Got a spare room? Maybe it’s time to indulge
| Text : Elizabeth Kerr | Photo : www.thinkstockphotos.com |
So you move into a new flat because ithas a so-called third bedroom. Perhapsyou’re half of a couple planning onchildren, and immediately envision a nursery forbedroom number two. The question becomes:What to do with number three?
Most of us would immediately think, “Storage!”with a guest bedroom or office coming right onits heels. But there may be swanky, or simplybizarre, alternatives to that. Some extra roomsare too small to function as a guest roomanyway, and libraries have been done to death.And really, if you have a third bedroom, chancesare you don’t need an office.
As nice as it would be to havean in-house sauna, that’s justnot that practical, and a wine cellarwould be difficult to maintain in orderfor it to work the way it should—thoughadmittedly air conditioning can be adjustedto perform the same function and it’s not anuncommon request. The key to making themost of that superfluous room (if such a thingexists in Hong Kong) is avoiding too muchextra work. A few extra power points mightbe okay, but basins that require plumbing justaren’t always worth the effort. And as designerCandace Campos points out maintaining, oreven increasing, the resale value of your homeis worth consideration.
Depending on whether or not you have a largeenough wall surface and perhaps light-tightcapabilities, a home theatre is one option.A really big television unit with 5.1 channelsurround sound works just fine, but how abouta vinyl screen and cinema-style seating —maybe a popcorn machine. Miami-based FirstImpressions Theme Theaters has been customdesigning home cinemas since 1975 for,“celebrities, dignitaries, [and] bon vivants,” butdesigner Monique McLintock has come acrossthe same request. The downside is that “newreleases” at home may not be all that new. Theupside is that even on “home video” you’ll beable to see a film the way it was supposed tobe seen.
Of course, not everyone is a movie buff.Without a basement a wine cellar may be out ofthe question but a bar is not — and that spareroom could easily be the same size as the localwatering hole. Ikea, Tequila Kola, Indigo andprobably PriceRite have all the parts you couldneed, and a walk along Hennessy Road provesstools aren’t hard to come by. You could go alloutand call in an interiors specialist and designa personalised lounge to rival anything in LanKwai Fong. Bonus: it’s not that hard to find adisco ball, and shag carpeting still exists in caseyou’re looking for that extra ’70s touch.
Then there’s the closet. Not just storage forboxes and old furniture you may need, but anactual Sex and the City-esque walk in closet. Inaddition to being a possible perk when it comesto resale, Campos admits that this kind ofstorage is a favourite spare room use. If you’rethe kind of person that has that many clothes— male or female — a properly lit, departmentstore style walk-in dressing room could be theway to go.
If those are too dull, you could follow the lead setby some of McLintock’s more creative clients,among them a soundproof recording studio,pod-type rooms replete with brightly colouredcushions and retro lighting, and cigar roomsoutfitted with leather seating, dark wood, sisalrugs and whisky bars. But the winner for noveluse of space has to go to the folks that wanteda secret Japanese sex chamber — which alsohad to be waterproofed. Hey, it’s your house …but we really don’t even want to know.
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