Interiors

“I call the bonus room the Florida basement,” says Bill Lee, vice president of operations for Sabal Homes, which includes bonus rooms in most of the semi-custom homes it builds throughout Tampa" target="_blank">Hillsborough County. “It is, simply, whatever the homeowner wants it to be.”

A one-story home doesn’t usually allow for additional square footage, so most bonus rooms can be found above the garage in a two-story design. Thus, the name. “The extra room above the garage is inexpensive space, and so it’s a bonus,” explains Bobby Alvarez, president of Alvarez Homes.

At Nohl Crest Homes, design center manager Lore Merida says it’s hard to include a bonus room in a home that’s smaller than 3,000 square feet. “But in our square footage range of 3,000 to 4,000 square feet, 80 percent [of homeowners] request it,” she says.

The fact that the bonus room is usually situated above the garage helps with noise abatement, since no one lives below, and with access and privacy. Some home-owners install stairs from the bonus area to the garage, which enables children or guests to enter and exit without traipsing through the home.

Which is the right way to go, according to Alvarez, especially if the bonus room is going to be used for recreation. “The bonus room should be designed as a destination rather than a pass-thru area,” he says. “If the second floor includes bedrooms for guests or children, then it’s preferable for the bonus room to be at the farthest point so that people don’t have to walk around bar stools or the pool table to reach bedrooms.”

The bonus room certainly shouldn’t be atop the master bedroom. If the space becomes a media or game room, mom and dad shouldn’t have to hear kids stomping around or playing video games.?

Merida primarily sees bonus rooms used as places where children can watch television and play. And when the guest bedrooms are also upstairs, the bonus room serves as a living and entertainment area for visitors.

“For many people with teenagers who have friends over, it gives them a sense of privacy,” Merida says. “And we’re seeing them used for that boomerang age, when young adults return home after college. It gives them separate living quarters.”

Bonus rooms also often incorporate a bar and kitchen facilities, or at least a sink and a small refrigerator, to provide easy access to beverages and snacks. The remainder of the space can hold card tables, a billiard table and a large-screen television.

Hobbies take over bonus rooms for homeowners who want to create specialized areas for sewing, arts, crafts or music. “A lot of people are crafting now and they want special desk areas,” Merida notes. “We’ve even had people set up entire rooms around scrapbooking.”

If you don’t have a separate office, bonus rooms offer plenty of space for computer equipment, work tables and files. In addition, you can outfit exercise rooms and full-scale gyms or dance studios with mirrored walls, ballet barres and specialized flooring. Alvarez had one security-conscious homeowner turn the bonus room into a security center with cameras.?

Normally, the bonus room isn’t conducive to use as a bedroom. Not because it’s not large enough, but because in many cases it’s accessed by an open stairway from below, which limits privacy.
However, some builders adjust by adding walls. “For example,” Lee says, “sometimes we do one version that’s extra large so that part of the space has added walls and a door for a bedroom-bonus room combination.”

The key, if you’re having your home built, is to plan the bonus room based on your lifestyle, interests and needs.

In general, regardless of the anticipated use, make sure that the floor over an uninsulated garage is insulated and, for safety’s sake, insist that the bonus room be carefully sealed to prevent carbon monoxide or other harmful vapors from entering the living space above.

Depending upon the purpose you have in mind, structural changes may have to be made to the room’s flooring, windows or doors, air handling, electrical systems and cables.

A media center, for example, could involve raised flooring, specialized lighting and theater-style seating, all of which should be planned early in the design process. Wiring, acoustic paneling and subfloors will be needed to accommodate the A/V equipment.?

“If we know that one of our customers is looking to create a media room in the bonus area, will meet with an A/V specialist so all the wiring will be done in advance during construction of the home,” says Merida.?

If you want a game room with that magnificent antique-and-extra-heavy pool table, be sure to relay that information to the builder in order to ensure that reinforced trusses and flooring will be installed to support the weight.

D?or is last on the list, but that’s where the fun begins. A bonus room, as something extra, allows you to run wild with design that fits its use. It can incorporate luxurious ceiling treatments or wainscoting for a secondary living room.

Or it can be whimsical and fun, incorporating elements such as novelty wallpapers that reflect its use, whether as game room, theater, art studio or children’s playroom.??

There are realms of possibilities waiting for you to enjoy. After all, you’ve just been rewarded with a bonus. Make the most of it.?

Bonus Rooms from A to Z

Extra space, like extra cash, is always welcome. These ideas for making good use of your bonus room run the gamut from extremely practical to outrageous fun.

Art studio
Bar
Craft center
Dance studio
Entertainment area
Fitness center
Game room
Hobby center
Ice cream parlor
Juice bar
Karate studio
Library
Media center
Needlework center??
Office
Playroom?
Quiet retreat
Recording studio?
Security base
Theater
Upstairs living room
Violinist’s rehearsal area?????
Web design office
Xtra family room??
Yoga studio?
ZZZZZ - an extra bedroom