Thank you for the feedback! It's great to hear that you actually still use it even though your kids are grown and out of the house. I wonder if having it used as a TV area (which it presumably would) - would be disruptive to anyone in the main level living room trying to watch TV. Hmmmm we would eventually also have a basement finished but not for a couple years after the build is complete.

we have had both going at once - I suppose if we were blasting them it might matter. We have considered putting barn doors or making that a wall with windows that open at the juliet thing, but haven't gotten around to figuring that out.

We had a loft at the top of the stairs in our old house, and I loved it. It was so multi-functional and changed as the needs of our family change. In 10 years it changed from being a TV/movie area, to a workout space, to our boys playroom. I loved it being a playroom as I could hear the boys playing while I was downstairs. It was perfect, and I would highly recommend it. Plus, I loved how open it made the upstairs feel (as you mention).

Lofts can be difficult to heat/cool. Cool air settles into the space below. Heat rises into the loft. I've experienced this in a condo rental with a loft bedroom. If the loft was cool enough, the lower LR level was freezing.

I do like having some space outside of their bedrooms for kids to use computers and possibly entertain friends.

We have a room that could've been a loft....it's closed in but has an entryway instead of a door. We chose to close it in for noise. We have three kids, 14, 11, and 6.5...it's their game room and they love love love that room. And so do we!

heating/cooling have not been a problem for us. We have a 2 zone system if that makes a difference. In the winter, we keep that area almost off when it is just us. We turn the heat on a bit when we have guests, so yes, hot air rises. We cool the space in the summer to avoid those icky smells that houses without ac or with owners who don't use it tend to acquire. It is a minor investment to avoid icky smells.

Thank you all for the feedback!! We also plan to have zoned heating and cooling. I would think a ceiling fan would also help keep the warmth of the room down in the summer... and maybe windows that can open as well.

Thinking more about this...doesn't every two-story home have a stairwell through which hot air rises and cool air settles? Maybe the temperature variances are only difficult in my illustration of the loft bedroom occupying the entire second 'floor' and being open to below? We could adjourn to the Heating and Cooling Forum!

chisue, definitely more to ponder! My sister's last home was a large two-story with zoned heating and a/c and I admit I never noticed a temperature difference between the two levels. They had a large south facing window in the stairwell so perhaps the stair-area did get warmer... but I never remember the upstairs rooms or hallway ever feeling different.

We have a loft area that is the kids' playroom; it uses a closed half wall rather than railing to separate the space from the stairwell. Kids watching tv up there is not a problem for noise. Kids play can get a bit loud but that's ok as I generally like to have a sense of what is going on.

I think there are various things that impact heating/cooling. I have not yet seen more than a 2F degree difference between our upstairs and downstairs. But we live in a mild climate, have very little in the way of heating/cooling requirements and have a ventilation system.

Our architect kept wanting to add a loft and we kept telling him "no." I dislike the lack of privacy a loft creates and the way noise travels. Houses aren't built with basements where we live so the upstairs flex room will function as a private hang out space for the kids.

We have a loft and it's become our favorite hangout. We have a 60 inch TV up there and theater style seating that reclines as well. It overlooks our great room and I can't imagine living without it now.

We have a loft and it is a nice quiet space for me to go and read or veg out. We have zone heating and AC and we haven't noticed a difference unless we aren't up there and turn the temp up so we aren't cooling it when nobody is there. It's just my DH and I so we do tend to keep it warmer. I love the space, we even put a wet bar up there.

We have a loft. It's the office. 12x20. Great views. It overlooks the great room. No issues cooling. Haven't been here in the winter yet. No noise issues either.