Prefab House – Installment #2 – Floor Plans – Lower Level

Wednesday, April 7th, 2010

This week we continue our look at the process of designing the interiors of a home from start to finish.  Since this home started as a prefab home designed by a local architecture firm, we had great bones to start with, and we just needed to tweak the details of the rooms to improve functionality for the clients.  Let’s start with the lower level.

In the original concept, which was created for another client that needed a garage built into the footprint of the house due to site conditions, the lower level of the house also included storage, laundry, a multi-purpose room and bathroom.

Since my clients had room for a garage elsewhere on their site, we were able to reallocate the garage space into a larger den.

In order to offer the family a space to watch movies, do homework and craft projects, and just hang out, I added a long desk with built-in cabinetry on the right wall.  There is still plenty of room for all the other functions without them falling over each other. 

What had been an undesignated room in the previous plan became a guest bedroom by closing it in with a new wall and the addition of built-in closet storage that also incorporates space for a TV on the wall.  The adjacent bathroom is conveniently located for both the guest bedroom and the den.   

Even the laundry room can be made into an enjoyable space by thoughtful space planning and finish selections.  By using washer and dryer units that fit under a standard height cabinet you gain a lot of valuable counter space.  I’m a big fan of line drying clothes as much as possible to extend their life, so there is plenty of floor space for a pop-up drying rack.  There is also a rod over the sink so items can be hung to dry over the sink, which is great for handwashing items or damp workout clothes that need to dry and air out.  (The dad in this family is a marathon runner, so that is a real need!)  I even added a fold down ironing board hidden in a cabinet on the opposite wall so that there’s no need to store and set up and break down a full size ironing board (which always seems to make the chore of ironing much less appealing).

Since there are so many floor plans and elevations for all the built-ins we designed in this house, I’m going to break this segment into 3 posts (one post per floor) so I don’t overwhelm you with information all at once.

Do you have any questions about the choices we made?  Feel free to ask away! I’m happy to answer questions to help you better understand the process.

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Tags: Bathroom, built-ins, cabinetry, den, floor plans, Guest Bedroom, laundry room, playroom, prefab
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