as a breakfast nook.

BTW: Nice sized bedrooms in that house, OP. Good luck.

A laundry room / mud room next to the back entrance sounds very practical. OTOH, I do like breakfast rooms where you can sit down and have your meal without going into the dining room, especially if you eat alone.

I would turn it into an office - library space OP. A room where you can keep your computer, where you can spend some time by yourself reading a book or listening to some music.

Are the exterior walls insulated? If not I wouldn't put book shelves on the exterior walls. Books tend to suck up dew point moisture and easily can become mouldy.

It's a simple, but functional floor plan. Depending on solar orientation and size of the lot, I would add some sun room to the building, extending the living room and kitchen area.

If you have dogs it's a perfect place for a mud room/wet dog holding zone

To poster above - I believe this is the FRONT or main entrance. The nook should be a vestibule, boot room, place to receive guests and also deliveries, etc. Put a table to put things on temporarily until they are sorted into your spaces. Put some plants that will like the light at that front window. Its odd to enter a house directly into a kitchen. Change the direction the door swings so when you open the door you see the welcoming nook. If you live in a place that has a cold season, turn it into a proper room, as a cold break, and open the front door into it and create another door to get out of it into the rest of the house.

R5, Yes, the exterior walls are insulated, it's a semi-attached townhouse condominium in a planned development, so I don't own any land, no additions possible. Yes, this is the front of the house, the room is off the front entrance, I know it's probably hard to see in the plan. If you click on the link, it shows larger. I suppose a mudroom area is something I hadn't thought about, that could work. It's slightly awkward not having a powder room on the main floor, but guests can go down one flight to the half bath or up one flight to the hall bath. Changing the door swing is an interesting idea. Maybe pantry/mudroom since the kitchen is small? I was thinking of taking down the back wall to open up the stairway to the lower level, so I don't know how easy it would be to do closed storage.

OP, I don't know how often you have people around while you are cooking but since the kitchen is so small, I would put a small 2 stool Bistro table in that area and maybe a comfortable chair and end table in front of the window. That way when you are cooking people won't be under your feet.

If that isn't a concern for you, I might just go with a wall of storage cabinets along the common wall, you can never have enough storage.

Last option might be to make just a huge kitchen, problem with that is your front entrance is in your kitchen, but people love large kitchens.

It's in the front of your unit; therefore, it should be a cozy office/library/reading nook. Anything else would just be awkward.

How about a telephone chair, and a nice crock to hold your pencils?

I really don't care what you do, as long as you find a way to work "Tear down that BITCH of a bearing wall and put a window where it OUGHT to be" in a discussion with your contractor.

I will certainly try to, R12! R9, I kind of dismissed your idea of creating a larger kitchen at first, but after thinking about it some, I think running base cabinets around the perimeter of the room and then upper cabinets on the long wall, it would become a butler's pantry/mudroom. Maybe a secondary sink under the front window and I'd have room for some extras like a wine refrigerator. I could then remove the wall between the dining area and the kitchen, which is kind of pointless anyway. Thanks for the idea.

A daybed and a twink.

Another vote for library

Big kitchen - make it happen!

If funds were unlimited I would completely flip the the floor plan and put the kitchen in the rear and the living room in the front, but that would be totally cost prohibitive. With a family room in the basement you don't need a large living room.

Library.

Large walk-in closet/pantry.

or glory hole room

it is perfect for a glory hole room if you can open the front door into the room and create a door out of the room into the hall. Your gentleman callers can just stay in that room. Don't forget to have shutters or shade for the window. Enjoy.

If it is big enough, use the nook as the eating area and use the dining area as living space so that the kitchen is more social to the living space. You could maybe extend the countertop to create bar seating as well.

I will see if I can work the glory hole situation into a standing pantry or something! The space is only 6' x 10' so it really can't accommodate a full-size dining table. R17, I agree, that could be interesting, especially since the views at the back are totally private, but I'd never see a return on the investment.

Mudroom

OP, where are your washer / dryer now? Basement? Agree with R2 that it would be good to have a guest bathroom on that floor so that guests don't need to go into more personal spaces. However, seems like you already have 2.5 bathrooms.

IMO, if you made the nook into an eating area, it would be a dead space.

I vote for a full-on mudroom / transition room where you can hang coats, store shoes, put delivery boxes down until you're ready to mail / open them.

Is that a fireplace in the living room? What's that thing across from the couches, near the plant?

Hooks. I'd put hooks around the walls and make it a coat closet for coats, umbrella, shoes, boots. All of those things that get stuffed in an entrance closet.

If you don’t create a library you’re a Philistine.

I wish I had a nook.

Mud room, coat closet, mail dump, entry — you know, a nook.

If you have the money, rip out the kitchen and use the combined present kitchen/ nook area as a new kitchen open to the dinning/living area. Downside is you’d enter the kitchen space, but you basically do anyway.

Yes, R24. That is a funky fireplace in the living room. The floorplan is just an illustrated idea of what the builder thought would work in the space. At the moment, nothing is there. Laundry is in the basement in a semi-finished space that will need some upgrading. There is a coat closet under the stairs right now, a little hard to see.

OP, what will you be doing with the 2nd bedroom? Guest room or family member? I'm asking because I'm trying to figure out if you need space for a computer room / library. If you have plans for both bedrooms (aside from being computer room / library), then I'd say make the nook into a computer room / library.

You could also put a computer / library in the living room between the fireplace and the stairwell.

Second bedroom will be a guest room primarily. I have a lot of books, so they're probably going to be in every room except the kitchen. I don't have a need for a desktop computer, I use a laptop at home.

Where’s your sewing room?

Do you have a doll collection? You could put it in there. If you don't have a doll collection you could start one. Ok hope that helps.

Everyone needs a gift wrapping station.

OP, is there any kind of view from that nook?

Is it open concept? Are there granite countertops?

prayer room

I would do built in storage all along the walls and keep pretty open and minimalist. Can you do a window seat there?

If I were to start a doll collection, I would want Annabel from The Conjuring. She probably needs her own space. The gift wrapping room cracks me up since a friend just moved into an apartment complex in Nashville that has one. Maybe some one upsmanship? The view outside is of a sidewalk to the courtyard this cluster of buildings face. Nothing great. I think I'll leave the sewing room in the attic, lol. There could be a window seat R39, if I skipped a prep sink and counter under the window.

[quote] If funds were unlimited I would completely flip the the floor plan and put the kitchen in the rear and the living room in the front, but that would be totally cost prohibitive. With a family room in the basement you don't need a large living room.

I agree, the living room should be in the front, kitchen in the rear. Still a nice floor plan, anyway, esp. the upstairs layout.

make it a sauna room

tattoo parlor

My vote is for an eating area.

The floor plan shows the existing space labeled as "Dining" does not separate the space from the "Living Room" with a wall.

If you don't entertain a lot, a nice cozy area to eat in for yourself would be an idea.

The space labeled "Dining" could be done as flexible space for occasional entertaining and expanding the Living Room the rest of the time.

Cat furniture!

I had the same lay out as you, OP. And I took the mistaken advice of making it a mudroom.

Now I have no place but the stairs to display my Madame Alexander Doll collection.

What year was it built?

I would move the dining area to the space with the desk by the fireplace. Add a nice dropped light fixture over the table. Remove the wall between the kitchen and current dining area. Redo the kitchen so it was larger, L-shaped (backwards L,) and extends toward the living room, and put in a nice eat in island with the sink in it and a few counter stools. Of course, you’ll make sure you’re not removing load bearing walls, or breaking up the flow of rooms with unsightly headers.

Remove the closets in the center of the stair wells, have the stairs be open to the room, and be a nice feature that connects all 3 floors.

And I agree with R7, change the swing of the door and make the nook a nice foyer area with a place for coats, welcoming guests, and some lovely plants.

R46, If I make space for all the dolls, I'll lose the pantry/gloryhole cabinet. Decisions, decisions. What would be better for resale?

R45, isn't all furniture cat furniture? R47, you have some good instincts. I've been thinking about just what you said about the stairwell. I'd like to do some horizontal iron railings to keep things more modern. This section of the neighborhood was built in 1980, but the complex was planned out in the early 70's and has a rustic modern vibe that I'd like to enhance. The downstairs has beams and wood columns. I'm planning on installing wide plank flooring throughout and also wood on most of the ceilings downstairs.

Pretty sure the easiest way to make use of the space in a cost-effective way is to make the nook a butler's pantry/mudroom. I'm concerned about losing the hall closet and the linen closet upstairs. I'm thinking of an iron and glass wall between the nook and the stairwell. It's a little Joanna Gaines, but I think it would look cool. Don't know how expensive something like that would be.

Look at the work of Charles de Lisle. He has a way with buildings of that time period.

R47

A .mudroom. But an elegant one. Perhaps a wardrobe to hang guests coats. A bench with shoe storage and/or a chest of drawers for table linen storage.

Thanks, R49. That California modern vibe is very appealing. I had never heard of de Lisle, but that is the look. East Coast meets Sea Ranch.

Definitely better inspiration than Joanna Gaines

Is table linen storage a priority for anyone these days?

R53, besides maiden aunts?

Definitely change the swing of the door, that way your tiny, inadequate kitchen won’t be the first thing guests see when they walk in.

If you have any decent art work you could turn it into a small gallery to display your pieces. If you have no pictures/paintings worth displaying install shelf units and all the walls and use it to display nick nacks, bric-a-brac, or interesting oddities you may own.

Does the good LLadro count? I suppose the Precious Moments and Norman Rockwell figurines can go in the second bedroom.

R7 gave the best advice. An elegant foyer/sitting area with a table makes the most sense. And you could remove the wall to show the down stair case as you suggested, OP.

How about a guns and ammo storage / display area?

You can build a private gloryhole there.

A growing trend I believe.

Gloryholes R US has a nice selection of pre-drilled doors.

Combination mud room and pantry? It abuts on a small kitchen so it can be used for storage and pantry space, if you're the sort to have a second freezer that would be the spot. Depending on the climate and how much storage you need near the kitchen, you could add some "mud room" space, with tile floors, hooks or coat racks, and a chair.

Or make it into a nice little library or office. With a window seat.

Scullery.

This can't possibly be in Turtle Bay.

What about a gift wrap station, or a space to do floral arrangements? ...provided there's access to run plumbing lines.

Alas, the halcyon days of glory holes has passed with the demise of the personals section of Craigslist. Otherwise, your set up would have been perfect for that.

Hi All, OP here again. Took some of your advice and I am in the midst of turning the nook into a pantry/mudroom area. Think it's going to work out. I am also taking out those closets at the stairs up and down so you will see through the levels eventually. It's been a lot more work than what I initially thought. New floors, doors, and kitchen so far. The contractor had a suggestion yesterday about the master bathroom. This isn't going to be part of the current scope of work, but maybe another 6 months. He suggested to flip the the toilet to the back wall and put in a double vanity. It's just me here, but he said it would be good for resale. The room will be gutted anyway, but moving the toilet and adding a sink will be roughly 5k he thought. Does anyone actually share a vanity in a small bathroom? It seems pointless, but I don't want to make a mistake for resale down the road. I had initially planned on doing some fancier tile and double showerheads, but if you have any suggestions, I'm all ears.

What a shame. If I had seen this thread before your descent into utilitarian tragedy, I would have urged you to mirror all of the walls and then install floor-to-ceiling mirrored shelves to be filled with a treasure trove of Lalique, Capodimonte, Thomas Kinkade snow globes, Precious Moments, Department 56, and Hummels. I would also have recommended built-in wall, ceiling, and floor speakers because who doesn't love luxuriating to the plinking and tinkling of the great Liberace?

All of this would be lit and heated to perfection with 3-4 stunning halogen torchieres in shiniest brass. The pièce de résistance? A beautiful brocade fainting couch parked right in the middle, from which you could admire your collection.

Alas, there's no point in crying over the bliss that was yours for the taking. Enjoy your "pantry/mudroom."

[quote] The contractor had a suggestion yesterday about the master bathroom.... He suggested to flip the the toilet to the back wall and put in a double vanity. It's just me here, but he said it would be good for resale. [M]oving the toilet and adding a sink will be roughly 5k he thought. Does anyone actually share a vanity in a small bathroom? It seems pointless, but I don't want to make a mistake for resale down the road.

Having the toilet facing the door (on the back wall) might be awkward. I do like the idea of extending the sink area. However, I would stick with one sink and expand the counter space (for toothbrushes, cosmetics, etc.). Two sinks is "pointless" (as you said) for that amount of space.

A dungeon, obviously, OP. R20 has the right idea.

It keeps the subs/ slaves out of your way, and they don't ever have to enter your living space.