Do you have all the rooms you need? If you believe the new home trends you're going to need a computer room or office, a media room, and quite possibly a game room.
I'd be willing to bet most people don't have these rooms and if they do they're not used as much as the hype would have you believe. Even I, living on a writer's wages, have an office and I almost never use it. I actually do most of my writing in the living room. The media room is a dream of mine but there are a lot of priorities that come before my basement conversion does. And a game room is never going to be a priority for me.
Before you hire a contractor and begin the process of keeping up with the Jones's you should really evaluate your priorities. Your home is about you and your personal tastes, not your neighbors.
Most homes today have computers and an office is an excellent idea, if you use it. If you're not going to use it then you might need to reconsider the office idea. Would a media room be something you and your family would use more. Would weekly movies bring your family closer together?
The idea is really to tailor your home to what works best for the people living in it. This is where college kids actually have the upper hand. I've seen several frat houses, dorms and apartments decorated in really creative ways that would scare off the more traditional homeowners but for the occupants its sheer heaven.
Yes, I'm suggesting you take a lesson out of the frat boy handbook. The foosball table in your dining room might not be exactly the way to go but is that formal dining table any more practical?
I believe that you should take advantage of your home, every square inch of it. Turn it into your own oasis, a place that you and your family enjoy spending time in. Why keep your hobbies limited to a special room when you can let them run wild through the entire house. You may actually find that your family decides that they'd rather be home than anywhere else.
In fact the trend toward staying home is closely tied to the trend in specialty rooms. In the past several years, political and environmental developments have really improved the importance of the home and family time. Add to this the stress of increasing expenses (particularly fuel) the urge to nest grows stronger. People are looking to increase their quality time at home and this is why elaborate specialty rooms are becoming so popular.
Now it's no coincidence that the "must have" rooms are high technology rooms. If you have the money to spend on expensive flat screen, high definition televisions, state of the art sound systems, or top of the line computer equipment then you're more likely to sink a lot of cash into dedicating a room to this new gadget and purchasing all of the additional bells and whistles. But this doesn't have to be the case. Use your rooms to enhance your own lifestyle and leave the Jones's behind.
