When I bought my new home, the basement contained a children’s playroom. The lovely thing about the room was that it had huge windows allowing a gorgeous view of the trees and lots of light. I decided immediately that rather than using a den on the second floor as a home office, I’d transform this space.
I didn’t have to do anything: the lighting was great, the vinyl plank flooring was terrific, the wall colour was perfect. All I had to do was figure out where to put my furniture to make this a home office/TV room/library.
Here’s the before:
And here’s the after:
All of this is to remind you that while each room in your home should have a clearly defined purpose, that purpose can be quite different from buyer to buyer. For a young family, a playroom was much needed. But for someone who works from home and doesn’t have young children, the same room can easily be re-purposed as a home office, den or TV room, and in my case all three.
I did sit down with some graph paper before the move, and after measuring square footage and the size of the furniture, I marked off where I thought the furniture should go. But I ended up making last minute decisions that were different when I saw how things looked as the movers came in, so while that was a guide, it wasn’t definitive.
I love working in this room: the light is amazing, and I don’t feel like I’m in a basement at all. (And right next door I have a home gym with a punching bag when I need it!)
