If the words “rec room” makes you think of table tennis in a bare basement, then you are ready for some fresh ideas from the playrooms on the next pages. Just a glance at the spunky décor and innovative design of these rec rooms will convince you that basements don’t have to be bare and table tennis isn’t the only game to play.

From game rooms to home gymnasium and party rooms, here are playrooms for wherever you want them –integrated with the main floor living areas or

You don’t need a mini bar to create a family room. A small room –carefully planed- can be a snug gathering place for family and friends.

It’s a challenge to design the interior of a small room so it doesn’t look crowded and stuffy like a Victorian parlor. A small room gives few options for storage and furniture arrangement, but there are ways to create the illusion of spaciousness.

Sometimes just one family room won’t do. The owners of the family lodge pictured on thee two pages wanted a family room to accommodate the frequent visits of their many relatives –not to mention stopovers by enumerable friends. When it became, clear that space available inside the house would be too small. The architect turned the owner’s attention to the garage.

A garden view, plenty of flight, and an indoor – outdoor feeling add up to the family sunroom. The rooms on these pages catch sunbeams into different ways- by converting patios and by adding on. Either way, the indoor – outdoor atmosphere relies on abundant use of windows or sliding glass doors.

Shown on this page or two “between” rooms –family rooms made from patio space between the house and the garage. The owner had to pour new