Library, storage, patnry, office, craft room, guest room, laundry room, yoga studio, art gallery....

It would help to know what you are in need of :-)

Used to be the kitchen and the previous owners couldn't bear to rip out those /beautiful/ cupboards?

Laundry room with a range hood just in case? Are there possible laundry hookups in there?

I like the art studio suggestion (ala Martha Stewart).

How about installing shelving and a comfortable chair/lamp and having a mini library?

The problem with ripping out the cupboards is the flooring. Are you ready to replace that entire expanse of vinyl flooring? Wouldn't be a problem if the cabinets are installed on top of the flooring, though.

I would use it in one of the following ways:

1. Photography darkroom.
2. Nice library with wet bar (including comfy reading chair and books). For that, I would remove everything above the sink and replace with shelves.
3. Craft space.
4. I'm assuming Katie has a laundry room already--otherwise, I would use the water hookups to make it a laundry room.
5. Whatever I did, I would remove the old stove hood to make the room seem like less of an extra "half" kitchen.

Enjoy!

I dream of this problem.

Wish we had a floorplan and more info. You own this place, I assume? Laundry room with dog bath? Kids craft room? The water makes me think in that direction

Depends on where it is in relation to the kitchen/dining room.

Without knowing, I'd absorb it into the kitchen in some way.

How lucky to have extra space! Do you have pets? That area could be used for all pet related things.

If you do remove the sink, make sure to keep the plumbing itself somehow accessible. Plumbing is an expensive item to install in a room; if you already have it, as you do, just keep it accessible.

As far as uses:

Home Office; 2nd bathroom; Exercise room; Home Office *and* Pantry (it can be done: devote one wall to shelving above and desktop below; devote the opposite wall to shelving for kitchen goods, and run some kind of lo-profile track w/curtain or tambour doors or frosted glass doors to enclose it.)

I wish I had an extra room for my musical instruments: Electronic drum kit, guitar, keyboard and amps that are spread throughout the house (living room, my son's room, guest bedroom) of course, 8 x8 isn't much, but hey, I'd make it fit and JAM!

library!!!

but maybe that's just me -- working in publishing means that i always have more books than i know what to do with

Guest effieciency?

A bar? You could use the cabinets as a pantry and bar storage, and use the room for entertaining. Also, keeping the sink would be extra useful for entertaining, cooking, cleaning up.

It's a butler's pantry. I've always wanted one.

I love the cookbook library/pantry idea. I've seen pantries like this in old houses and they make me jealous.

I'm a little curious as to why there is an exhaust fan there. My guess is that the previous owner may have done a lot of canning? Perhaps they brought their big pot of preserves or tomatoes from the stove and set it on this countertop and used the hood to suck up the fumes. There would certainly be plenty of space in there for shelves to store the canned goods as well.

If canning is not your cup of tea then by golly you've got yourself the makings of a deluxe wet bar and cocktail lounge or breakfast room.

I would do a vintage bar theme for sure. I'd repaint the cabinets, remove the hood and put in a new faucet for the sink. A couple stainless steel shelves for some vintage bar wear would be nice and a backsplash made from replica tin ceiling tiles would look cool too.

The rest of the room would be painted to match the bar, an old poster could be framed and placed on the wall next to the window and new window treatment such as curtains would be nice.

To finish off the room, a round bistro table with a couple of chairs and pendant light above will finish off the lounge look.

Even if you are not drinkers, this setup would be perfect for a casual sunday brunch spread or for your coffee and newspaper. It would also be a great place to stage some hors deouvres with area for conversation.

I've always loved the feeling you get when you find yourself being comfortable in a space in your home that was otherwise unusable. It can be kind of a rush.

A semi-professional or professional espresso machine would work for both the liquor bar and breakfast bar idea.

With the ability to tie directly into your water line you can play barista all day long!

I forgot to add the idea of a track light above the countertop fitted with two or three pendants.

Of course, all of my ideas are for naught if it's actually an extra bathroom with walk-in shower that you need!

another thought is to rent it out. in nyc, that space as-is would fetch about a grand a month. ;)

It seems sad to just 'rip out' existing cabinetry, especially when they seem to be original and in descent shape. I love all of the above ideas, and agree that it would be easier to suggest things if we knew where the room was in relation to other rooms, not to mention how you live in your house.

I, for one, despise the idea that the 'living room' always HAS to include a TV, so I may think of using this space as a TV viewing room, (or, a den if you will). Could be a nice place to just chill with friends, or for the boy (cuz every man has a boy inside him) to "play" video games. This way, your living room can be a place to hang out without the eyesore (aka, TV).

As an artist and an interior designer, I would kill to have an extra room like this!

I think that hood there hovering over a cabinet is hilarious! No matter what, take that down.

I think your lifestyle should dictate the purpose of the space. Do you need a home office or craft room? Extra bathroom?
And more importantly, are you on a "repaint and accessorize" kind of budget or a "tear down walls and renovate" one?

I'd leave the sink, but I have a butlers pantry/mudroom and I find having that extra sink is great for things that require a sink but that I wouldn't necessarily want to take place in my kitchen sink...potting plants, washing dog stuff, etc.
How about the ever-so-pretentious "morning room"? In my pre-open floorplan houses, I've always thought it would be nice to have a sofa or a really comfy chair and ottoman in a nook in the kitchen to sit and drink coffee/read. This fits right into the cookbook library/wet bar/coffee bar ideas.

I wouldn't rip any thing out - I'd just paint it sage green, install more shelves more counterspace and a couple stools and use it as a pantry/crafts/flowercutting space.

If it were in my house, it would be a dog room. Do you have dogs? Want one?

Agree with the library posters- put shelves on one wall, then put in a comfy chaise longue with a good floor lamp and a table, and get one of those plug-in kettles so you don't have to leave the room to make tea and eat the little cookies that you'll keep in the cabinets.

We used the extra space for creating a painting area for our toddler. She's quite happy with it. All supplies are nicely organized there. But for a quick cheap solution a small round table would do. Small tables really can multitask! I would not put any upholstered furniture unless you have a good vent there.

That's where my staff prepares coffee and simple meals for me before I board the Gulfstream G550 to Milan.

I would keep it, so you don't have to see or hear staff members cooking and cleaning...

Pardon my jealousy... but, I wish I had a problem like what to do with an extra room.

Not knowing any other information makes giving this blank room an identity very difficult.

...now, I have to figure out what else I'm giving away/throw out since nothing fits in my space.

LAUNDRY ROOM!

Gotta ax those shelves. I'm thinking a cheap quick upgrade would be two shelves like these (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60103632) one above the other adjacent to the window. Also consider bringing some plants into the room, christmas cactus always seemed like a nice kitchen plant for high shelves and hanging pots.

you could make it an indoor garden for herbs and things you might need while cooking since it is so close to your kitchen

If it's right off the kitchen, why not tear down the wall and make a really terrific Kitchen? You might also be able to position the cabinets.