Please review our mudroom and games room design

12 years ago

Hi Gardenweb,

We are almost ready to do the interior framing of our games room and mudroom/powder room. We plan to have the basement concrete floor poured soon so we need to finalize plans. Our mudroom is off the garage, and our garage is at the basement level.

We are also considering a dumb waiter in the mudroom to help with bringing in the many groceries our family of 6 eat. The dumb waiter will go from the mudroom directly up to the kitchen.

In our games room, we were originally going to place the TV along the staircase wall, but have been told that the light reflection from the two south windows will cast a reflection on the plasma screen, and it will cost much more to do surround sound in this location. We struggled with where to place the furniture in the sitting area of the games room and am not sure if we have it right now or not.

By the way, the plumbing probably cannot go much farther south as the drain lines need sufficient fall, or so I understand. We do not need a full bath down here, but will rough in for a future bath just in case we ever do (in which case we would take down the wall between the storage room and powder room to add the bath).

Can you kindly look over these rooms and let me know your suggestions or comments? Thanks!

Carol

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Comments (5)

lavender_lass
12 years ago
Overall, it looks pretty good! I would include a bench somewhere in the mudroom, so you can have the kids take off their shoes/boots more easily. Maybe have a bench(es) in the storage area, between the drop zone and the powder room?

Good idea about roughing in the shower (just in case) but can you switch the bar sink and storage area, by the ping pong table? The bar area seems very cramped...and that would put your plumbing all together, too.

As for the seating...I have a similar TV and I would much rather have the windows behind the TV, than on either side. Consider putting the TV back against the stair wall and maybe get a big sectional for the seating space. A family of six needs more room! If the light becomes a problem, get some curtains or black out blinds. Make sure you have lots of overhead/task lighting for projects...and remember, it's a basement, so you want it to feel a little snug and cozy...and the kids are going to love the extra seating! :)
peytonroad
12 years ago
Realistically the shoes will be in a heap by the door, perhaps have it turned 90 degrees to the long garage door so that they "have" to go to lockers? or even at the place where it says 23'7.75 and make the existing door the corner?

I don't see the orientation of the cars so perhaps it is good as you have it. Looks very nice!
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ontariomom
Original Author
12 years ago
Wow, I do love this forum! Thanks for the helpful replies.

Lavender_Lass you make some very good points. I have responded to your ideas below:

Kitchenette: I also feel that the kitchenette with bar sink is cramped and I like your solution. We will not use the kitchenette for much, but if ever we want to rent out the basement (i.e. when some kids leave home) a bigger kitchen would be necessary. However, if we move it to where you suggested, it would take it even further away from snack counter on wheels that is behind the couch. Do you think that is a big problem?

Mudroom: I believe we have the benches covered in the mudroom by planning for a built in seat to each locker (i.e. extra depth at seating height). If not additional benches can go where you suggested.

TV/Seating area: Yes I do agree that the TV would be nice under the stairs, and in an earlier plan we had it there. However, with the south windows shinning on the screen the image would be difficult to see. I really don't want to cover up the windows as I crave light in basements. To clarify about the windows they cover only the top 3 feet of wall, so there is a full 5 feet below for the TV so I don't imagine having the TV in between two windows (like in picture) should be a big issue, unless I am missing something. In order to have decent surround sound the staircase location I have been advised is not the best. I do love your idea for sectional seating -- if there is any money left over we will go for it as the current furniture is rather worn.

Peytonroad, thanks for your input! You made me laugh at your image of a heap of shoes by the garage door (and worried at the same time). No, I definitely don't want that! I will work hard to 100% train my family to put their stuff (shoes and all) in their own locker. Unfortunately, your thoughtful suggestion of moving the door to where the corner locker is will result in a longer passage through the garage for the walkers (i.e. the kids) and have them enter through a narrow part of the garage. Our garage is going to be around 40 feet deep as it is a tandem garage with one car parked behind the other. There is extra width for walkers to enter and bikes to be parked for the first 25 feet of so, then it gets narrower. Where I show the door now, it has people entering through the wider part of the garage if that makes any sense.

Thanks again for your help, and in advance for other suggestions:)

Carol
palimpsest
12 years ago
Since this is new construction I would consider making the doorways at least 32" so you can fit a wheelchair through them even if the space as a whole is not universal access/handicap access. Likewise I would make the bathroom accessible in this manner. Rather than making provisions for a remodeling, you could make the whole room a giant shower pan in essence, with proper drainage.

An area that comes straight in through a garage is definitely an area where I would make some accommodation for this because you never know when you may need to accommodate someone in a wheelchair even temporarily.
ontariomom
Original Author
12 years ago
Hi palimpsest,

A very good point indeed! I will make sure the powder room door, in particular, is enlarged to 32". We missed that. I will make a few adjustments to the bathroom to make it more accessible friendly (i.e. supports for future grab bar near toilet). Thanks for making me re-think the bathroom.

Carol