I’d like to enlist your help.  We’re converting a workshop we have into a small apartment for guests or a rental.  I have a general idea of what I think I’d like, and I’ve put together one sample floor plan, but I’d like to get more ideas before we start construction.  If you have any suggestions, big or small (examples might include types of recessed lighting, all-in-one-laundry-units, surround sound speaker wiring), please provide.

First, here’s the space we’re starting with:

It’s a 24×24 area with two doors, and two windows.  The door at the top opens up into a 2-car garage.  The structure has metal R-panels with a concrete floor.  We already figured drywall / sheet rock with a 6″ or so area since the metal girders give us that much room.  We’ll probably get blown-in insulation for efficiency.  We have to add water, septic, HVAC and more electrical.

The graphic lists our main wants (click to open a larger version) – we want the primary use for 1-2 adults to be able to comfortably live there, with a secondary use of at least 12 people being hosted for movie night, gaming night, maybe a presentation or class or something.

The first draft I did identified areas that would work for us:

Some of the reasons I did it this way –

1. I probably would want all the water on just one side of the room since all plumbing would be new.
2. I didn’t want an actual enclosed bedroom, as that would take away from the secondary use of a lot of people being able to see the TV.
3. The kitchen sink should probably be centered in front of a window.

As we thought further, I went ahead and put together a draft of the floor plan that might work.  This shows the Murphy bed down, but most of the time, it would be packed up into the wall. (update: revised from original based on Ren’s comment about dining table)

Here are our thoughts so far:

1. When 1-2 people are living there, the bed can stay down all the time. If no-one is staying there, or we’re hosting a larger group, the bed can flip up into the wall.
2. One option is when the bed flips up, there’s a seating section that is left over, like a couch or pair of seats.  It might be too expensive, but there are other options as well.
3. We plan on the Murphy bed having storage and cabinets around it.  Take a look at valetcustom’s options, particularly this one.  Unfortunately that company only services one far away city so I’ll have to find other options.  But those pages show the idea.
4. Plenty of room to entertain if needed with the chairs around the kitchen island in either case.  The kitchen island also serves as the main dining table.
5. Someone (possibly me) can home office at the desk area.
6. Closet has enough room for hanging things as well as shelving, cubbies or other storage space.  Closet also doubles as extra soundproofing for bathroom.  Might put in all-in-one washer-dryer unit in the closet.
7. We plan on using tankless water heater since A) the place won’t be used much and B) seems a lot more efficient not only for electricity but also space.
8. Kitchen has a fridge, dishwasher, garbage disposal, pantry and also cabinets over the counters.
9. Large open area makes it flexible for sleepovers, extra tables, and lots of other options.
10. For HVAC, I’m considering the ductless kind but I’ve never used them.
11. We’re thinking two ceiling fans – since the ceilings are 9″ high in the middle, but only 8’4″ at the sides, not sure if we have to put them in the middle.  Maybe ceiling fans with lights, and then extra light over the sink and the desk?
12. Both the bathroom and the closet could grow a foot or two deeper if needed.  The bathroom as designed above is 5×8.  I had this type of bathroom in mind.

With a movable couch, we can bring in chairs as needed and pack in quite a number of people.  The configuration below could hold ~20 people: (update: revised from original based on Ren’s comment about dining table)

Now it’s your turn.  What would you suggest I consider for this guest space?  All suggestions or reminders are welcome.  If you’d like the source Visio file, you can get it here.

Facebook made connecting with others brain-dead easy.

But the more I use Facebook, the more I recognize some major downsides – the polarity of the “like” button, the mounting privacy concerns, the ineffectiveness of “text-only” arguments, the outright assumptions made by strangers, and more.  The persona that people put forth is but a mere facsimile of the real person underneath.  I believe peer pressure and the allure of attention influences way more than it should.

Facebook made being seen by others a priority over actually connecting.

I don’t think people can be “real” online and this relevation didn’t hit me very much until this last year (2014).  People will spit venom online that they wouldn’t dare utter (or even think) if they were talking to you in person.  There’s a false confidence and a bullying tendancy for some when they can hide behind a pseudo-rally on someone else’s post.  The name calling is intense.  The strawman arguments are pervasive. The cherry-picking of other’s words to formulate a battering ram of responses is amazing to watch.

Facebook made some people meaner.

In many ways, 2014 was a year of major division points in the nation.  Pick a topic, and there’s a bunch of people on one side of the fence eager to burn and rip to shreds anyone who dares to be on the other side of the fence.  It doesn’t really matter if there’s any fence at all, or if the fence was constructed piece by piece by conflict-peddlers who sell tickets to people to watch the fights at the fence.  The polarity is staggering – the enemies that people have crafted in their mind are diabolical, and the need to fit “the other side” into that idea of an enemy is equally diabolical.   Person #1 states something and unless Person #2 completely agrees, Person #1 has a handy list of boxes to put Person #2 in until they conform.

Facebook made people take sides.

As the arguments heated up, people upped their game. They had to not only cherry-pick something to fight with, but they also researched online any evidence whatsoever that supported their side.  It doesn’t matter that “researching online” can be an oxymoron.   Simply because they could sit and compose the perfect reply without interaction, feedback or fact-checking, they sat contentedly in their own juices, marinating in their hatred.   With people’s news feeds filled with only the things that confirm their own world view, their own self-confidence grows to enormous proportions.  The typical information diet is sorely lacking in some basic essentials.

Facebook made people instant experts in absolutely nothing but their own opinions.

I frequently found myself checking my phone here and there since the mobile app is so easy.  Status update notification!  Someone liked this post!  Here’s a video you gotta see!  17 Reasons To Write A Headline That Pops and You Won’t Believe What Happened Next!  Everything is vying for your attention and competing for your clicks and likes.  When I wondered what my employer would think or would want to track regarding my social media use, I decided to severely limit any Facebook use during work hours.  But then when I’d check in while on the road, at the airport, or at night, I’d see a lot of people posting all day long.  I then wondered – do they work?  Are they getting paid to Facebook all day?  What if everyone’s Facebook profile showed a handy chart of “Time Spent Per Day” and their employer could see it?

Facebook made me wonder about my friends.

And that is not a good place to be.  Who am I to judge or understand what someone does with their time?  Maybe they’re in a waiting room at the doctors, or maybe it’s their day off.  Maybe they’re more efficient than me at working and can throw in a few updates here and there.  Maybe they ARE retired, unemployed, or otherwise not beholden to a supervisor to answer to. Either way, if I’m wondering at someone else’s usage of Facebook, what am I really concerned about?  What should I be reviewing about myself that I’m so concerned what other people do with their time?

Speaking of judging, I frequently lament the lack of filters on Facebook.  I am someone who highly prefers a lack of profanity in business, casual or public settings.  Although the age limit is 13 years old, that’s still a very young age.  Facebook doesn’t let me put a filter on that says “don’t show me posts with bad words”, at least not that I’ve found.  Then there’s the IFL science pictures and posts that make profanity a house-hold word for everyone.  It’s like over the last five years, the whole world got *real* comfortable with vulgarity.  I feel like I’m the only person left of my peers that doesn’t REGULARLY cuss as part of their postings.  Are they like that in person?  Do they talk like that with their kids or other people’s kids around?  Is this how they really are, or is this the persona they are pushing outward?

Facebook made people into potty-mouths and me into an apparent goody-two-shoes.

As these things weighed on me, I constantly was reminded of the “good old days” of blogging.  Am I mis-remembering blogging somehow, and forgetting the bad things?  Did I unfairly abandon blogging because it wasn’t doled out piecemeal like Facebook?  With blogging, I had to actually set aside some time to compose an entry, and then some other time to read other people’s compositions.  Compare that to Facebook where I can literally spend anywhere from 20 seconds with a quick check and a “Like” button to hours of scrolling, watching videos, researching and composing responses that get ignored… and it’s no wonder blogging took a back seat to the convenience that Facebook offered.

At the very least, Facebook made me write this blog entry.

So I’ve had a project going on for a little bit now and I’m tracking my progress on a whiteboard in my home office.  It’s a fun, cool project (would I work on anything else??!?!?!) and not only does it occupy my mind and thoughts, it also occupies my first blog entry in, oh, about since the Mayans started telling time on tablets.

I was wondering if there’s ANYONE who actually reads my blog / twitter stream / facebook feed that could recognize what I put on said whiteboard about said project.

So, my challenge to you is two-fold:

1. What is the project I’m working on?
   This first question is difficult enough on it’s own, but reachable for a decent amount of people.  I think I left enough hints in there so that people who at least knew how to use Google can figure it out.
2. What is the next step in the project?
   Now THIS is the hard question. Only a few people out there I know of can examine this picture and tell me a recommendation for the “next step” of the project.  It is also potentially Google-able like question #1, so we’ll see who takes the challenge.

So, get your investigative hats on, pull out your microscopes and start arrogantly calling people Watson because you need to sleuth your way to the answer.

I may give a prize**.

Anyway, thanx for reading***!

* Some people said the end of the world might be when I blog again, so I didn’t want to fail to keep my end of the bargain.

** I’ve given prizes before, so it’s not as if this is outlandish or anything.

*** man I miss blogging and my blogging friends and the whole blogging community.