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ira_zoe

how to make the impossible room work?

Ira_Zoe
13 years ago

We have an odd 9 ft x 9 ft (approx) room with 5 doorways and one window... Ideas on how to use it or renovate it on a shoestring budget would be welcome. (Sorry about the mess -- we just moved in!)

There's only one wall you could place anything against, but that's the pathway to walk in/out of or through the room between the kitchen and the front hallway.

One of the walls has 3 doors on it! One doorway is to the hallway, one to the basement, one to the 'servants stairs'.

There's another wall with the kitchen door and a door to the back porch.

The single window on another wall looks out on the neighboring driveway/backyard.

Hope to hear from somebody with suggestions!

See 10 photos: http://s1124.photobucket.com/albums/l561/Ira_Zoe/Our%20Old%20House%202011/

Here is a link that might be useful: Ira_Zoe Old house photos

Comments (5)

  • OttawaGardener
    13 years ago

    In our old home, the dining room had 7 doors - we closed off one of the doors since there were two that went into the kitchen. The kitchen also had seven doors, but we closed off two - the duplicate to the dining room, and another to a side porch (which was also accessible from the dining room). These were original, probably the same as yours! But I agree that they make it difficult to furnish a room, and for traffic flow.

    So... is it possible to close off any of these doors? (e.g. does there need to be hallway access to this room?) I wouldn't close off a window if it's the only one. Sorry, that's all I can think of.

  • civ_IV_fan
    13 years ago

    first, how cool! i always love the character of old houses. it looks like the prior owners had some bold style ideas!

    anyhow, what do you want for the room? It strike me as basically a mudroom, but if you don't enter the house from that door that isn't what you want. otherwise, maybe a dining room with a table and some open shelving on the walls.

  • energy_rater_la
    13 years ago

    I'm not a designer, but looking at the pics
    unless your house is well sealed, this room
    has a LOT of air infiltration.
    I see by the steam radiatiors that you are not
    from my area!
    But if you are going to make this room/house comfortable
    you should have a blower door test. It would also benefit
    the whole house.
    while no one wants to be uncomfortable in thier home,
    you don't know how much air is moving through the house
    unless you test.
    caulking would be a material cheap investment, but
    working the caulk gun would take time. it is not rocket science
    air sealing has a quick payback and is the easiest way
    to improve comfort.
    drop me an email if you want more info, I don't always
    come remodel forum. I'll advise you here, but would
    need to know that it would be worth my/your time to
    do the whole q/a thing.
    what is your location...not that I'm wanting to test your
    house. The radiators tell me that it is too_cold where you live! LOL! And I work where I live.

    Happy Mardi Gras,
    and best of luck

  • ideagirl2
    13 years ago

    Can you post a floorplan (even if it's just a hand-drawn sketch)? Seeing what this room is adjacent to (i.e. where the doors go) would be very helpful.

  • lyvia
    13 years ago

    Can you describe it in words this way -
    Wall A has doors 1, 2, and 3. Door 1 goes here, Door 2 goes there.
    Moving right, wall B has ... etc.

    Tell us which doors go up or down, and which have duplicates elsewhere.

    And what do you want to do with the space? Is it simply visually annoying to look at all the doors? (My kid has a door poster that looks like a pony is looking out of a stall. You could have several!) Or you could put a fancy curtain over one wall, adding insulation without permanently blocking.