Hi-Tech Teenage Space
If you've grown accustomed to your teenage children and their friends taking over your house then you're one of a growing number of people who could benefit from giving them their own space and reclaiming your home back, as did Andrew and Claire Jones who were looking for an alternative space for their teenage sons.
"I lost count of the times I asked them to turn their music down, or lost my living room a hotly contested competition on Wii Sports" laughs Claire.
Having a detached double garage at their executive style house, Claire and Andrew decided to convert half of it into a teenagers den, retaining the other half as a storage area. "Of course, like most people, we can't park our car in there" says Claire, "the obvious solution was to give the boys and their friends somewhere to meet up and an entertainment room seemed a fantastic idea".
With their eldest child at the local oversubscribed senior school, Claire and Andrew wanted to remain in the catchment area to ensure admission for their younger son. They really couldn't see any value in moving, as Claire explained "The boys are settled and all their friends are here, plus I work locally too".
Claire and Andrew were very clear about their requirements and a great deal of thought had gone into planning their project. Claire had seen a garage conversion in progress and was interested in whether this would be possible with a detached double garage.
"Jason was on our wavelength from the start," says Andrew "we got straight down to discussing the room plan to include the cinema projector which was to project onto the far wall of the garage, and lots of technical gadgetry."
The Jones' chose a white colour scheme which is perfect for displaying the images from their ceiling mounted projector onto the far wall. Funky lime green sofas and accessories complement the on trend look of their room and low level media storage enables everything to be tidy but accessible.
Beautiful bespoke shutters from Hilarys Blinds keep the room dark for film viewing whilst underfloor heating and laminated flooring are both functional and in keeping with the sleek look the couple wanted.
It took two and a half weeks to carry out the transformation of half of the Jones' double garage into a media room and they opted for sliding doors to the garden and a window to the front aspect to maximise the use of natural light and make the most of lovely views over the garden.
"The boys are thrilled with their own entertainment room "adds Andrew, "and of course we know exactly where they are and what they are doing which puts our minds at ease."
