I'd use it as a library. Shelves and comfy seating. If/when kids come along it would be a nice play area.

I would make that my studio and paint up there all day long...Do you have a hobby or past time that could use it's own space. I LOVE that loft, but I would get rid of that boob light :)

Bump

I like the idea of a music room or library. Now, even though you didn't ask, please forgive me if I suggest not separating the windows. Having them placed apart at the ends of the wall will limit drapery placement now or in the future. Plus, those double windows let in so much wonderful light! I am speaking from experience here, but feel free to totally ignore-free advice is worth what you pay for it! ;-)

Cyn427, we went back and forth about the windows for a while. But we think we are going to keep them separated because we were thinking about possibly putting a bench in between them and making a reading area, or putting a tv in between them. I don't like the look of putting things in front of the Windows, so although I really like that they would bring in more light I think it limits what we could do with that area.

Library/music room? I'd suggest having a sofa, loveseat, or a couple of cozy armchairs facing the back windows. Or, 3-4 low cozy chairs around a coffee table or ottoman. Then a sofa table or long, low bookcase behind, creating a walkway between the railing and the seating, with two lamps at either end on top, and use the shelves for books or objets that can be seen from below. This gives a little separation to the space above, gives it a bit of coziness, but still something to see. The guitars on the wall (is that good for them? I don't know about such things). You can play music from up there for the household, or slip on headphones. Comfy for reading, too. It's a good spot to hang with the laptop if you don't want to watch tv, or you might want a small tv up there.

I'd put the sofa lamps on timers so it's not a dark attic when the sun goes down. Perhaps even on just a low-watt lamp in the corner to warm the space and chase the gloom away.

You could drape a nice textile, like a decorative rug or blanket, over the railing on the left end, to provide definition and color, and add a similar rug on the floor in front of the seating.

Bpathome, good ideas! I like the suggestion to have bookcases behind the couch which can be seen from below. It is not necessarily bad for the guitar to hang it on the wall, but we aren't 100% sure about that because we don't want them to get dusty or bang up the wall if it bumps against it when we hang it up of take it down. I actually saw a cool idea for a guitar armoire online recently and was considering trying to DIY it but don't have the tools I would need.

Would you ever consider having a ponywall instead of balustrade? Just think that gives you more options w/furniture arrangement and sound control.

Or even something like this for more visual interest:

These lofts seem like a good idea, but in real life they don't perform properly any of the functions we imagine.

Playroom for young kids? Not really, because you can't see them from downstairs and little ones will throw things over the railing or try to climb it.

Playroom for older kids? Not really, unless you want to hear TV, computer and computer game sounds from downstairs all day long!

Office, library or homework area? Would be fine as long as no one has the TV on downstairs or has a friend visiting, which will be heard loud and clear upstairs.

I would enclose it and use it as a dedicated music room and library for now.

I echo everything Chispa says. Also, heat rises and it can often get overly hot up there. Noise? Forget about it.

I would enclose it and add a closet. Your house will automatically be worth more as a four bedroom house.

What value is there in having the laundry room on the second floor if you have no children and your master bedroom is on the first floor?

Chispa, linelle, and graywings, we went back and forth about enclosing it or keeping it open but we decided to leave it open for now, and if we want to close it in later it would be easier than trying to match up the railing with the rails on the steps. The loft still has the full closet on the wall next to the bathroom. I made sure the closet would still be there. I definitely see the downfalls of a loft that you mentioned, but I think it looks much nicer than completely enclosed and we were thinking of kind of doing both in the future similar to the picture below, except maybe with glass doors if we decided to make it an office/music room. Would also bring in a lot of light. We were also considering maybe putting French doors in to make the room more open. We will see as all of that would be down the line. If we were to enclose the loft but keep the railing and catwalk, it would make the room about 16x10 which is a little narrow proportionally but would still be a nice space.

As for the laundry room being upstairs, it's not the ideal location for it but there isn't any space on the first floor so that's where it's going. We would like it on the first floor but that would require changing a lot of other rooms to fit. We also plan on children in the future and are hoping this home is one we can stay in, instead of just a first home. This isn't a custom home so we are working with the layout given. We have considered so many ways of changing it up but ultimately decided to stick to this layout other than using the 4th bedroom as a loft.

I like the openness and light that the loft offers, especially in a smaller home. I agree with your plan to enjoy it now, and enclose it later in life if need be.

My preference would be no loft as it does raise the issue of what to do with the space...it can't be used for messy things like a craft room as it's visible. It can't be used for private time like reading and writing or even napping as it's open and all the sound carries. It can't be used for noisy activities like playing music as the sound carries. Sometimes families will use them as computer space so the kids can use the computers but not without a potential watchful eye...

I reported Natalia Nomma's comment as Spam.

If it was my house, I'd use it as our homeschooling space. : ) I'd probably drape some beautiful quilts over the railing to display them. But I like the library/music room idea in the mean time. ; )

Some friends of ours have a house that had a similar loft, but they needed that space for a bedroom for their kids. She designed an amazing closet that went in over the loft space and had my husband build it. I love how it turned out. The drawers take advantage of the sloped ceiling below. The top cupboards are deep enough for hanging space in the front and storage totes behind the clothes. Here's a picture of it before the room was quite done:

laughable, that is a really nice space! Your husband is so talented!!

Laughable, so that is a wall of closets in the loft space? Looks really nice! We were thinking of doing some built ins in the loft. Our plan is to live there for a while and throw around some ideas before deciding what we really want to do with the space. Really excited to have such a versatile room to make what we want out of.

Music Room!! Best hobby ever :) You can put the guitars up on the wall with some simple guitar hang hooks that won't mess up any future plans and such. I like the funky ones but you don't have to get fancy. I think it would look really cool to see your string instruments hanging up there.

Had a previous house with a very similar loft above the family room. Originally thought of having an additional living area for my kids with TV and seating. Ended up with an L-shaped desk with one part of desk over looking family room. I loved working in that area with a wide open view of the rest of the house. I was also able to see the TV from my desk. It is not possible to have a TV in use in both areas at the same time, so a music room would probably have the same problem. A neighbor from down the street was at our house and commented that their house (they were the second owners) had the wall enclosed and hated it. It made the down stairs living area much darker, but there was also no recessed light nor ceiling fixture or lighted fan so the lower room was a two story black box at night. We also had a play area for the kids with a bumper pool table.

Thank you for the kind words about DH. He's as sweet as he is talented, and most definitely a keeper. :-)

Maybe this sketch (definitely not to scale) will help you visualize how the closet was built. The front of their house is one story with a reeeeally tall, sloping roof that goes up to meet the roof on the back half of the house. My friend and DH talked about how to make the best use of the space, and decided to mimic the slope of the living room ceiling, retaining a lofted feel, but made it symmetrical. The space that was left was utilized for the closet area. This meant that they didn't lose any of the floorspace in the bedroom, but they did gain a lot of storage. The red lines indicate the new ceiling plane and the new wall that has the closet doors and drawer fronts. HTH! : )