The Lower Level - A Luxury Home in the western Suburbs

In the sellers own words...

To start, let’s go with the theater, my favorite part. Even though it’ll take some imagination, the foundation is all there. The steps have been put in to facilitate theatre-effect seating. The room is pre-wired and ready for the creative design of the new owner. It was decided between the builder, interior designers, and audio/visual specialist to hold off on finishing the room. After all, our taste may vary and the electronics will be outdated by the time we close on the house ourselves. So, rather than sticking the new owners with a design that they may not like and an outdated theater system, we decided to leave this space alone.

The kitchenette downstairs is for the occasional casual entertaining for families and close friends. The kitchen has a microwave, warming drawer, and dishwasher, so the bulk of the cooking would need to be done upstairs. We decided against a refrigerator after our designers pointed out that food will go bad without anyone’s notice since it’s not going to be used very frequently. Since we have an elevator to go up and down between the floors, it will not be so difficult to transport food between floors. The open space in front of the kitchenette is the perfect place for a buffet station during parties, where it’s easily accessible and not in anyone’s way.

The areas on either side of the fireplace / media center are for recreation and seating. The designers and I had designed a couple of loveseats and sofas for the area next to the kitchenette, and my husband had grand plans for an air hockey and billiard table in the area on the other side.

The wine cellar was designed by my husband to fit 2,000 bottles of wine. Being somewhat of a novice in wine collecting, he already had collected 1,000 bottles in the last 5 years. So, it was a compromise between the two of us when we settled on the size of the cellar. However, we both loved the design that was brought to us. The octagon room added a unique touch to our cellar and the tasting room gave us enough space to host a small intimate dinner for a few close friends. In my earlier designs, I envisioned putting in faux grape vines overhead and installing a set of decorative garden gates at each of the arch openings to give it an outdoor garden feel.

The storage room on the other side of the staircase would give us enough seasonal storage for our massive Christmas tree and collection of seasonal clothing that I mentioned earlier in the master closet section.

The enclosed room next to storage was designed as a play room for the kids where they can keep their toys. This way, I can close the doors, and pretend it’s not a mess in there. I also envisioned putting a pair of faux shutters on the windows of the playroom to complement the look in the tasting room across the way.


Fabulous Lower Level
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	In the sellers own words... To start, let’s go with the theater, my favorite part. Even though it’ll take some imagination, the foundation is all there. The steps have been put in to facilitate theatre-effect seating. The room is pre-wired and ready for the creative design of the new owner. It was decided between the builder, interior designers, and audio/visual specialist to hold off on finishing the room. After all, our taste may vary and the electronics will be outdated by the time we close on the house ourselves. So, rather than sticking the new owners with a design that they may not like and an outdated theater system, we decided to leave this space alone. The kitchenette downstairs is for the occasional casual entertaining for families and close friends. The kitchen has a microwave, warming drawer, and dishwasher, so the bulk of the cooking would need to be done upstairs. We decided against a refrigerator after our designers pointed out that food will go bad without anyone’s notice since it’s not going to be used very frequently. Since we have an elevator to go up and down between the floors, it will not be so difficult to transport food between floors. The open space in front of the kitchenette is the perfect place for a buffet station during parties, where it’s easily accessible and not in anyone’s way. The areas on either side of the fireplace / media center are for recreation and seating. The designers and I had designed a couple of loveseats and sofas for the area next to the kitchenette, and my husband had grand plans for an air hockey and billiard table in the area on the other side. The wine cellar was designed by my husband to fit 2,000 bottles of wine. Being somewhat of a novice in wine collecting, he already had collected 1,000 bottles in the last 5 years. So, it was a compromise between the two of us when we settled on the size of the cellar. However, we both loved the design that was brought to us. The octagon room added a unique touch to our cellar and the tasting room gave us enough space to host a small intimate dinner for a few close friends. In my earlier designs, I envisioned putting in faux grape vines overhead and installing a set of decorative garden gates at each of the arch openings to give it an outdoor garden feel. The storage room on the other side of the staircase would give us enough seasonal storage for our massive Christmas tree and collection of seasonal clothing that I mentioned earlier in the master closet section. The enclosed room next to storage was designed as a play room for the kids where they can keep their toys. This way, I can close the doors, and pretend it’s not a mess in there. I also envisioned putting a pair of faux shutters on the windows of the playroom to complement the look in the tasting room across the way.