"but why could the builder not put a pull down ladder in the garage to access the storage room above it? Or a spiral staircase if there is a tiny amount of room for it?" I could have had a set of stairs put in the garage ceiling - BUT - have you ever tried to get things up and down those stairs? It's not easy! The things I want to store in there are excess decorative items/ christmas/holiday item/maybe suitcases. Those things are VERY heavy and ackward to lift. I will be living alone, so I really don't have anyone to help me get things up and down a set of stairs like that. "It sounds like you might be better off making the area into a huge bedroom for yourself with maybe a built in wall of storage and giant walk-in closet right in the room." oh, it would make a nice big bedroom, but I put my master on the first floor, because I hate stairs! The two bedrooms that were planned for upstairs will really only be used for a guest. I looked at the space again, and the only thing I think that can be done, is to move the door off center, which then you don't walk into the center of the space, and the door would need to be alittle smaller and angled at the top. I don't know how to post pictures - but try to imagine this the room is 13X15. When walking in the room. Wall to the right has 2 windows (centered) straight in front of you is the long wall (which will have the door in the middle) left wall is a long closet. The bonus space/room is 6'2" high by 13'5 wide by 28 deep. 1 window at the far end. You can only access the room via the bedroom that is in front of it. I really only put it in for resale and for storage. My thought was that someone "could" finish the flooring and add heat/air if they wanted to. It could be use for a workout room or an office, or just storage. I will ask him about finishing it with drywall. The drywall hasn't been put up in any areas of the house yet. The only other thing I can think of is to make the closet smaller. Rather than using the whole wall just use half of it, but then if I put the bed there , there wouldnt' be much room to get out of the bed. That might be worse than trying to hide a door. Why oh why did I decide to build????

I'm definitely not an expert, but we did just remodel a 1928 bathroom. Our ceiling and walls were pretty wonky. I am guessing if your ceiling is off, places in the walls are off - it's probably not even consistent on one wall! I don't feel like it was from settling (our house is brick) but more like the nuances of plaster. Because we had to live in this bathroom and were DIY, gutting it was not an option, however we both agree that would have been the best choice. It would have helped with electric, plumbing, setting the tiles easier, etc... We elected to do Durabond to smooth out the surfaces where we could. The walls weren't sanded down very far - just to get the paint to scuff. Any plaster that wasn't sound did break off from the vibration, and that meant that the area truly needed to be repaired a little more deeply.

Actually it has been very hot here and this wall is facing south... I am concerned I am going to start a job and might not finish it. I have found the product on the internet. I have 2 stones that I can use as samples. So I amgoing to use one with paint to make a wash (I will have to test the proportions paint/water. I once whitewashed my wood floor to give it a swedish look... But stones are different) And I'll test the lime on the other one once I get it. This way I'll see the results before. I might wait for the temperatures to go down a bit... It was 98 just yesterday. And it is the rainy season and it rains almost every day.

Here is another option. Why not build the closet to enclose the sink and the air handler? The door would then swing toward the cabinets. You then have a sink and some storage area for mops and brooms. The down side is the sink is still blocking the air handler. But it would not be too difficult to remove the sink when the air handler needs to be replaced. If you are worried about enclosing the sink, then remove it and build the closet as if it were there. Then new owner can add a sink if they want it to the existing plumbing connections.