We just dumped our “formal living room furniture.”
We are now debating what to do with that space.
We have gym quality (large) exercise equipment - a rower, elliptical and spin bike. The bike has been “temporarily” in the living room for over a year, but it hasn’t’ been a problem during COVID - we didn’t have many people over.
The other 2 pieces are in our “office” space, which is adjacent to the living room, and farther from the front door (it has a doorway, but no door). We could clean the office out a little and put the bike in with the other 2.
We also have a basement, and 3 unused bedrooms most of the time, but we actually use our equipment most days, and we don’t want them in the basement. In the summer our upstairs gets warm, so that’s not ideal.
We have 2 cats, and at least one of them (plus one who died) totally trashed the furniture we just dumped, and we don’t necessarily want to buy new furniture for her to trash again.
Plus, we may be moving within the next year or so. (So don’t want to buy new furniture until we decide what we’re going to do).
So, honestly, how weird would it be to have our equipment in the living room, which cannot be closed off when people come in?
We have a family room which is where we hang out, and most company hangs out in the kitchen most of the time.
IMO, do what you think would be most convenient to you. My only concern would be ventilation… it sounds like your formal room is open to other areas… will you be able to have enough air movement to get rid of the inevitable gym smell? We never had any furniture in our front living room in House1. We thought about placing our exercise equipment there but ended up putting it in the office which has never been used as an office - visible from the entryway. The office had French doors and a large window that we always opened when we exercised, and we always ran a fan.
We have hardwood floors. Each piece of equipment has a large mat under it, but the bike and the elliptical are pretty heavy to move, so that wouldn’t work well on any kind of regular basis.
Hm - interesting thought. I haven’t noticed a smell yet, and we do have windows which can be opened in either room, when the weather is nice. I have a small fan, but husband prefers to sweat (really).
I will have to pay more attention for the next couple of weeks.
Equipment mats are the worst offenders. While the equipment can be wiped down, sweat drips on the mats can cause that “gym smell.” If you use the fan and open a window and wipe down the mats after each use, too, that might not be an issue.
I have an open formal living room and an open formal dining room, neither of which we use for their intended purpose. I use the dining room as an office/treadmill space, and the living room has been dubbed “The Room of Requirement” because we use it for temporary things. From September to early February it was mostly used for FIRST Lego League meetings, but for a brief time in December it was decorated for Christmas and featured a table covered in my German Christmas pyramid collection. Right now it’s got room for me to do yoga, is hosting a tent that needs to dry out, and has a folding table with the partly-assembled Lego Millennium Falcon that my husband and D23 are working on (over 7,000 pieces). This summer I plan to clear that stuff out and set up some tables so I can have my younger kids’ friends over for ‘art camp’ and ‘sewing camp’ days. Maybe if people thought about it they’d think it was weird, but I don’t think they’d care. When they come over they’re too busy enjoying all the pyramids lit with candles, or want to check the progress of the Falcon, or eager to get back to work on their robot’s task. I think you should do what you want with the room; good friends will not care.
You do you! I wouldn’t care for it since we entertain when theirs not a pandemic… Lol… I personally would use one of the other rooms. We just went to friends of ours and they have a smallish apartment and they had a elliptical machine off to the side. Didn’t bother me. Remember your space is yours for like 99.9%of the time. Do what works for you.
I vote you should do whatever you want with the room. My in-laws had a formal living room that they used maybe one day a year and I always thought it was a huge waste. We are empty-Nestor’s and have a small 3 bedroom house. Our Peloton is in one of the guest rooms. Which get used when the kids come for a visit.
When it is time to sell you might want to move it. I read once exercise equipment in rooms is a turnoff to buyers.
I’m also in the camp of do what works for you and your lifestyle and then re-stage it back to a living room when you go to sell.
My workout equipment is currently in our family room. In my last house I had a home gym in our finished basement which rocked. In previous homes, I usually took over an extra bedroom. We’re going to be finishing off the basement in our current home this summer and I’m going to take over a corner of the basement for the workout gear and make a “nook”. I haven’t measured it off yet but H will let me encroach into his gaming area if need be. I’m thinking I will get a folding screen to act as a partition as I don’t want to add an extra wall.
I’ve figured out the answer to my question.
We can’t put the equipment in the formal living room because one of our cats is too interested in the machines. The bike is “safe,” but the elliptical and rower have moving parts that could actually hurt her. We can’t block off all of the access points to living room like we can the one door to the office.
Now I have to figure out how to clean out the office room some more.
Why not relocate the office area to the living room?
We have a formal dining room but our kitchen can accommodate a table for 6, which is sufficient for us. Our FDR has always been an office and combo playroom when D20 was little. It is right off the entry and has 2 big windows that face out front. We have a desk and chair plus a cabinet with doors, a bookshelf, and a loveseat. It works out great for us.
I’d say do it. Why not use a living room for the living you want to do…which is exercise. You can even lean into the theme with how the room presents (sports decorations…) or just let it be what it is. We have a ping pong table in our big great room (which has kitchen and is where we entertain). It perhaps has a frat house vibe because of the ping pong table, but then again we have two teenagers.
So you’ve figured it out, and I’m glad you’re using the office.
My kid’s friend has a really big punching bag hanging in their entry hall. Apparently they never the use the front door, but I didn’t know that when I picked her up at the friend’s house. THAT was definitely a bit weird.
I wondered if your living room was open to other well used rooms in the house that any exercise equipment noise might be bothersome. Like is the kitchen near or family room near enough that you’d hear the equipment?
Nothing weird about it, it’s your space to use as you want. We have a nice Stages exercise bike in our living room, best place for it and you can watch tv while riding. Of course now that Covid has simmered down and the gyms are open, we’d like to get rid of it!
