The Jigsaw Puzzle, continued.

I’ve returned with the scoop on how we are expanding a compact home with an equally compact addition. This garage addition includes two small bedrooms, a full bath, a laundry area and multiple storage closets. 

Original Garage & Entry

Expanded Plan

First, we took over the outdoor covered entry to create a foyer.  The bottom of the stair opens up to the new hall to bring the spaces together in a seamless way.  A key to designing for space efficiency is not to scrimp on the circulation areas.  This applies to furniture arrangement as much as to permanent fixtures. While it’s tempting to steal an inch or two, for a larger room or an additional piece of furniture, the fact of the matter is that we tend to experience constraint more acutely when we’re trying to get from one place to another.  Clutter comes in all forms.  Generally, if you have less than 3 feet to move, it needs to go. 

Child rearing does not conform to cut throat minimalism and it shouldn’t.  Play is a main component of any kid’s home.  Here, we’ve added a swinging bookcase that leads to a hidden nook under the stair, named for a certain wizard.  In the future, it will probably become suitcase storage, but for now it’s just big fun.

The bedroom sizes are more suitable for kids’ rooms.  We’ve made an effort to add interest to both rooms with floor-to-ceiling built-in cabinetry and a custom bunk bed.  In reality, no one can remember the size of his or her childhood room with any accuracy.  It always seems large when it’s all yours.  What we do remember are the cool nooks and crannies, so a focus is put on creating that level of specialness here.  The beauty of this layout is that the closet core can be removed when the kids go to college, leaving a spacious lower master suite that can be opened up to the garden.

Foundation walls should always be concealed when taking over garage space for living.  The addition needs to feel like it has always been there.  Furring out the walls takes up valuable space, but it helps to achieve a sense of permanence and provides extra wall depth for built-in storage, deep window openings and extra insulation.

Next: the biggest tiny bathroom I’ve ever designed.  It includes a short, deep soaking tub and a wall-mounted toilet to maximize the 4 x 6 foot space.   Wall-mounted toilets are now readily available for residential use in the US.  I am as excited as one can possibly be about toilet availability!  It’s the perfect solution for tiny bathrooms or for people, like myself, who like the idea of running a mop under a toilet instead of dealing with the knobby porcelain base.  A vanity is recessed under the stair, which brings about an angled head height situation.  Though not ideal, we chose to make this sacrifice to make the bathroom work.  It will feel quite spacious, especially for a secondary bathroom.  Stone tile at the walls will give it a crisp look, while deep recesses provide the opportunity to stash away bathroom clutter. 

For now, here’s a picture of that dreamy wall-mounted toilet tank!