I think it's a good idea but how will the top of the wall be finished out?

"our living room will house a Ping-Pong table and a carrom board with a seating of 4."

'current dining will be a music room for piano, drum set, guitar, etc.

No offense, but I stopped right there. Maybe park on the street or lose the ping pong.

Maybe there's a future Olympian ping pong player? who knows....: )

An expensive sport if it needs an addition.

Well sorry but an office trumps an ping pong table for sure and even if the player is olympic style . This is as illy question and maybe a joke .

Being practical - Give up part of the garage or the ping pong table.

I’m with your uncle - that is too tight.

I like the idea of either using the primary closet (you could add a window and still have a lot of closed storage in there + add storage in the bedroom), make the guest bed a dual space (that’s what we have - a Murphy bed that is quite comfortable with a real mattress) or if you don’t like either of those, you could move the washer/dryer to the hall closet and turn the laundry room into an office (downside: no window).

You really needed a house with a gamroom up! The drums near the kitchen is going to drive you nuts!LOL. My son played drums and as he got older, he played longer and louder. LOL! I would split the living room to create a true designated office with french doors and a music room with a comfy chair. Leave the piano in the cove and install an air conditioning unit in the garage so that you can put your ping pong table in there and not have to have the garage open when you play. The drums can make their way in there too at some point!:-)

This is my first time posting so please be kind to me and bear with me as I'm figuring out how to reply. Seems like I forgot to add that one of us will be using the guest room as office too (most probably me). So this is for my husband plus the printer, office supplies, documents, etc.

@ jo mu I'm planning to go all the way up and I have the hvac plans. They run right behind that wall so the vent can be pulled off from the wall and the tall window will bring additional natural light too other than the artificial ones.

@ JAN MOYER We are currently in a 1400 sqft home and our carrom board and ping pong table are sitting in the garage in the hopes that when we buy a new home we will make a game room that we all enjoy with our family and friends. My husband's drum set got packed up too for years that we had kids and he hasn't played since then. My daughter plays the piano so we want to encourage her. So these are somethings we have been looking forward to. These are hobbies but are important to us so please be understanding to others views too.

@ auntthelma As I mentioned we both are working from home so we both need a separate office. Most probably I will be working from the guest room and this will be the additional office where my husband will be working. I forgot to mention that so just added it. Currently he is working from our bedroom and I'm in the loft space. We badly need a space to place the printer, important documents, office supplies that are currently in our master bedroom, also a space that the kids do not enter.

@ lmckuin That is a good thought of adding it in the master closet with a window. Let me work that out. I keep feeling that the corner is so wasted where it'll only be an empty walk-way and I'll regret not adding the office space there. We need the laundry room w/sink so I'm moving the W/D to the south side of wall, move the door to have additional storage running on the hall side w/sink. What do you think of the additional office space I drafted?

@okibujp That was our first suggestion to convert the part of the living room and open it when needed but my husband wanted a dedicated space. The other was to move the music with the game room and to convert the current dining to a den but we felt we'll compromise on the openness of the house as you walk in and that felt true even with french doors.

Also, I totally get you haha! My husband plays good so I am fine if I hear him lol. I actually miss it :( We generally play music together after dinner so it is a family thing and that is why I wanted it close to the family room. We did think of putting the ping pong table in the garage but then we felt we may not go to the garage to play as much then :( that is why we thought of keeping it in plain sight near the music area. Your sketch did give me options in my head if we did convert the single car garage to the game room. But again, do you not think the additional office I drafted a good idea, is it too tight?

@ shirlpp Did you see the office layout I planned out? I am asking if this is feasible considering all the areas are taken.

Thank you for your responses. I really appreciate your inputs.

It looks like you have a 3 car garage? Can you take that first bay and make it the music room? the make the dining room the office. Or move the games to the garage, leave the music area and close off the living room for an office/bedroom ( maybe add a powder room in there).

I’d consider reducing the size of the walk-in closet or putting reach-ins in the bedroom and moving it entirely. office could go at the front of the house. The other possibility is enclosing one bay of the garage for music or games or office. A small office with no windows in that awkward angled spot doesnt seem like a pleasant place to work (I also work from home in a small office but with plenty of natural light.)

I Sketched-up what I drafted to get an idea.. The landscape would be custom so this corner landscape is just something I found in the warehouse. When you enter you'll see this instead of the closet wall and niche. And the inside would be all white uppers to blend in with the walls so it feels light and the view to the landscape in the corner. Worth it??

Ping pong tables require a LOT of space around them, you'll likely have to move the game table and chairs out of the way in the living room when people are playing to avoid crashes. Think of your spaces in terms of types and percentages of usage - instead of giving prime real estate to the ping pong table and drum set at the entrance to your home, move them to the garage and stage a section as a man cave.

Even if the second office is only used 2-3 days per week, I wouldn't want to work in a closet. Before taking out any walls, try tucking a desk into the front part of the living room which would place it in a semi-private, far corner of the house. The game table which is presumably used on evenings/weekends can share the area and you may be able to add lounge seating for reading or quiet conversation too.

The piano and guitars can go in the music room for family time.

All of the office supplies and equipment can be set up in the guest bedroom/office. A wireless printer can be accessed from anywhere and file drawers locked up. You can shift to the living room desk when grandparents are visiting and the office can be a back up for your husband if he needs to close a door for an important call and headphones aren't enough. If you still need storage for office supplies, there are plenty of attractive pieces like buffets that can be mixed into the front secondary office area without looking like traditional office furniture.

@ Debbi Washburn Moving game room to 3rd garage might be the ultimate alternate. But I am still trying to see if this office space works. We already have a powder room.

@ KT Brown I will need the master closet but I could eat into a corner chunk of it maybe to store the printer and all? That'll make the countertops solely for the monitors? Could def. look into those lines. Would this long window not work if I have a view to the landscape?

I think you are making this way too hard on yourself lol!!! Would you be able to give us a view facing the livingroom, dining and front door? I think that little space would feel clousterphobic after awhile even with a window looking out into the living room??

What about pushing in the right wall of the master closet about 18" or so? That would add space to the office area. Then do a nice "window" so you can see out into the back area of the house. That will make it feel bigger

You have a creative, clever and clearly athletic family. I love that you are doing all you can to give everyone their space to celebrate what makes them happy. I know you will discover or create the best options.

I do love the idea of putting the ping pong table in the garage.

The office outside the entrance of the room that you drafted might be a tight squeeze to get in furniture. Maybe a desk that comes from the wall, like this.

Here are some home office ideas that you could put in your Master or guestroom or even the garage.

Alair Homes · More Info

Russian River Studio · More Info

And lastly maybe combine two different areas. How about an office/ping pong table.

I’m sorry if I missed it, but how old are your children? Is this your forever home? I wouldn’t add on when you have existing space that can be repurposed. ( I just went through a similar mental exercise with my own home, FWIW).

do you really need three car garage, convert the garage space closest to laundry to an office

Why not use Guest room as office, and just get a fully foldable but good quality (so that to sleep comfortably on it) Murphy bed ?

either simple one like this:

Murphy Bed

or a more sophisticated but still cheaper than removing walls, etc.:

Murphy Bed System

He will have entire room for himself - also it will be far enough from drums and games.

I didn't read all the comments, so if anyone said it - sorry.

@ okibujp I know right, haha! But isn't the challenge the fun part of designing?

@ Debbi WashburnThat is a good idea! I'll work on moving the master closet wall and see how that space pans out! I actually got another idea of making the left side of closet into an office and this expansion as a part of closet which will automatically create a 'his' and 'hers'. That'll give an option for a window in the office too! Let me see if its feasible.

@ Boxerpal These are great ideas with pictures. Thank you. You are right about getting the furniture in. It's actually a 33" door but that has been my concern frankly. Haha, my husband doesn't care for ping-pong by himself. He likes a challenge with me lol.

@ beeboo2. My daughter is 5 and son is 2. We're keeping them both in one room and use the other room as playroom until they grow old enough where each will get a room.

I like the idea of walling off the very front of the living/game room (ideally with French doors to keep the light from the windows or double pocket doors). Would the blue space be large enough? Are you doing construction anyway? Someone else mentioned stealing space from the primary closet. That would keep the living/game room large.

@k8cdI am planning on some demos and reconfigs like I mentioned in the main post.

I just came up with this option and I've sketched it out. What suggestions do you have on this? Great, it's not loading. I'll try a bit later.

Architect, anyone?

Isn’t that just taking the same space that you were going to for the office before? Not a fan of the cut off corners. But it does fix the office window problem.

You would not really be able to use much of the U shape for hanging clothes. It would either be the back wall or the two opposite walls. You could put shelves in the other spaces, they can be very helpful. I would look at the measurements of the space and see if that would be enough hanging space for you.

@marmiegard_z7b This is the suggestion from my uncle who is an architect. He says do a phase-2 in construction down the line and add 2 offices from the master - one towards the north wall of master and one into the patio. As I mentioned earlier, he hates the current addition and I agree that this is, of course, the most ideal one but I was going for something right now as we just bought this house and it'll be a while till we get enough budget for the addition.

Image attached-

I'd suggest just be mindful of the arches

Right now it seems like there's a little wanna be atrium with those 4 arches forming one area ( is there a lighting fixture under there?)

If you don't get rid of all of them the square openings around it will feel disjointed imo

Oh yes, didn't mention that we're getting rid of the arches and squaring them off

@ k8cd That was a horrible sketch lol. I updated it with this drafted version.

I am so grateful for this community for helping out so much with your inputs!

Okay.. I think I'm getting somewhere with this with neater lines inside out. Also, I'm not messing with the original corner coat closet and am not expanding out as much into the music/dining area. What say on this?

Oh and before someone hammers me about the pocket door in the master closet lol.. It is just a thought if my husband has to use the restroom, he doesn't have to walk all the way to the powder room or around the master room, so there. I would personally want the door from the master closet and close off the living room door but he wants it separate. I'm just being overly considerate lol.

That seems like a good idea too although do you need to be in a position where you need to see what's happening in the rest of the house? That might take you too far even though there is a door into the game room.

@Debbi WashburnNo not, really. And we could always keep the office door open. Mostly the kids are gone to school/daycare so it's only us two. I've actually improvised on the above plan.

I guess I meant actually hiring an architect who produces the designs, not just getting a suggestion. Because it seems like you’ll be making some major changes, with associated expense. And did you say it is to be a 2- phase project, and/ or quick fix now? An architect might have some ideas that are actually more economical, or easier to revise down the road— maybe his/ her fees would not seem unnecessary.