thank you Cathrugg ! My room was exactly the utility room in the house plan & the builders goofed & put it on blocks for the raised concrete foundation we have. DH told them to leave it, I always wanted a room to do crafts in so I got it. It has been a bit of a challenge sometimes with the longer than wider shape of the room but hey, I got a room right! I found inspiration for my craftroom by googling craftroom images & on the BH&G site. Also on these places like AOL decorating, home ideas, Southern living, southern accents, that have some hobby rooms & multi-purpose rooms you can tour. Have fun looking & dreaming up ideas! Bonnie

I'm with those who've suggested creating a dual-purpose room. It sounds like you would use the crafting/project space, so why not set up half the room (or at least a corner) with a work space for yourself, and find some (gently used) fitness equipment your husband wants? Then you could see how you end up using the room before devoting more space than necessary to one purpose or the other. When I'm ready for another area to have to clean and maintain (which won't be for at least a couple of years), we'll finish our basement. We have the floor plan roughly worked out, and one room will be a combined fitness and project room. Right now the fitness stuff is set up in a corner of the unfinished basement and only sees use on the coldest mornings of the year, or occasionally when the kids are playing down there and it's too hot to run outside. I'm not sure it will get much more use even when finished as I'd much rather be outside moving around, but it's nice to have during periods of extreme weather. My sewing machine is now in a corner of our bedroom that's not ideal, but better than having it shut up somewhere. Projects end up all over the house, spread out in the living room or dining room. There's a kids craft table spackled and ready to be sanded sitting in the middle of the living room as I type. I know I would use a project space if I had a designated one, but the thought of having to clean (and decorate!) the basement when I'm still working on the main floors is too much for me at the moment.

Wow, such a bright, happy, cheerful room that says "hello come on in and let's chat before I sit at my desk and get to work" and I love your doggie in the picture and am so sorry that she is no longer able to enjoy this room. If there was a Murphy bed in there, I'd invite myself to visit!

I think you really need to look at the costs associated with moving walls and the kitchen and bath to get an office and curved stairs. The easiest and cheapest solution is to put your office in either bedroom and leave the floor plan the same. Take the money and time you save to update the kitchen and bath fixtures if needed but You still have not shown us what you are starting with except the stairs. Please post pictures of your current space! I think this is a waste of time and money unless you've found that money tree I've heard of. Good luck though. We really DO need more info from you to give you better solutions.