Colonial house, room use, storage etc.

amother

Gold

Thu, Jul 21 2016, 1:01 am

Moving to a 2-floor center-hall colonial with basement and looking for some organizing solutions/tips.
I now live in a house with an eat-in kitchen, a living-dining room (one large room divided into 2 parts, one with carpet, couch, a smaller bookcase; the other part with hardwood floor, dining table and bookcases), and a small office/study -- all on the first floor.

Here is the first floor in the new house. 4 rooms going clockwise from top left are:
1. eat-in kitchen
2. adjacent family room (where non-Jewish residents usually keep a couch and TV),
which opens (with glass doors) into
3. formal living room;
4. dining room across the center hallway from the formal living room.
there is a doorway between dining room into the kitchen but we may have to close it off to extend the stretch of counters and appliances in the kitchen.

I'm thinking of using "family room" as my living room, with couch and some books.
Maybe kids could hang out there after school, read, play games.
The room that is adjacent to this "family room" should prob. become my dining room.
On shabbos, the flow of people in my house is such that most drift between Shabbos table and the couch, so it makes sense to have these 2 rooms flow one into the other.

What do I do with the leftover room (that is now a dining room)?
I need space for an office but this room seems too big.

______________
Next question:

there are 2 closets in bathrooms upstairs, one in each.
Judging by size, they are meant as linen closets, not for extra shampoo and soap.
That's sure convenient for towels.

But is it normal to keep sheets in the bathroom as well?
Would they be damp, or musty?
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Where to keep extra blankets and pillows?
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thinking of more questions.
If you have any tips for storage/organization in a classical colonial house, I'll be happy to hear.

Thanks

amother

Orchid

Thu, Jul 21 2016, 2:43 am

This sounds similar to my house.

You're definitely going to want your dining room to connect to your kitchen. Otherwise serving meals is going to be a real hassle. I would turn the family room into your dining room and keep the living room as is. You can turn the extra room that you are cutting off from the kitchen into an office or a play room. If you're doing some construction anyway, then make sure to add a coat closet if there isn't one already. Maybe also design an area for shoes and backpacks.

Is there a closet in the hallway for linen? What else can you safely store in the bathroom closets? Maybe you can store the linen for each room in that room and keep extra bedding in the basement.

What's the layout of your basement? Is there a separate space that you can turn into a guest room and/or office? Can you put in built in shelves and cupboards to maximize storage space while leaving plenty of room for the kids to play?

amother

Chartreuse

Thu, Jul 21 2016, 10:54 am

I think it is normal to keep sheets and pillows in the linen closet.
My linen closet in my 100 year old colonial is also in the bathroom.

If you dont have a fan-vent in the bathroom, then you should leave the bathroom window open-certainly after showers. If not, your big problem won't be smelly sheets, but it will be mildewy shower walls and ceiling.

If your bathroom is aired out properly, your sheets should smell fine. Mine do.

amother

Gold

Thu, Jul 21 2016, 7:04 pm

Dining next to kitchen wouldn't work because of the existing open layout (1/3 height, 1/2-room-width partition between eat-in area and fam. room): it would look like tons of tables and chairs in one room. And there is no place for breakfront there either. One wall has French doors, another - fireplace with maybe room for a bookcase on one or both sides, third - windows; no fourth wall.

No linen closets in the hallway. The 2 shelved closets are in bathrooms.

Thank you for venting the bathroom advice, I'll have to keep that in mind.
I'll google storing linen in bathroom closet.

Greeneyes, that would be extravagant to take up 1/4 floor for laundry space, though fancy for sure. It would make an impression that I'm a groissa balabusta (sp?)

saw50st8

Thu, Jul 21 2016, 8:22 pm

Do you know the dimensions for each room? I would make the largest room the dining room because frum people tend to have large Shabbos meals.

I like the family room off the kitchen idea, even if it means walking further. As to the fourth room - what do you need? Do you need a guest room kind of room? You can put in French doors with shades inside to close when you need and set it up as an office with a nice day bed. You can also make it a study - put sefarim and a few desks, a quiet place to do home work and whatnot.

amother

Mauve

Thu, Jul 21 2016, 10:04 pm

I would make largest room dining room. Room on other side of Center hall the formal living room and room off kitchen the family/playroom.

Or of dining room is really big. Divide in half or a thI'd and make dining room with nice couch as a living room area...make famiky room off kitchen and take other room and make into nice study with bookshelves and things.

amother

Gold

Mon, Jul 25 2016, 9:11 pm

saw50st8 wrote:

Don't know dimensions off hand.

Dining and office rooms are probably the same size, so that would make either one largest.

Walking from the kitchen wouldn't be that much further, as the doorway between the family room and dining room is not far. And there's an open way between kitchen and family room. I think the flow there is pretty smooth.

I've been thinking of making the other room into an office with a kind of couch that opens into a comfortable bed so I can put a close family relative guest there. Eventually, I need to make guest room(s) in the basement but that will I'yh have to happen a little later because it's pricey, compared to closing off the opening from the kitchen and handing up a door.

amother

Gold

Mon, Jul 25 2016, 9:33 pm

amother wrote:

You're right, the dining room is larger than family room. It's not quite as big as to be divided though.

I would like to have bookcases in the living areas though, so we and kids actually use them, as opposed to books sitting in a fancy room unused. We tend to bring books to the couch area anyway.

I have no use for a formal living room because we don't have formal guests, or host parlor meetings and such. What do people use it for?

amother

Ginger

Tue, Jul 26 2016, 12:17 am

amother wrote:

I have no use for a formal living room because we don't have formal guests, or host parlor meetings and such. What do people use it for?

As the kids get older and have friends over, you'll find it helpful to have more than one conversation area. Teenagers need privacy without being exiled to their rooms.

amother

Gold

Mon, Sep 12 2016, 6:00 pm

Update:
I've moved bh.

Linen closets in bathrooms turned out to be good.

Met with kitchen planner, she was very insistent on leaving a doorway between kitchen and former dining room/ future study/living/whatever room. I am more confused than ever. She said it's not good to close off that room.

It throws off all my ideas about kitchen planning.

Can someone share their thoughts?