After you've answered Dallasbill's questions, consider if you've overlooked any options on the interior. Is there a space where you could put a circular stair? A circular stair can fit in a very small footprint, but you need to think about the use of the room. You won't be able to get a pool table or a queen size mattress up circular stairs. We had a room accessed by circular stairs and it was furnished with a love seat, small arm chairs, book shelves, tv and accessories. It was cozy and had some nice drama with a vaulted ceiling, but it would not have been suited for a guest bedroom. The HVAC was already factored in on this room. Is there an interior hallway next to the garage where a traditional stairway could be built? You might be able to accomplish this by buiding one or two stairs, then taking a 45 degree turn to complete the remainder of the stairs. You see these stairways in old houses where space was at a premium. The stairs might rake into the garage ceiling, but that might not be a problem with the height you have in the garage. In either case you would want to be able to close off the area, so you need room at the top of the stairs to box in a door that opens into the room, or allow enough room at the bottom of the steps for a door. Mitsubishi (Slim Man), and others, offer a self contained unit for heating and cooling that particular room, which could solve an HVAC issue. If you purchased the plan from one of those house plan companies, call them and ask for a solution. I know Southern Living, Donald A Gardner, and others have design people who are able to make changes reasonably and can give you an upfront cost of their time. Often for popular plans, they've already answered the question for another customer, and their fee/timing is, IMO, quite reasonable. If you did the design yourself or don't have access to the designer, you could call a local architect service, and ask what they would charge to consult and provide an opinion/or design based on their findings. I realize this must be a big dissappointment for you. Good luck and let us know how it works out.

The 2x10" joists are fully sealed - bottom by the garage drywall, the top by the bonus room subfloor. It's only via the attics on each side of the room that I can access the floor space and the extra 3-4" between the existing insulation and the subfloor. My plan was to use the 3 1/2" R13, my fish tape, and essentially pull the insulation through from one side to the other, on top of the existing insulation. In order to even think about doing this, I'm sure I need a paper backing (i.e. I'll duct tape to the fish line). I'm hopeful I can pull it with the paper backing/barrier top side up. I currently have access now to both sides (my poor drywall, but this room needs lots of repairs), I have my insulation - and it's time to fish the tape and then get my wife involved to feed the insulation through as I pull! What a fun holiday!

First make sure that the garage ceiling joists designed for living space above and the garage ceiling meets fire-rating since there will be living space above. Second of all, finish it now because later it will cost you double. Now, since all the contractors will be there it will be much cheaper to do this, get inspections with the rest of the house and you can leave the final electric, paining,carpeting, etc,. This way everything will be ready to go when you ready to finish the space and you will avoid lots of headaches and a big mess. Good luck

I moved some things around. The original lightbulbs were LED 2700. I haven’t tried LED’s in a different range yet, but I did take some of the green art and accessories away and experimented with adding cooler blues to the mix. I’m happy with the result.