Question 1:

If you unexpectedly had a vaulted ceiling in the laundry room, what would you do with it? 

Just for reference, our laundry room is almost as big as our living room. It’s bigger than our bedroom. It’s big! As such, we’re splitting it up and putting in a bathroom and a pantry on one wall and then stacking the washer and drier on another wall. There will still be ample room for a folding station/cabinet on the washer/drier wall and a couch along the third wall (along the fourth wall will be the walkway). But on top of that we have this vaulted ceiling.

A pantry doesn’t need a vaulted ceiling. A bathroom doesn’t need a vaulted ceiling, though it would be cool. And I don’t just want to fill it in like it was before because that’s wasting space.

So, would you…

A. turn it into a traditional attic (small escape hatch)
B. make it an open storage space with shelves and built-in steps
C. turn it into a loft with a queen-size bed and use it as a spare bedroom
D. turn it into a gated loft with steps and use it as the kids’ toy room
E. something else entirely

Question 2: 

Would you put a wood stove in the dining room because it was your husband’s original plan even if the space is smaller than you originally thought? Or, instead, would you put a double-sided gas fireplace in the wall between the dining room and living room, affectively killing a coat closet? (Why am I even asking? I totally want the second one. Now how do I convince my husband?)