An Exercise In Compromise
November 2020
My friend said I would never use it. I worried that she might be right. Visions of treadmills as glorified clothes hangers filled my mind. Since gyms closed in March, sales of home gym equipment soared. I too, started looking into a home gym space. We already had a treadmill and a weight bench, but both were relegated to the basement. What I wanted was a spin bike and a nice space to workout in. Our basement game room is a finished space, but it had become a wasteland for all the stuff no one uses but can’t part with. I thought it would be a great time to clear out the crap and create an inviting space to work out in. Happy wife, happy life, right? I hear people say it all the time. By people, I mean everyone except my husband. He loved the idea of the home gym but felt that getting rid of things we don’t use was ‘unnecessary’. He suggested a multifunctional space where our gym equipment could coexist with the pool table, basketball hoop and foosball table. I’m all about multifunction, but if no one uses it, is it really functional? We use the game room once a year at our holiday party. This year it won’t get any use due to COVID. It will be at least December of 2021 before it sees any use. I would love to share these things with a family who could put them to use on a more regular basis... In my experience, multifunctional spaces confuse people and buyers are unsure what to do with them. I know I’m not staging my home for sale, but the same rules apply. Stagers help buyers envision the best use for a space. Creating a space for the way you live follows the same principles. A defined space gets used, a multifunctional space is like an identity crisis, long on confusion, short on function.
Did I end up with gym of my dreams or a multipurpose room? Let’s just say compromise should be my middle name. My new home gym/game room is fantastic other than the elephants in the room that take up more than half the space and limit my ability to work out. Still, half a gym is better than none and if he can’t part with a pool table, he’ll never part with me!