I Found The Much-Needed Storage Area For Our Bedroom Suite!
Almost every time I share the latest proposed floor plan of our bedroom suite and addition lately, I have at least one person ask, “But where will you store Matt’s Hoyer lift and wheelchairs?” That question wasn’t only coming from others. It was also in my mind as well. As much as I loved this new plan that we came up with for turning the three original bedrooms of the house into one bedroom suite and then adding on a much smaller addition than the one we had originally planned years ago, the one sticking point has always been that I don’t have a dedicated storage area for those items that Matt requires.
Here’s the latest floor plan that I shared, and the one that I’ve been working towards since I shared it
Back in December (or it may have even been November), I met with an architect who I know from church because I wanted him to draw up the official documents that we need to submit to the city for our addition. I told him that I have the basic floor plan of our house, along with all of the measurements, so he doesn’t need to start from scratch. So when he left, I told him that I’d send him that info and he could go from there.
Well, it’s February, and I still haven’t sent him anything because something about our plan just wasn’t sitting right with me. So when I saw him at church a few weeks ago, I said, “I haven’t forgotten! I’m just trying to work out some details.” He assured me that he wasn’t in any hurry and would be ready when I am. So I kind of put it out of my mind for a few weeks.
And the part that wasn’t sitting with me was trying to squeeze two bedrooms and a living room into a smaller addition, plus winding up with no dedicated storage space for Matt’s items. I love my husband dearly, but I don’t like having his stuff (shower wheelchair and regular wheelchair when he’s not using it) out and in the way where I’m constantly having to walk around it or bump into it when I’m half asleep at night trying to make my way to the bathroom.
In my mind, I was thinking I could carve out some space in our future home gym for those items. It wasn’t an ideal plan, but it was the only plan I could come up with without adding even more room to the future addition. And while it would be nice to just build a huge addition with room for everything my little heart desires, it’s just not practical. I really want to keep that addition to 16 feet (as opposed to the 27 feet our original plan would have required). That’s a difference of almost 500 square feet, which makes a huge difference in the final cost.
Even on the floor plan at the top of this post, you can see that I compromised on that 16-foot limit that I had set by bumping out the guest bedroom. But again, I just couldn’t see another way. So these are the things that were keeping me from moving forward and sending the info to the architect. I didn’t want to pay him for drawing up plans if I was still unsure about the plan. I didn’t want to add to the cost by paying him now for something I’m unsure about, only to change my mind at a later date and then have to have him draw up more plans that would cost more money.
So I’ve been sitting on this for a while now (since November or December), just hoping that a solution would present itself. And I think that finally happened this last weekend.
As y’all know, I’ve been talking a lot about how the doors to the hallway bathroom will eventually be closed up and I’ll have a solid wall there in the bedroom foyer. And then the access to that bathroom would be moved to the new hallway once we build the addition.
But every time I’d go into that bathroom, I’d think to myself how perfectly situated that room is for the much-needed storage room I’ve been wanting for Matt’s items. It’s the perfect size for it. It’s the perfect location right there inside the bedroom suite. It already has doors on it that open up to the size needed to move those items in and out very easily. It’s just perfect.
The problem with that plan is obvious, though. If I keep that room accessible to the bedroom suite and turn it into a storage closet, that means we have no guest bathroom. And I’ve been down this road before, trying to fit a bathroom into the addition. I couldn’t fit two bedrooms, a living room, and a bathroom into a 16-foot addition. The space just isn’t there for all of that.
But it had been a while since I really studied that floor plan, so this last weekend, I decided to take a look at it with fresh eyes and a clear head to see if there was any way to add a bathroom to that addition while keeping it to 16 feet. And what struck me immediately was the question, “Why am I trying to add two bedrooms (one of which would be used as a home gym) to the addition? Do we really need two bedrooms?”
So I got really honest with myself. Why am I trying to add two bedrooms? Why do I need a guest bedroom that will sit there, completely unused, just for the purpose of having a guest bedroom? I can’t even remember the last time we needed a guest bedroom. Matt’s dad doesn’t travel anymore, and he’s the only guest we’ve ever had. And if the very rare occasion did arise when we needed to house a guest overnight, my studio has plenty of room to set up a bed. So having a dedicated guest bedroom seems like a complete waste of space (and money) to me.
The only reason I was adding a second bedroom in the addition is because in my mind, I’m still stuck on the idea that I need to turn this house back into a three-bedroom house. Why? For future owners. My goodness, how often have I preached that people need to make their homes their own without thinking about what some possible future owners may want? And yet, I kept going back to that. I’m not even practicing what I preach.
So after giving it a lot of thought, I realized that the only person I want to make sure we have room for is my mom. My mom is 86 years old. She is in phenomenal health and lives by herself in the home I grew up in. She’s a lot like her own mother, who lived by herself until she was 99. My grandmother was in amazing health at that age. She was still driving, still living alone in her home in east Texas, still taking care of her house by herself, still taking care of her property, and thriving. But she had made an agreement with her daughters (my mom and my aunt) that when she turned 100, she would sell her house and move to Waco. So when she turned 100, she sold her house, moved to Waco, and moved into a retirement home where she lived in her own apartment. She lived to be 108 years old, and she did just fine living by herself until about those last two years of her life.
My mom seems to be on that same track. She’s 86 years old and thriving. When she tells people her age, there’s always an audible gasp. People think they misheard her, and there’s no possible way she could be 86 years old. She’s in better health than most people 20 years her junior. And she loves living by herself in her own home.
So while I don’t see her needing to come live with us anytime in the near future, I just have it in my mind that if she ever wants or needs to live somewhere else, she won’t go to a retirement home. She’ll come live with us. She is literally the only person I want to be sure we have room ready and available for if she ever wants or needs to live somewhere other than her own home. But again, as she seems to be on the same track as her own mother, we’re looking at that being over a decade away.
With that goal in mind of making sure we have space for my mom, I gave our floor plan another look. And what I decided is that I can eliminate the wasted space of an actual guest bedroom that will sit there unused. I do want one bedroom in the addition because I want a room that we can use as a home gym for now, but that room can easily be converted into a bedroom if we ever have need of that. And eliminating that second bedroom leaves plenty of room for a guest bathroom. A 16-foot addition is plenty of room for one bedroom with a large closet, one bathroom, and a family room. And if the day comes that we need the home gym as a bedroom, we can easily close up the door between our bathroom and that bedroom.
So with all of that in mind, this is what I’m now planning. And it all fits within the 16-foot limit that I wanted to keep.
I feel so peaceful about this plan. I’m going to sit with it a couple more weeks and make sure I don’t see any problems with it, but I can almost guarantee that this is the plan I’ll be sending to the architect. It gives us everything we need, including that much-needed storage space for Matt’s items.
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
what a perfect choice!
I think it’s a good idea. In the future it can easily be converted by the new owners-actually into a 3 bedroom if they converted your studio-yikes-but not your worry at that point. Make it yours.
It’s so hard not to get caught up in the “future buyer” stuff… But your house is large and there are PLENTY of ways that the mysterious “future buyer” can add bedrooms if they want to. I think you’re exactly right to create the space YOU want!
A while back you mentioned Matt had had an overnight caregiver. I had thought that’s why you were including a guest bedroom. You could probably still use the gym for that with an air mattress or rollaway bed but just didn’t want you to forget about that! This looks like everything you should need and you’ll love that new closet!
I like the symmetry of this version! I do think I’d still want the porch/deck/sunroom along the back, looking onto your garden. Those transition spaces are just something I really like (which of course doesn’t mean that you do!)
Same! I’m missing that back deck but I’m not sure exactly where the work building is, back there.
I remember this, too – that the guest bedroom was primarily planned with a caregiver in the future in mind. If the home gym is a substitute in that case, too, I totally understand this change of plan, but please make sure that your decisions will be ok even if you need two rooms for your mum and a caregiver. Especially – as somebody else pointed out – if you need it available quickly: would that be doable with your current plans? Sorry to be so cautious, but I was in that situation only two years ago and experienced how very fast life can change and adjustments need to happen. And then the strain is already so big that you don’t want to start planning and building. (I sincerely hope that this situation is not gonna happen for all of you, though!)
Yes! We recently needed to make quick changes to our home when I fell and injured my knee. I needed to use a wheelchair, walker and eventually a cane to get around the house. We had to remove a door, switch beds around from one room to another because one bed was too high for me. Bathrooms needed seating in tub and shower, along with hand held shower sprays. We also needed two ramps outside to get me in and out for doctor appointments. Having been through this (also adding grab bars in bathrooms) I wish we had built our home to be ADA accessible! Who knew that 8 years after, we would need all of this!
His overnight “caregiver” was Kristi’s mom! That’s when she went to her Bible study thing.
I know you have thought of this, but I’m wondering about the 2 corners you have to navigate around while coming out of the storage closet to go into the bedroom. Much as I hate them could you put 45° angles on those corners to ease movement. Without dimensions it is hard to tell how much room you have.
Oh Kristi! I love love love the new plan and think it will be perfect for you and Matt! Depending on how you were going to situate your roof, this plan should save you money on that, too. If its less peaks and valleys. 😄 Can’t wait to see all this come to fruition.
I had to catch up on your posts and was day dreaming about your bathroom! You have made me so brave to try things floating around in my head! So many times when I’m researching a project, your blog almost always comes up with ideas and instructions! Please! Don’t ever stop sharing with us! And thank you for allowing us a peak into your life and process 😁😇🥰
My mom just turned 93 and at 86 she was crawling under a house to level the flooring!
Agreed there’s no need to plan for future owners, and agree planning for your mother to be your housemate in the future smart. And you don’t want future Kristi to wanna smack present (then past) Kristi upside her head!
I’m not 1/10 the planner you are, so I’m not making any suggestions except to ask you, Kristi to think about what would need done to get mama moved in, say in a six week period, with this new floor plan? Bedroom, closet, bath, privacy? If all that is doable quickly (while adding 10 years to yours and Matt’s ages, health statuses and financials), then it’s golden.
I’m almost 20 years younger than your mama, and took a very tiny tumble before Christmas which resulted in a broken arm. Thanking God that it wasn’t a hip, I had an easy but aggravating recovery. My husband is blind but able bodied and stepped up to help, but driving, sleeping, activities of daily living have been burdensome. Throwing this in not for sympathy, but to point out crap happens to us all.
I love your blog, videos, pictures, transparency, kind heart and amazing insights (not necessarily in that order). 👏 So I felt led to throw this in for your consideration.
Be safe. Take care. Onward and upward, keeping the main thing, the main thing.
This is a very nice plan. I’m wondering about the necessity of removing the bathroom and changing it into a storage closet. Can the storage not be within the 2nd bedroom somewhere? Or do you just like the idea of the new location?
Good point!
It would be much more convenient to have the storage closet in the bedroom suite, especially since that foyer is quite large and square, and easier for moving things in and out. The new area will have a standard-width hallway, which would be harder to maneuver things around that corner and into the room.
Think of all the space in your studio that a future buyer will have to use. If someone wants the house they will already have a plan.
So, with these new changes…do you still need the music room as-is or could you use that space differently? I think I remember that you used that area for Matt to transition with the Hoyer. Is the bedroom foyer big enough for this since the storage is right there?
I’ll still keep it as is just because it’s my favorite room, and I love the planned sight lines from the front door through to the back French doors in the future family room.
“Peaceful” is good.
Hi Kristi: I think you are wise to listen to your gut instinct about not submitting plans yet. You are the best one to know what will work for you and your family! Just a thought/question though. With the previous plan, the plumbing for the existing bathroom stays in place and the opening to that bathroom shifts wall space. I don’t know the situation for the of the space under the new proposed bathroom. It obviously will need all new plumbing infrastructure that aren’t in place now. Have you compared that extra cost of adding new plumbing to the cost of adding some extra “middle-ground” square footage space (not requiring the additional plumbing cost). Something more than the 16-foot addition but less than the 27-foot addition? Just a thought. As always, thanks for sharing your journey – I always look forward to it and get something valuable from it!
All of the plumbing would have had to be moved with the previous plan, too. There’s not enough room on the other side of the bathroom to put a door between the toilet and the bathtub, so the whole room would have had to be rearranged. So it’s really six of one, half dozen of the other.
Love the new floor plan! The only thing I would add would be a pocket door between the guest bathroom and living room. That way if your mother comes to live with you, she could always make it a private bathroom and walk naked to the bathroom from her bedroom.
I’ll be adding that!
I have never liked an entrance to a bathroom in a social room. If you added the pocket door on the closet wall, and moved the closet door down a bit you could walk through the closet to the bathroom for privacy. Sometimes people use the shallow area on the outside wall in a closet like that as a dressing area.
Love the new plan, keeps those items as close as possible without being in the way.
Just a thought: I’m not a fan of wasted space. Would you consider moving the gym closet to the opposite wall, and perhaps lower to share a wall with your master bath? That way you could move the door to the gym closer to the guest bathroom and recover that bit of hallway floor space for your gym. Your gym space would be a bit more open and it would allow you to centre the exterior door to bring the light into the centre of the room.
What a great plan! Well-thought out for yours and Matt’s current needs, and possible future needs for your mom.
My SIL’s mom lived to nearly 107. She died less than a month before that birthday. And like your grandmother, she was very independent until the last couple years. She stayed in her home though with care round the clock. (Pretty expensive). She hadn’t driven in years, but she was a feisty thing. 😁. My SIL just turned 83 and looks 63. She still works (not as much) selling real estate. So she has those genes as well. I’m so happy you found your solution to the issues of Matt’s equipment. It’s looking great.
I love it!! Absolutely fabulous!
Have you seen those granny pods that would give her her own little place, but in your backyard? You said you had an acre and that way you all could have your own privacy, but still be very close. You could match it to the workshop in color. It would be like a tiny home, and some of those are pretty cute.
I have! And we talked about that possibility.
Just another thought on a granny pod or an ADU (accessory dwelling unit). Not that I’d think you’d want your Mom to live there, but just that it would add to the bedroom/bath count for future buyers, and it would be a wonderful experiment space to try building and furniture techniques. The speed at which the shell of your workshop has gone up, and been turned into a lovely cottage has been a revelation to me. We have a grown (34) son living at home, and without going into all the pros and cons, I’m sure he would appreciate a separate space. As always, thanks for sharing your thought process. Aloha!
Sounds like a smart decision. As you said, anyone could easily shift the use of the gym into a bedroom if needed. I just hate to see a guest who may be in your kitchen, having to walk that far to the guest bathroom. I would love to see a bathroom more central to the “activity” rooms of the home. It may be a moot point, but that’s how my brain works! I just have no idea where you could place a bathroom closer, so I sound like I’m babbling! Sorry!
Actually, I kinda like having a bathroom a little bit away from “activity.” it’s more private. 😉
For once I decided to read the other comments before I do so. I usually write then read and find multiple comments and I am just being a parrot. With that said your new plan looks good for you and Matt but something and I can’t put my finger on it is off to me. Maybe it’s my mind saying there must be a guest room with a full bath, so this is your home and I don’t get a say hahaha. I would suggest getting it to your architect as soon as you are ready but be aware most of them (I learned this the hard way when we built our home) have suggestions that make it flow better or size etc. Your sense of how your home will flow for you both is much better than mine ever was. I can’t wait to see all of your ideas in action. God bless you both. Sorry for the ramble
I think this will suit your needs and be flexible enough to adjust in case Mom comes to live there. The only thing I would suggest is that you install only a low-curb or no-curb shower in the guest bathroom. Your mom wouldn’t need a tub at that point, and except for your own use on occasion, adults these days don’t tend to need or use bathtubs. After a certain age/condition, they’re nothing but a hazard anyway (statistically speaking, they’re the most dangerous thing in a house besides stairs). There are realtors who will try to convince people that having no tub hurts resale value, but I think that’s bull: people might like the thought of having a bathtub but they really don’t care–and the older they are, the less they care. I used my jetted tub (came with the condo) only once in all the years I’ve lived there, and it was a giant waste of water! Ridiculous.
I think you are on the right track. I wonder if you could get another shed bldg in the future to have as your designated gym….if you ever need the 2nd bedroom for your mom?
However infrequent you envision it, I do think you need a better temporary guest plan than setting up a bed in the studio and requiring them to parade through the entire house to use the guest bath in the middle of the night. A bed in the gym or living room seem better options but whatever the plan is, you should be able to put it in place on short notice.
What if you, superwoman Kristi, are temporarily incapacitated due to an injury and need live-in help for a few weeks while you recover? Hopefully that will never happen but if it does, you won’t be able to do much moving and rearranging yourself so advance planning is key.
Someone else mentioned that there are Murphy beds now that look like console tables. Ever since I read that comment, I’ve been looking at those, and they seem pretty amazing! My plan now is to put one of those console table Murphy beds in the home gym.
Absolutely perfect! A friend of mine had a desk/murphy bed in a guest room that was great – the bed could be pulled without even disturbing anything on the desk!
Dear Kristi,
I like the new floor plan overall. The new storage area in the current guest bath is close to where you’ll need to access Matt’s items and makes good sense.
My one suggestion is for your future guest room. Since the plan is for your Mom to eventually have that room, I suggest instead of a walk-in closet, double doors/bi-fold doors/curtain for the closet space. The open (to the room) closet would be much more accessible to an older, possibly physically-limited person.
Since it’s going to be starting out as your gym, if you opened up that closet, you could use your same dresser and neon sign like you had in the old guest room. Just a thought.
The rest of the plan looks solid to me. Enjoy your weekend!
YHWH Bless You : )
This looks so perfect. If any future buyers want a third bedroom, there are so many easy options for that–and this works for you, now. I think the door to the master bath from the gym is also great if, for some reason, your guest (mom) uses a wheelchair and needs a shower that accommodates that. Plus, the simpler lines of this addition must surely be less expensive.
Thanks for sharing your process!
Good thinking. I never would have guessed your mom was 86. In the few pictures of her on your blog, she appears much younger and when she has helped you, she just jumps right in like a youngster.
I like your redrawn plans, but I have a question. Does your guest bathroom have to be that big? Now that your storage room is going to be the old bathroom, you have another room to decorate. Maybe you can use some of that pretty wallpaper you love. I know it is just a storage room, but it can still be pretty. I’m just thinking out loud.
I like it! Of course I have a few thoughts…
Can the gym/guest room closet have a bigger opening? Or, if you like it as a walk-in, move the closet door to the short end and the bedroom/gym door to be in line with the wall separating the closet and the guest bath, hinged on the master bath side.
Actually, I think moving the gym/guest BR door as described above is a good idea regardless. Putting the little hall space into the bedroom would create more sense of arrival and help the room feel bigger. If it tucked into the wall between the closet and guest bath, it could be a pocket door, which is always nice for day-to-day living and to ease Matt’s ability to move into/out of the gym.
Speaking of pocket doors, tuck one into the wall between the guest bath and the living room to make that area, when guests visit, more of an en suite. Nice for nightime bathroom trips!
Hi Kristi,
I’ve tried to email responses and comments in the past and wasn’t able to. I’d love to be able to do that. Could you please tell me why I’m unable too? Is it because I don’t participate in Facebook?
Thank you,
Gayla H.
Anyone is free to email me, but there’s no guarantee that I’ll see it. The only way to guarantee that I’ll see your comment is to comment on my blog, as you did here. I read 100% of my blog comments.
Kristi, I keep wondering where are you putting the water heater? If I remember correctly, it was one of the issues along with moving the washer and dryer.
We’ve decided to go with an exterior tankless water heater (or maybe two). We’ll have to have that done before our sunroom can be torn down, but that way I don’t have to give up interior floor space for a tank, or figure out where I can place a tankless on an interior wall. Since we’re in central Texas, I think an exterior tankless will work well for us. My mom has one, and she likes it.
I can see the practically of your new plan. I do have a question. A few years back I remember Matt’s Dad coming for a visit & staying a while. Not knowing his health is this something you don’t see happening? I live in a small home & are always looking for ideas regarding guest sleeping.
Matt’s dad doesn’t travel anymore.