After living in the house for a while, “He” and “She” realized they had a need for a home gym. She is not willing to go somewhere to work out, and they both pretty much prefer to stay home. For some time, they used a spare bedroom, but quickly found they didn’t have enough room for the equipment they really wanted. So, one bright morning, they did away with the wall separating two rooms and combined them to one long narrow room. Here are some of the results:
In this picture, there is still some work to be done, hiding wires, tidying up and decorating, but it is essentially done.
Here is what the two small bedrooms looked like when “He” and “She” bought the house:
Initally, they renovated each room individually, and they were a home office and a guest room, respectively. Here are a couple of pictures from the guest room after the first re-do:
She painted the daisy above the bed on the old wood framed window that was original to this bedroom prior to the installation of more energy efficient vinyl windows.
In the guest room, they removed the painted panelling and put up sheetrock. The original window was replaced with a vinyl window, and the popcorn ceiling was scraped flat. A new light fixture and crown molding were added, as well as laminate wood flooring.
In the office, much of the same work was done, however, the ceiling was left rough and the original light fixture was left in place.
Because the renovation was done in two phases, some of the work they did initially had to be re-done. For the combining of the rooms, the dividing wall was removed and the laminate flooring was pulled up. They were never happy with it, anyway. Because one room had a smooth ceiling, the other was textured and there was a gap where the wall had been, an alternative was designed. By using red oak panels and pine trim, they created the beautiful ceiling they now have. Here is a picture of the first panel as it went up.
And, this picture shows how well the ceiling turned out!
Also, in the picture above, you can see the contemporary light fixtures that were used. For flooring, they put down a sturdy carpet with a thick comfy padding underneath. This has worked well for gym flooring and it makes a great surface for cat-napping, as well!
The equipment in the gym includes a Body Solid G-5 Home Gym, a recumbent bike by Tunturi, a Nautilus treadmill, and and Bowflex SelectTech dumbells. Other items include an exercise ball, a yoga mat and accessories, and a Nintendo Wii! Yes, that’s a video game, but you would be surprised at the exercise you can get with the bowling, tennis, boxing, baseball and golf games that came with the system! The 42 inch LCD television mounted in one end of the room and killer surround sound make it a fun place to work out while watching their favorite shows or movies.
A home office and a guest room are all fine and good, however, they were rarely used, and they won’t add years to their lives like the home gym will!
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