• What: AT's New York Design Meetup
• August Guests: 6 Members with problem rooms
• Members: 1,135 and growing
Two weeks ago, we had a remarkable meetup in which we got to hear six people share the problems they're having with one room in their home. Then the crowd jumped in to help. The pics above are all from Stephanie and her husband's home. They're expecting their first child shortly and need this living room to function as an office and a dining room. Head below the jump to find out more about the problem and help with your comments...
Name: Stephanie P.
Location: West Village
Room: Living Room+
Size: Room is approximately 15'x17' and is part of a 800 sq ft space currently configured as a one bedroom.
Years lived in: I have not actually lived in the apartment yet. This was my husband's apartment from before we were married and we are hoping to renovate and move-in soon.
Problem: Both my husband and I work from home and we are expecting our first child, so our challenge is to use this room for dining, living and working.
Please help us design this room. We are looking to have a dining area for a young family, a living area, and a work space for 2 people in this room. The room also receives indirect light, so it feels dark. We welcome suggestions for furniture placement, color, lighting ideas, etc.…. We have included two pictures to give you an idea of what it currently looks like and a floor plan which includes some ideas we have been tossing around.
Budget: $3,000 for the room
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Comments (7)
I'm still deciphering the photos versus the layout, but one question keeps coming to mind. Do you really want your work areas together in one tiny space? A couple that lives and works together in the same small space, no matter how close, is asking for problems if you don't each have your own area: a corner of one's own, if you will. Perhaps even using the same proposed placement of the office, but with the computers facing each other and a wall in between with access coming from both the outer walls.
Hi there. I agree with home body. You could do the following:
1) Put one desk in the space with where the bookcases currently are (where you proposed your tv to go). You can put a curtain with fun fabric over the front of it to hide it at night.
2) Put another desk over in the upper left hand corner of the room, where you've proposed putting the dining table. Perhaps the desk can serve multiple functions - desk by day, buffet by night.
3) The rest is kind of hard to explain with just words. I kind of played around with a layout and have an image I could share with you of a quick and dirty proposed floor plan. I posted it on flicker for you.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30307156@N05/3856439988/in/dateposted/
Good luck!
I share Bumblebee's thoughts on the office space- though instead of using one corner of the dining area, I'd leave one of the desks in the front part of the bedroom office (hang a heavy curtain so sleeping isn't an issue when one partner needs to work late.) There's also no need to get rid of your sectional if you use her plan.
In general, I don't see the problem of the two workspaces side-by-side. I do see a problem with the actual "living" area in your proposed floor plan. It just appears to be a couch facing a tv and not a "seating area" as is typically advocated on AT. What's going on behind the couch? Are you suggesting building a wall separating your home office from your living area? What happens on the living side of that wall?
I like bumblebeechicago's suggestion of splitting the two desks apart and putting one in the bookcase area. I would move your dining area away from the kitchen, lining a long and narrow table against the brick wall. Set up your other desk in the corner between the heater and the kitchen wall. The two stools you have at the kitchen counter are a great idea. Face the couch towards the heater wall with the tv to the right of the heater and a small arm chair or two (if there's room) facing the couch. Ground the seating area with a small area rug. Use another area rug to ground the dining area.
I think bumblebee has proposed a good set up. The other thing I would consider is making it so both the desk areas can be closed off at the end of the day - if for no other reason than to keep the soon-to-be inquisitive child away from the computers. (So you'll still have about a year to get around to it...!) This might entail closing off the wall opening between the kitchen and one of the desks. That walk-in closet is huge! Too bad it doesn't have a window.
Thanks for all the great comments. Another idea we had was making the walk-in closet a little smaller and creating a spot for the Dining Area. Then we would remove the stools and have more room for the living area.
Also, we currently work side by side, and don't have a problem.
hmm, an additional thought is to turn the walk-in closet into a little crib room for your new baby (it looks big enough??), then put additional storage in your bedroom.