I’ve given thought to pretty much everything you suggested, but it is good to re-examine my analysis.

Some stuff is going upstairs, but I don’t want my games near the bedroom. Irene gives me a hard time if I’m making any noise, and typically I’m playing games after she has gone to bed. If I was on the same floor as her while gaming, it wouldn’t work well at all. Basically, although I don’t want to make the room too cave-like, it *is* my man-cave, and getting my basic necessities in there is desirable. I want my stuff there so I can enter my fortress of solitude, safe in the knowledge that I’m not disturbing Irene… much.

That said, I’m going to be observant of the space issue, and if things look out of whack the game console might go upstairs even if it bothers Irene. Another downside: that room is hot like an oven in the summer and cold like an icebox in the winter: easily 5 degrees worse than my office at both ends of the scale. So if I put anything there that I want to use for several hours at a stretch, like my XBox for example, that would be uncomfortable. Note I don’t include the exercise equipment in “things I want to use for several hours at a stretch” 😉

The server and switch/routers takes up very little room, actually, and the networking gear needs to be near all the wire runs in any case. Besides, the room over the garage is nearing capacity now as it has become our gym. You haven’t been here in a couple years, so you don’t know that 😉 Instead what we are doing is making the gym into an extension library: my book shelves are going there.

And as for cooling- well, I don’t think that is going to happen until we can afford built-in AC, even though it is definitely something I want. Those wonderful little window air conditioners don’t work in top hinged casement windows, which is what I’ve got. Even if it did work, it would be a true pain in the backside to have to remove it every year due to the bush outside the window and so on. I tried one of the “in room” air conditioners: they are twice the price of an in window AC, and don’t cool much better than a fan. One day there will be air conditioning, but not this year, unless you want to pay for it. Getting a built in, even setting aside central air, is likely several grand: central air likely runs into the $10k+ range. This is speculation on my part, but I doubt it is cheap. That’s tough to swallow when it is really only warm enough to justify it for maybe a month a year. I regret this each year when we get a month of +35 temperatures, but the dollar can only stretch so far.

Regarding doing the flooring- I don’t see me doing that, although I did contemplate it. I could manage a kit or something, but that wouldn’t work very well butting up against the rest of the hardwood. I want the flooring to match in quality if not in finish, and it is 3/4 inch oak in the rest of the house with a clear coat. I’d rather have a pro do it to get the fit, staining, and coatings right. I’ll check regarding the cost, but my recollection of the estimate was about $4,000 to do our living room, and about $1500 for my office- not exactly “not much more” 🙂 I’m sure if I did it all at once, I might save $500 or something, but there is no way we can afford that this year even if we were ready to empty the living room.

I didn’t actually mind the pink walls overall- its no different than many other off whites I’ve seen. But in my office- it’s just a bit much. I do want to get rid of the pink throughout the house at some point, but that is more a matter of refreshing the place than a strong dislike of the colour.