We are buying a home with an unusually long, tall and narrow (by comparison) "living room" space (34x11). After a few unsuccessful attempts at trying to make this space work as a "living room" - and after thinking seriously what our family does and values, we are considering bringing the "gym" up from the basement and turning this space into a "home gym", bringing the things we love to do most in the center of attention. (there is another really lovely room overlooking the lake which we are going to use as "living room")

So, we LOVE ping pong, rock climbing, dance, etc... So, we are looking at installing a rock climbing wall on the back wall of the room, bringing a convertible pool/pocker/ping-pong/dining table in the middle of the floor, having a couple gymnastics mats, a game table (chess, backgammon) etc... This room has nice views of the pool, back yard and the lake and access to the large deck and large screened in porch. Also connects with the kitchen through a large opening so we could supervise the kids playing while we are cooking...

Any feedback/thoughts/ideas of what else we should consider including? Any disadvantage/problems you see with having this be so central in the house and so large? We are looking at ways of removing the large staircase going to the second floor, which pretty much divides the room in two. I'm looking at ways to move it along the "mural" wall and make it less intrusive and massive (not sure it's possible because stairs going down to the basement which are under this staircase - I'm working with an architect to find solutions for this).

If you have photos of staircase design I should consider, or in-home gyms you like, please share. Any other ideas for the gym? If you had a space like this and could dedicate it to an in-home gym, what would you add to it? Thanks!!