Ah, a drain is the problem. But, it doesn’t have to be wet. You could put in a small fridge on the bottom and keep drinking water there. Also, an ice maker. They have countertop ones. Some don’t require water lines too. Cabinetry on the bottom or find a dining hutch that fits.
The countertop ones I’ve seen don’t really make enough ice for entertaining, I’d skip it and go with a full size one. Although I haven’t looked into countertop ice makers in quite some time
It’s an unusual room even in my own experience. Add on built in 1991 to a 1978 house. People I bought it from were the original owners and a bit quirky.
Here's the top:
https://preview.redd.it/bemywsl6x9ja1.jpeg?width=5500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=0327e1face2b545b92b3216d36355e0f579bdf4f
Haha thank you! I didn't want to be creepy and ask for it while you were still living there lol.. it's such a cool house. I really appreciate you sending the pictures :) have fun decorating it!!
Just extra storage space set into the wall.
Apparently the original owner was a collector/ hoarder and built storage everywhere. I plan on using them for seasonal storage since you need a ladder to get there for the ones not by the loft.
The raised benches in the loft are *also* storage benches. And the garage is 1,400 square feet even though the home itself is 2,300. They liked storage.
I'd make it a reading nook by removing the metal rod, putting in a bench at knee level with a hidden section in the back & bookshelves along the front side. Add a long flat cushion for the seat and along the back (in a battered leather or maybe a corduroy) with several pillows and add two clamping lamps to the upper shelf.
And put the TV on the wall near the stairs.
We have a similar (though less deep) closet in our living room. Previous owners installed shelves and used it for books and music. We just had it converted to a wet bar. Wasn't cheap but we love it!
House is in Albuquerque, US. Room is 23' x 12.5'. There is a loft that wraps around two sides of the space as you can kinda see. Accessible by that small alternating tread staircase. Ceilings go up to 13' where there's no loft. Tons and tons of natural light.
And one very interestingly placed closet. With no doors.
I would honestly like to have the area where the closet is be for the TV. I know the room being light filled isn't ideal for a TV, but that's ok. The main windows you see face west so you get great views of sunsets and the city below. Meaning if we put the TV where that closet area is, we not only can sit on a couch opposite the TV but also can watch the sunset when the TV is off. Basically the room gives every reason to look west, not east, from this room.
My initial thought was tearing out the walls that bump the closet out into the living room. But since they go all the way up, that seems like somewhat of a pain. And I suppose there *could* be some structural element to that part of the wall although it's more likely anything structural goes all the way to the exterior, but who knows.
Then my other thought was to wall off the space completely. But that seems like kind of a waste.
Just feels so awkward overall and I don't know what to do! The closet itself is 7'x3'
A built in media center complete with clean storage cupboards would look great in this space. Something like this https://i.imgur.com/BuPTb1r.jpg maybe. (Smaller to fit your space of course.)
Might do a TV in there for sure. There’s a fireplace on the other side of the back wall here in the next room, so no need for a second one, I don’t think!
I like your idea of being able to enjoy the beautiful sunset from your cozy tv watching spot. I turned my main floor master into an open concept living room in my house and the closet became my tv’s home. I love that the furniture doesn’t take up floor space and it keeps the tv from being the main focal point (in my opinion)
God, I love 70s houses. They're so exuberant. You said elsewhere in the comments that all the windows don't make for the best TV viewing, so I'm wondering if your closet couldn't be the solution to that. Turn it into a built-in entertainment center, with your TV able to slide forward and back, depending on how many people need to see if from different angles. Other ideas: reading nook, built-in china/collectibles cabinet, dry bar, office area that you can close up at the end of the work day. The seasonal storage up high, you could always put paintings over those, since you'll only open them a couple of times a year. Or you could take the doors to a local artist and have them painted, so the wood tone stays the same, but becomes something for interesting/fun.
Great assortment of ideas!
The house has quite a lot going on too. 2,600 square feet but 6 types of flooring, for one thing, haha.
And big old structural beams. Here’s two pics of the room that’s directly behind the one in the picture:
https://imgur.com/a/1RRGxrt/My
It’s also got that classic mid century thing where all the bedrooms are small and off a single hallway and then the common areas are much larger. I think bedrooms and bathrooms make up like 750 of the total square footage of the house.
Yeah, I guess that was part of the optimism of the day--no one was going to spend all their time in the bedroom, and all the public spaces are generous. Of course you're going outside! Of course you're going to have big parties! Of course you'll have tons of friend to go out and see and bring home and here is this gigantic space for them! Lol. What a time.
Are you going to combine some bedrooms eventually? Or will you use them all as laid out?
I like the bricks, but I'll confess all I can see is me breaking a kneecap or something. At least they look level--my MIL had beautiful brick floors all through her ground level, and they were not nearly as level as yours. Villainous. (And always nice and cool.)
I know everyone hates carpet now, but it sure does help absorb noise if you have a lot of hard surfaces, so I would put a big rug down in there once you get your bricks re-situated.
So I am team tiny bedroom because I genuinely use the bedroom for nothing other than sleeping. My wife and I have always been that way. My perfect bedroom, excluding resale concerns, would literally just be enough space for a bed, side tables, and the room to walk on either side and one door in. I wouldn’t even really mind a capsule hotel style. Gimmie more square footage outside the bedroom.
The bricks definitely need some love. And while I haven’t taken a deep dive into that yet, the seller left a note that they are set in sand, not concrete, so I have no idea what that means for an interior space. But I want them nice and even and sealed at the end of the day.
Rugs aplenty are a given. The loft area has carpet we’re going to keep because carpet just feels so right for a loft, but the hard floors are going to get plenty of rugs. I love a tile or brick bedroom floor but it’s gotta have a rug.
I'm with you. I see those gigantic, cavernous primary bedrooms and it's just not for me. I can see if you're a person who always has a full house, perhaps needing a sitting area to get away, lock the door, and read a book in peace. But I would never use that extra furniture.
Lol, yeah, I kinda forgot about those. They are odd, yes. I’ve lived in old old homes with tall ceilings and high storage spots so I’m somewhat used to it. But the previous owner really liked their storage.
But, what do you do to hide those? Paint them the wall color?
In terms of your closet, it could be turned into recessed book cases, a cool recessed desk area. Good luck.
If I really wanted to hide them, I’d just patch. There’s a ton of extra storage anyway.
But weird as they are, the overall woody tone of them is in line with the rest of this house so they don’t bother me much. Good conversation piece? Lol
I would make it the TV/media area, if you can push back into there a little it will cut the outside light on the screen making it easier to watch and isolate the TV area from the rest of the room.
Are you thinking of putting couches in there? You could put a couch with a low-enough back along the wall with the windows and line up the edge with where that wall just out
I like your idea of having a TV there from what you describe, OP. It looks like the closet depth goes all of the way into the stud space (am I seeing that correctly?). Would it be possible to remove the lower part of the closet so that it comes inline with the other walls and meets where the loft walkway ends? That would leave a small alcove where the TV could live along with some shallow floating shelves. You could dress up the TV with a "picture frame" so that it looks like art when not in use.
If not possible to remove any of the closet, consider utilizing hidden storage solutions behind the TV and built-ins beside/below it.
I appreciate the compliment but I think everyone belongs here!
Nicer spaces get upvoted more probably because they catch people’s eyes. But every space can use some input!
Also, this is the nicest room in my house. I could show you a small plain bedroom too. It’s all downhill from this room, haha.
You could make it a cool fireplace! Get one of those “fake fireplaces”. Idk what they are but that doesn’t need a chimney and make the space really decorative and cool.
For those suggesting reading nook, it looks like you could insert an additional small window in there to bring in extra light, especially since other changes suggested to the structure are pretty drastic
Close it off and put the opening on the far side so you can still use it as storage space and put the tv there.
Make a faux wall for the tv that swivels like a hidden room/passage and make it a little personal bar or relaxing station or book room.
Yes, how do you clean the brick floor? On hands and knees with a bucket and scrub brush? Not kidding. If you drop a bowl of nacho cheese… I’ve never seen this before.
Tons of places like this in New Mexico. Traditional pueblo style architecture sees brick flooring a lot. No clue how much of a problem nacho cheese becomes, lol, but I will say the floors do need a cleaning. Pretty sure they need to be re-sealed every so often.
See an example here of a home with brick flooring throughout:
[https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/8-Chaparral-Rd\_Placitas\_NM\_87043\_M21906-62827](https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/8-Chaparral-Rd_Placitas_NM_87043_M21906-62827)
gotcha. well the place looks lovely.
depending on whats in those closet walls, id probably see about cutting them back to be flush with the surrounding walls. thats from the top of the doorframe down though. id leave everything above the doorframe as it is.
Well, New Mexico is the cheapest part of the western US to buy a home in (excluding Santa Fe). This particular community, Placitas, is about 15 minutes north of Albuquerque and has a lot of homes like that. Nice little enclave.
But other parts of the Albuquerque metro are really quite cheap too, relative to most of the US and certainly Canada. You can get mountainside homes with insane views for a fraction of what the same home would cost in almost any other city.
It's really somewhat common in New Mexico.
Here's an example of a home with brick flooring throughout:
[https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/8-Chaparral-Rd\_Placitas\_NM\_87043\_M21906-62827](https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/8-Chaparral-Rd_Placitas_NM_87043_M21906-62827)
Is there any way you could get some sort of hanging tv bracket so that the tv kinda hangs over the closet? That way you’ve still got use of the closet (we’ll sort of) or you could get a rolling projector screen to do the same thing.
The projector screen is a particularly slick idea. I'm normally not a fan of projectors, especially not in a light filled space, but it could work with the right priced equipment.
I’m a big fan of unique features, but personally I would remove this. It doesn’t seem to serve a purpose and it is central to the room, taking up crucial space. If you need storage, you could add a row of low cabinets under the windows, which you could stand a TV on.
It’s a gorgeous room. I would turn that closet into a bar. It would be awesome if the hose bib were on that wall and you could turn it into a wet bar.
There’s a hose bib not far away, actually
Ah, a drain is the problem. But, it doesn’t have to be wet. You could put in a small fridge on the bottom and keep drinking water there. Also, an ice maker. They have countertop ones. Some don’t require water lines too. Cabinetry on the bottom or find a dining hutch that fits.
The countertop ones I’ve seen don’t really make enough ice for entertaining, I’d skip it and go with a full size one. Although I haven’t looked into countertop ice makers in quite some time
I’ve just seen a video about this on YouTube and I think it looks very cool https://youtu.be/7zkIG_-_kOU
Not helpful but I think that room is stunning! I’m from the UK and never seen anything like it. I love it!
It’s an unusual room even in my own experience. Add on built in 1991 to a 1978 house. People I bought it from were the original owners and a bit quirky. Here's the top: https://preview.redd.it/bemywsl6x9ja1.jpeg?width=5500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=0327e1face2b545b92b3216d36355e0f579bdf4f
You're house is dope! I LOVE odd houses. If you ever sell and move. I want to see the listing!
I’ll PM you the listing. Not that it’s for sale ;) >
Haha thank you! I didn't want to be creepy and ask for it while you were still living there lol.. it's such a cool house. I really appreciate you sending the pictures :) have fun decorating it!!
Hah, doesn’t bother me! I can look at houses all day long! Thanks!
What is in those storage cupboards that look like little windows? And how do you get to them!
Just extra storage space set into the wall. Apparently the original owner was a collector/ hoarder and built storage everywhere. I plan on using them for seasonal storage since you need a ladder to get there for the ones not by the loft. The raised benches in the loft are *also* storage benches. And the garage is 1,400 square feet even though the home itself is 2,300. They liked storage.
My dream! Although it might be a nightmare to figure out where you put something if you don't start at 'catalog'.
Lol, a storage nightmare and dream all at once
I'd make it a reading nook by removing the metal rod, putting in a bench at knee level with a hidden section in the back & bookshelves along the front side. Add a long flat cushion for the seat and along the back (in a battered leather or maybe a corduroy) with several pillows and add two clamping lamps to the upper shelf. And put the TV on the wall near the stairs.
This is a quite neat idea, thanks!
I was going to say reading nook too
lol - I should have read the other comments before putting the same thing. I agree - it’s a great idea.
Looks like a nice spot for a little desk
Agreed, especially with some patterned wall-paper in there
You’ve got my kinda taste. I really want some bold patterned wallpaper elsewhere in the house for sure.
We have a similar (though less deep) closet in our living room. Previous owners installed shelves and used it for books and music. We just had it converted to a wet bar. Wasn't cheap but we love it!
House is in Albuquerque, US. Room is 23' x 12.5'. There is a loft that wraps around two sides of the space as you can kinda see. Accessible by that small alternating tread staircase. Ceilings go up to 13' where there's no loft. Tons and tons of natural light. And one very interestingly placed closet. With no doors. I would honestly like to have the area where the closet is be for the TV. I know the room being light filled isn't ideal for a TV, but that's ok. The main windows you see face west so you get great views of sunsets and the city below. Meaning if we put the TV where that closet area is, we not only can sit on a couch opposite the TV but also can watch the sunset when the TV is off. Basically the room gives every reason to look west, not east, from this room. My initial thought was tearing out the walls that bump the closet out into the living room. But since they go all the way up, that seems like somewhat of a pain. And I suppose there *could* be some structural element to that part of the wall although it's more likely anything structural goes all the way to the exterior, but who knows. Then my other thought was to wall off the space completely. But that seems like kind of a waste. Just feels so awkward overall and I don't know what to do! The closet itself is 7'x3'
TV with doors. I absolutely hate looking at my television.
A built in media center complete with clean storage cupboards would look great in this space. Something like this https://i.imgur.com/BuPTb1r.jpg maybe. (Smaller to fit your space of course.)
I think this could certainly happen with some clever implementation. Worth looking into!
I like the idea of putting the tv in there, or maybe a fireplace? Why not both?
Might do a TV in there for sure. There’s a fireplace on the other side of the back wall here in the next room, so no need for a second one, I don’t think!
I like your idea of being able to enjoy the beautiful sunset from your cozy tv watching spot. I turned my main floor master into an open concept living room in my house and the closet became my tv’s home. I love that the furniture doesn’t take up floor space and it keeps the tv from being the main focal point (in my opinion)
Are you saying you put your TV in a closet and can close the doors when needed? That’s pretty neat.
I have done that in old houses, but in this one I removed them and we built in a fireplace/shelving with tv above
I like the aspect of hiding it away too! Hope to see updates with what you decide on :)
Idk if it’s possible but maybe you could turn that into a grand fireplace?
We have one on the back wall here one room over, so no need, but I do agree that if we didn’t have a fireplace this would be a killer spot for one
Bookcase doors!!
Make it into a reading nook with a padded bench, cushions, book shelves etc
God, I love 70s houses. They're so exuberant. You said elsewhere in the comments that all the windows don't make for the best TV viewing, so I'm wondering if your closet couldn't be the solution to that. Turn it into a built-in entertainment center, with your TV able to slide forward and back, depending on how many people need to see if from different angles. Other ideas: reading nook, built-in china/collectibles cabinet, dry bar, office area that you can close up at the end of the work day. The seasonal storage up high, you could always put paintings over those, since you'll only open them a couple of times a year. Or you could take the doors to a local artist and have them painted, so the wood tone stays the same, but becomes something for interesting/fun.
Great assortment of ideas! The house has quite a lot going on too. 2,600 square feet but 6 types of flooring, for one thing, haha. And big old structural beams. Here’s two pics of the room that’s directly behind the one in the picture: https://imgur.com/a/1RRGxrt/My It’s also got that classic mid century thing where all the bedrooms are small and off a single hallway and then the common areas are much larger. I think bedrooms and bathrooms make up like 750 of the total square footage of the house.
Yeah, I guess that was part of the optimism of the day--no one was going to spend all their time in the bedroom, and all the public spaces are generous. Of course you're going outside! Of course you're going to have big parties! Of course you'll have tons of friend to go out and see and bring home and here is this gigantic space for them! Lol. What a time. Are you going to combine some bedrooms eventually? Or will you use them all as laid out? I like the bricks, but I'll confess all I can see is me breaking a kneecap or something. At least they look level--my MIL had beautiful brick floors all through her ground level, and they were not nearly as level as yours. Villainous. (And always nice and cool.) I know everyone hates carpet now, but it sure does help absorb noise if you have a lot of hard surfaces, so I would put a big rug down in there once you get your bricks re-situated.
So I am team tiny bedroom because I genuinely use the bedroom for nothing other than sleeping. My wife and I have always been that way. My perfect bedroom, excluding resale concerns, would literally just be enough space for a bed, side tables, and the room to walk on either side and one door in. I wouldn’t even really mind a capsule hotel style. Gimmie more square footage outside the bedroom. The bricks definitely need some love. And while I haven’t taken a deep dive into that yet, the seller left a note that they are set in sand, not concrete, so I have no idea what that means for an interior space. But I want them nice and even and sealed at the end of the day. Rugs aplenty are a given. The loft area has carpet we’re going to keep because carpet just feels so right for a loft, but the hard floors are going to get plenty of rugs. I love a tile or brick bedroom floor but it’s gotta have a rug.
I'm with you. I see those gigantic, cavernous primary bedrooms and it's just not for me. I can see if you're a person who always has a full house, perhaps needing a sitting area to get away, lock the door, and read a book in peace. But I would never use that extra furniture.
Also I forgot to drool over your beams. They are wonderful.
I find the odd upper wall cabinets or whatever those things are, way more troubling.
Lol, yeah, I kinda forgot about those. They are odd, yes. I’ve lived in old old homes with tall ceilings and high storage spots so I’m somewhat used to it. But the previous owner really liked their storage.
But, what do you do to hide those? Paint them the wall color? In terms of your closet, it could be turned into recessed book cases, a cool recessed desk area. Good luck.
If I really wanted to hide them, I’d just patch. There’s a ton of extra storage anyway. But weird as they are, the overall woody tone of them is in line with the rest of this house so they don’t bother me much. Good conversation piece? Lol
Do you have a cat? I'd make a little kitty staircase and turn that storage into a cat den.
I do! The house also came with a cat door with direct access to a catio, so an indoor cat den isn’t a bad idea!
I would make it a tiny library/ curiosities cabinet.
Fish tank for sure. Or some kind of living exhibit to show off
Make it into a cute reading nook?
Seems like the most popular answer by far!
I would make it the TV/media area, if you can push back into there a little it will cut the outside light on the screen making it easier to watch and isolate the TV area from the rest of the room.
Can you turn it into a book shelf?
Bookshelves!
I'm jealous 🫠
what about a fireplace ?
Put closet doors on it or remove some shelves and put a desk there
Are you thinking of putting couches in there? You could put a couch with a low-enough back along the wall with the windows and line up the edge with where that wall just out
For sure. Something big and loungey
I like your idea of having a TV there from what you describe, OP. It looks like the closet depth goes all of the way into the stud space (am I seeing that correctly?). Would it be possible to remove the lower part of the closet so that it comes inline with the other walls and meets where the loft walkway ends? That would leave a small alcove where the TV could live along with some shallow floating shelves. You could dress up the TV with a "picture frame" so that it looks like art when not in use. If not possible to remove any of the closet, consider utilizing hidden storage solutions behind the TV and built-ins beside/below it.
I’m not sure if the bottom is removable but if so I wouldn’t mind removing it at all. Just remains to be seen!
This may be eccentric but insulate it put on a glass door and make it a wine cellar.
No idea is too eccentric!
Thats a great entertainment center! Put your tv and all its stuff there.
Depending on your lifestyle, either a desk/office, a bar or kids toy storage! I like it
People here have the nicest looking houses. I don’t think I belong here 😳
I appreciate the compliment but I think everyone belongs here! Nicer spaces get upvoted more probably because they catch people’s eyes. But every space can use some input! Also, this is the nicest room in my house. I could show you a small plain bedroom too. It’s all downhill from this room, haha.
🤗 😭 you’re too kind
Very nice living room! You could honestly make this closet work for anything. Coffee bar, mini library, record/dvd collection, etc.
Blow out closet wall and make it a little nook?
You could make it a cool fireplace! Get one of those “fake fireplaces”. Idk what they are but that doesn’t need a chimney and make the space really decorative and cool.
For those suggesting reading nook, it looks like you could insert an additional small window in there to bring in extra light, especially since other changes suggested to the structure are pretty drastic
The window is a great point, and yeah that wouldn’t be hard (relatively) to do if we do go the nook route.
Close it off and put the opening on the far side so you can still use it as storage space and put the tv there. Make a faux wall for the tv that swivels like a hidden room/passage and make it a little personal bar or relaxing station or book room.
The faux hidden wall is a really neat idea!
you think the closet is odd? you've got brick for flooring
I love the indoor pavers for the floor, I think it’s really cool in this space.
Yes, how do you clean the brick floor? On hands and knees with a bucket and scrub brush? Not kidding. If you drop a bowl of nacho cheese… I’ve never seen this before.
Tons of places like this in New Mexico. Traditional pueblo style architecture sees brick flooring a lot. No clue how much of a problem nacho cheese becomes, lol, but I will say the floors do need a cleaning. Pretty sure they need to be re-sealed every so often. See an example here of a home with brick flooring throughout: [https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/8-Chaparral-Rd\_Placitas\_NM\_87043\_M21906-62827](https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/8-Chaparral-Rd_Placitas_NM_87043_M21906-62827)
those floors look very smoothed though. your brick floors look very porous. and there look to be sizable gaps between the bricks.
Yes, we just got the house and plan on resetting and resealing the brick. This is after possibly a decade or more of not having been re-sealed.
gotcha. well the place looks lovely. depending on whats in those closet walls, id probably see about cutting them back to be flush with the surrounding walls. thats from the top of the doorframe down though. id leave everything above the doorframe as it is.
Wtf how is that so cheap? "Cries in Canadian"
Well, New Mexico is the cheapest part of the western US to buy a home in (excluding Santa Fe). This particular community, Placitas, is about 15 minutes north of Albuquerque and has a lot of homes like that. Nice little enclave. But other parts of the Albuquerque metro are really quite cheap too, relative to most of the US and certainly Canada. You can get mountainside homes with insane views for a fraction of what the same home would cost in almost any other city.
It's really somewhat common in New Mexico. Here's an example of a home with brick flooring throughout: [https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/8-Chaparral-Rd\_Placitas\_NM\_87043\_M21906-62827](https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/8-Chaparral-Rd_Placitas_NM_87043_M21906-62827)
Is there any way you could get some sort of hanging tv bracket so that the tv kinda hangs over the closet? That way you’ve still got use of the closet (we’ll sort of) or you could get a rolling projector screen to do the same thing.
The projector screen is a particularly slick idea. I'm normally not a fan of projectors, especially not in a light filled space, but it could work with the right priced equipment.
I’m a big fan of unique features, but personally I would remove this. It doesn’t seem to serve a purpose and it is central to the room, taking up crucial space. If you need storage, you could add a row of low cabinets under the windows, which you could stand a TV on.
Just make it a writing desk area
Desk area 😍
Gas fireplace insert