bonus room renovation ~

Do you have a “bonus room” in your home? Often the room over the garage, or partial basement, that builders like to build out and tout as bonus space.

This room over the garage was expanded by the previous owner, so the bonus room has bonus space! And it’s the last room to be updated from the previous owner’s affinity for Arkansas Razorback Red. Ouch!

Now it’s an enjoyable multi-use space. 🙂 You’ve already seen the furniture update project and my craft room tour. Today I’m sharing the actual room renovation and giving a look at the completed space.

We mounted three brushed metal gallery rails from Crate and Barrel in different lengths to create the gallery wall. All the photos are family treasures or travel favorites, and can be moved around on the rails to add new pictures without having to rearrange the entire gallery.

All of the seating area furniture was reused from other rooms ~ leather sofa, tables and wall units. New lamps, framed prints picked up on vacations, a new ceiling fan and a rug from IKEA brightened up the look. The biggest investment came with the custom curtains from Calico Home. They are beautifully made and though they were more expensive than packaged curtains, the fabric really makes the room. Plus, they’re paisley and Bluwaterguy really likes paisley!

Moving around the room from the seating area, there’s a bump out we use as a workout corner with Bluwaterguy’s treadmill and my Pilates apparatus. And all the scuba gear is stored in that closet, ready for the next adventure. 🙂

My craft space is in the opposite corner, and my miniature perfect beach cottage has its spot too.

We really enjoy this room now ~ crafting, television, music, exercise, surrounded by our travel memories and family treasures. It was a long road and a messy renovation to get here!

Here’s a sample from the reno work ~ and a peek at the last vestiges of the Razorback Red gloss paint from the previous owner. Yes, it was a dark red semi-gloss. Soooooo much fun to paint over. Oh and the textured ceiling material applied all the way down the sloping walls ~ such a mess to remove and sand smooth. Yikes! We went for a blue, khaki, white combo ~ sort of a white shirt, chinos and jean jacket kinda room. It took a couple of tries to get the right shade of chambray blue.

Here are three shots of the workout corner in progress. Yep, more dark red gloss paint and the support beam had to be scraped, sanded and painted to remove the textured ceiling stuff too. So much better in the after shot, donchathink?

The decorative items were collected over years, and lots of travel ~ filled in with things we picked up in town from World Market and Pottery Barn.

I can’t resist buying a travel guide for the destination I’m visiting. Even when they get out-of-date it’s still fun to look back at my notes and bits of paper stashed in the books.

This brass clock is one of Bluwaterguy’s treasures. It’s a marine console clock from a yacht and it belonged to his dad. It’s one of the few things Bluwaterguy has from his dad and we gave it a special spot in the center of the display.

Bluwaterguy did most of the reno work on the room a couple of years ago, preparing for a family visit. The rest came together over time. We finished the wall unit furniture refresh this summer, just in time for another family visit. I guess family should come more often to help us get things done!

Now we’re just enjoying the room. There’s still one light fixture to change out, but there’s always something. Oh and I need to paint the closet doors. Maybe we should plan for a family visit to get those items crossed off the list. 🙂

Hope you enjoyed the “bonus room” tour and maybe took away a few ideas for your own. Cheers y’all ~~~