What would you do with an extra room in your house?

Question

My room mate recently moved out, and I'm not planning on getting another one anytime soon. This leaves me with a spare bedroom in my house that I'm free to do what I like with, but I'm not sure what to do with it. A Library/study is a good idea, but I don't really have the carpentry skills to make it look great, and professionals are expensive. I'm a single 20-something, so something crazy like a pool table or game room or entertainment room is conceivable, but I dunno if that's the way I want to go.

So, any suggestions for me? And, out of curiosity, what would you yourself do personally (i.e., not necessarily what you'd recommend for me)

Oh, and my building has a gym, so while it might be nice to get some of my own equipment, it's a bit of an unnecessary expense

Answer 1

I'd turn it into a hobby room, a home office or a guest room. If I really was being decadent, I'd use it for storage - a"junk" room.
I liked your idea of a study, but in my case, I'd just have a comfy reading chair with a good light and a small table to hold a beverage next to it. Perhaps a TV or stereo system (CD/DVD/DVR AUDIO/VIDEO EQUIPMENT) and maybe even a small desk for my laptop and printer. I would love to just "kick back" in that sort of uncluttered space.

I would see if the room had good natural light, and if so I might put some plants near the window. Maybe I'd get an aquarium or just keep it simple and have a terrarium. Some people might like to put exercise equipment in there.

Since money is an issue, you could have a "daybed" which is like a futon or a couch that can become bed for guests. But for book cases or other furniture, depending on your tastes, go to garage or rummage sales, or thrift shops like Goodwill, and buy simple bookcases or chairs or even inexpensive antiques. Buy only what you like, because these may stay with you awhile. I still have wooden chairs I bought when I was 20-Something for $2.00 each 35 years ago. I painted them colorful colors, and now they are part of the family!
I detest IKEA RTA (ready-to-assemble) particle board stuff, becuase it is made cheaply and may not last as long as a classic oak antique chair, but everyone has their tastes & style preferences.
FYI -Particle board stuff can give off formaldyhyde fumes. Not good. Particleboard is made of wood shavings held together with a formaldehyde-based resin that outgasses. You can see the wood shavings throughout the board on both the flat side and the cut side and it has an odor--strong when new. Formaldehyde offgasses from particleboard until there is no more formaldehyde to offgas. It is very intense when the particleboard is new and decreases over time. I read that the half life of formaldehyde in particleboard is three to six years, but can still contribute to indoor air pollution 12 to 24 years after installation (Spectrum--Newsletter of the Society Promoting Environmental Conservation, Vol 26, No. 1). This seems reasonable to me. How long any given installation takes to full outgas depends on the conditions. More heat will make it outgas faster.

Good Luck! It's nice to have you own place all to yourself. ENJOY it while you can!

Answer 2

Extra Room Ideas

Answer 3

I had an extra room that I made into a "study".. or actually a reading/tv room. It's small. I bought shelves from Ikea that were beautiful but dirt cheap. I lined the walls with them and they look like built-ins. I put a tv in one of the shelves, two chairs, a table and now I have an incredibly intimate, cozy room for relaxing. Go to Ikea and you will be absolutely amazed at what you can do with a small room. If you don't have one close then visit them online.

Answer 4

I've got an extra room too. We use it as an "office/sewing room/gym/library." I say that because we have a really nice roll top computer desk in there, but mainly we use a laptop computer. My wife is using the desk as a sewing table, and I've set up our weights in the corner of the room. There's a closet in there that we use as extra storage, and several bookshelves we call a library. That's how we use our spare room. After all that there's enough roo to set up a good sized air matress or futon for guests.

Answer 5

I'm actually in the same boat your in but I'm a bit older and its my ex girlfriend and her daughter that are moving out.

I'm debating over either

a computer room with a big HD TV as a monitor and a nice surround sound system set up for my new directx10 games.
(that room is really loud with a sub woofer and close to my upstairs neighbors bedroom. I think I can pull it off better and less irritating to others in my living room)

sooo I'm also looking at

making it a special "dark room" for late night encounters with the women (willing to experiment) if you know what I mean.

I'm also thinking about keeping it clean and finding a new roommate, but I'm not sure.depends on my finances for the next 3 months.

I am looking forward to the single life in my own place, ja know?.

Answer 6

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
What would you do with an extra room in your house?
My room mate recently moved out, and I'm not planning on getting another one anytime soon. This leaves me with a spare bedroom in my house that I'm free to do what I like with, but I'm not sure what to do with it. A Library/study is a good idea, but I don't really have the carpentry...

Answer 7

If you own the house outright,you had better develop home repair skills so there is no better place to start than to transform the extra room into a den. Home Depot, Lowes or your local lumber yard would be happy to get you started. A few basic tools; learn to saw a board straight, drive a nail , use a power screwdriver, and basic things and you may develop skills you never knew you had.

Answer 8

I absolutely love books. I would turn it into a library with a nice big desk.
You can purchase premade bookshelves or the put-it-together-yourself shelves that are not completely ugly. You may be able to find the furniture you need at a second hand store and just refinish it all to match.
Oh, and I'd HAVE to have a big comfy chair to read in.

Answer 9

paint it crazy colors so when i smoke it trips me out lmao j/k i don't even smoke but i thought that be funny =) depends what you're into, if your into sports and games do a guy room, or go more mature and do a study. Maybe storage if you need it, or if you've collected stuff throughout the years do it up in that. Personally if money wasn't an object, i want a room with art- depending that kind of art i hung is what colors the room would be but of course =)

goodluck

Answer 10

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