Question: I want to make a closet, TV room and guest room out of a bedroom that was remodeled by a former owner as a walk-in closet. The room now has mirrored closets, a beige carpet and woven grass-mat wallpaper. I need a futon, a coffee table and perhaps a Murphy bed. Can you suggest a plan?

Valerie Cohen  
Reno, NV

Answer: This room makes for a nifty "walk in" closet, but is rather small to function as both a den and guest bedroom. But I'm sure I can come up with a solution that works wells for all three functions that it must fulfill.

The good news is that because there are basically two walls of mirrors, the space will always seem visually larger than it is in reality.

Since the actual footprint of the floor space is so small, I'll borrow some of the closet space and convert it into the storage and viewing area for the TV. It means sacrificing some of the clothing storage space, but I think it's a small price to pay for a more attractive, functional room that you'll enjoy using.

The three sliding doors of one of closet walls gives us the option of being able to slide the middle door away to one side and use the space behind it for the TV, DVD, and VCR, and shelving above and below for storage of the tapes, CDs, etc. So you don't have to see the storage shelves when you're watching TV, put doors over the shelves . When you don't want to watch TV, the door slides back into place to revert back to a mirrored wall. With this solution you haven't used precious floor space to store a TV and all its components and software. Now for the furniture placement. Since you want to be able to sit on the sofa to watch TV, the window wall is the perfect place for it. It's opposite the TV and faces the door to the room, and with the window so high, it gives us the wall we need. Instead of the sofa being a bulky, awkward futon, I recommend a sleeper sofa; buy one that's easy to open, has a smallish profile since the room is small, and seats two comfortably. In front of the sofa is a coffee table. The surface of it can be either wood or glass. For additional storage, select one that has a shelf below the surface. The table will move to the side when the sofa opens to a guest bed, so make sure it isn't too heavy. With this floor plan, there's enough room for a dresser so you and your guests have space to put folded clothes. Because there are so many mirrors in the room already, I wouldn't put one over the dresser, but instead, use this wall to hang art. A long, horizontal piece or a collection of three, four, or six similarly framed pieces will make this wall seem wider than it is, and will be reflected in the mirrored wall opposite, so you'll see it twice.

 

Two floor lamps that function as reading lights should be placed on either side of the sofa so you can also use this room for reading and is a quiet retreat for guests.

With the sofa below the window I would use a window covering that doesn't go below the sill; perhaps a Roman shade of fabric or even rush or match stick.

As for the colors and fabrics in this room; remember that whatever materials you incorporate into the design they will be seen more than once with all the mirrors. If it were my room, I would use a neutral color for the walls, a light color for the carpet, leather sofa, dark wood, and then add interesting colors with the accessories.

Let's say the walls are a color anywhere from cool beige to deep taupe, use light beige for the carpet, coffee or chocolate brown for the leather sofa, and dark wood for the coffee table and dresser. The window covering is a natural, dark rush, and the floor lamps are brushed nickel. The accent color I would use is light blue. Use it in a lap robe, throw pillows, guest bedding, and as a real surprise, paint the ceiling this color.

This solution to your design dilemma should give you a room that's both functional and pleasing for everyone, including guests, who may not want to leave!

 

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