HowTo Resources Real-world fixes, written by Kevin Crothers and ChatGPT.
SMORTLER • Project Hub

From Storage Space... to a True Carriage House

What started as an unfinished second floor above a detached garage - basically storage space where bats could hang out - is being transformed into something entirely different: a true carriage house. Not just a bonus room. Not just extra square footage. A real, livable, intentional space.

We connected it thoughtfully to our main home with two concrete pads and a shared driveway that naturally serves both buildings. From the backyard, a gently weaving sidewalk leads you to the east-side door - making the carriage house feel like a destination, not an afterthought.

Inside, the goal is simple but powerful: clean air, quiet comfort, beautiful finishes, and incredible entertainment. A place where we - and our dogs - can step away, watch a great movie, relax, and even stay the night if we want. And just as importantly, a place we can rely on if something ever makes our main home temporarily unusable.

This page documents that transformation - and more importantly, shows how you can do the same thing. If you have a garage with structure above it, you already have the foundation for something far more valuable than storage. With the right planning, you can build your own “home away from home.”

PurposeOne master page to guide the full project story and link out to each major planning area.
StyleBuilder-friendly, beautiful, practical, and organized enough to use during real work.
Project MoodWarm, collected, highly intentional, and technically well thought out.
UseA planning dashboard for decisions, coordination, field checks, and future additions.
Home Base Intent: This page should feel like the front door to the entire project - not just a table of contents, but a clear, elegant overview of what the carriage house is becoming: a theater, retreat, guest-ready living space, technical system, and carefully finished environment.

Project at a Glance

The current pages already define the personality of the project: a media-focused north wall with a 135-inch recessed projection screen and full-width bench, a highly controlled finish plan with Alabaster walls and Clary Sage cabinetry, a builder-friendly kitchen cut sheet, and a full Philips Hue lighting plan that keeps smart control elegant and practical.

Live project hub
135"Recessed Elite CineTension 3 projection screen planned for the north wall theater concept.
17'8"Full north wall run that anchors the built-in bench, windows, shades, and entertainment layout.
16"Bench-top elevation used as a critical alignment point for the visible image line and millwork planning.
15Hue slim downlights currently planned across kitchen, living room, stairs, and restroom.

What makes this project special

This project already shows a rare level of coordination between architecture and experience. The entertainment page is not just about gear - it ties the three 60" × 60" fixed picture windows, Norman Soluna motorized blackout shades, full-width millwork bench, Epson LS12000, and Dolby Atmos system into one north-wall concept. The finish plan is equally disciplined, calling for Alabaster on walls, trim, and doors, Clary Sage on cabinetry, natural wood clear-finished ceilings, and a strong no-whitewashing rule. The kitchen page drills all the way down to builder-friendly openings and cut guidance for the trash pull-out, 24" electric range, range hood, farmhouse sink, and Delta Trinsic faucet. The lighting page extends that precision into a whole-house Hue strategy with fixture lights, canless downlights, under-cabinet and above-cabinet lighting, and minimalist wall controls.

Current Project Pages

These are the pages already active or actively forming the backbone of the carriage house plan.

Current pages
Access + Security

Access

Doors, surveillance, security, communications, and future opening coordination.

The Access page is still gathering content, but it already frames the project correctly: a builder-friendly access and security document that starts with major door decisions and expands into camera coverage, smart locks, sensors, garage monitoring, and network / intercom planning. It also identifies future door sections to add, including 1st-to-2nd floor, outside, north garage, and south garage doors.

  • Current featured interior access door: 36" × 84" right-hand solid-core prehung unit.
  • Surveillance zones already identified.
  • Communications page logic already seeded here.
Open Access
North Wall Theater

Entertainment

The most architectural page so far - the north wall is being treated as a cinema wall and design feature at the same time.

This page defines the north wall with unusual clarity: three fixed picture windows in a continuous horizontal band, a full-width built-in bench, three motorized Norman Soluna blackout shades, a recessed 135" Elite CineTension 3 screen, Epson LS12000 coordination, and a Dolby Atmos sound layout that turns the room into a true theater. It also captures key architectural dimensions, including the 17'8" wall length, 7'9" ceiling height at the north wall, 16" bench-top elevation, and the exact 60" × 60" window sizes.

  • Three 60" × 60" windows in a single horizontal band.
  • Bench height fixed at 16" AFF.
  • Bottom of visible image aligned to bench top.
Open Entertainment
Finish Discipline

Finishes

A strong, contractor-facing page that defines surfaces, products, and workmanship expectations.

The Finish Plan already sets the emotional tone of the whole project. It calls for Alabaster walls, trim, and doors; Clary Sage cabinetry; natural wood ceiling finish with ultra-flat polyurethane; stainless appliances; and a strict no-whitewashing rule. It also contains a hard stop instruction not to guess, plus detailed surface-prep standards for pine tongue-and-groove walls and notes for backsplash, flooring, and restroom / closet scope.

  • Walls: Sherwin-Williams Alabaster SW 7008 Eggshell.
  • Cabinets: Clary Sage SW 6178 Semi-Gloss.
  • Ceiling: natural wood, clear finish only.
Open Finishes
Cut Sheet + Appliances

Kitchen

A highly useful field document for openings, countertop cuts, appliance fit, and faucet drilling logic.

The Kitchen page is already practical in exactly the right way. It covers the Rev-A-Shelf trash pull-out opening requirements, 24" electric range dimensions, range hood clearances and duct size, farmhouse sink cabinet minimums and cutout caution, and the Delta Trinsic matte black pull-down faucet with install and setback notes.

  • Farmhouse sink: 30" W × 18" D × 10" H.
  • Range: 24" class electric range.
  • Range hood: 30" with 6" round duct.
Open Kitchen
Smart Lighting + Controls

Lighting

A full Hue plan that treats lighting as both infrastructure and atmosphere.

The Lighting page pulls together visible fixture lights, canless recessed downlights, under-cabinet task lighting, above-cabinet ambient glow, and a smart wall control strategy based around keeping visible panels minimal. Current counts include one above kitchen sink fixture light and fifteen slim downlights, alongside Lightstrip Plus and Gradient Lightstrip planning.

  • Fixture light at sink.
  • 15 slim Hue downlights across multiple spaces.
  • Cabinet task + ambient layers planned separately.
Open Lighting

Future System Pages to Build Next

These future pages are going to complete the project by explaining the systems that make the carriage house comfortable, functional, and resilient.

Coming next
Comfort + Envelope

Environment

Insulation, mini-splits, windows, blinds, and the environmental story of the room.

This page should explain how the carriage house will actually feel. It should cover the second-floor spray foam insulation strategy, both 2-ton mini-splits, airflow and quiet operation, window locations, blackout behavior, shade strategy, glare management, blinds, comfort zones, and how all of that supports both movie mode and everyday mode.

  • Spray foam scope and roof / wall thermal logic.
  • Both 2-ton mini-split locations and service access.
  • Windows, blinds, shades, solar control, and daylight strategy.
Environment page path
Water + Waste + Gas

Plumbing

Tankless water heater, natural gas, grinder pump, and all fixture paths.

This page should become the whole plumbing story: tankless water heater selection and mounting, hot / cold paths, waste paths, grinder pump logic, natural gas routing, shutoffs, venting, cleanouts, both sinks, the shower, the toilet, and field diagrams that make the system easy to understand later.

  • Tankless water heater location and utility coordination.
  • Natural gas path and appliance tie-ins.
  • Water / waste routes for kitchen, restroom, and any exterior service points.
Plumbing page path
Power + Resilience

Electrical

The electrical system, circuits, controls, and backup power from the 22kW generator.

This page should explain how the carriage house is powered and protected: panel strategy, critical circuits, entertainment loads, mini-split feeds, lighting circuits, bathroom / kitchen requirements, generator-backed behavior, and a clean plain-English map of what stays up when the 22kW generator takes over.

  • Main panel / subpanel relationships.
  • Generator-backed circuits and transfer behavior.
  • Entertainment, kitchen, bath, HVAC, and lighting circuit logic.
Electrical page path

Recommended Story Flow for the Whole Project

This is how I would guide a reader - builder, architect, vendor, or future you - through the project.

Suggested reading order
1

Start with the room concept

Lead with the Entertainment page because it gives the strongest architectural story: north wall geometry, windows, bench, shades, screen, projector, and Dolby Atmos intent.

2

Then define the finishes

Move next to Finishes so every later decision is filtered through the approved room character: Alabaster, Clary Sage, natural wood, no whitewashing, and very strict workmanship expectations.

3

Then move into systems

Kitchen, Lighting, Environment, Plumbing, and Electrical should then explain how the room actually works day to day - with comfort, function, maintenance, and backup power all documented clearly.

Photos to Take and Upload Next

These photos will make the future pages dramatically better. I would love both wide shots and close-up practical shots.

Photo wish list

1. Full-room orientation shots

  • One wide photo from each corner of the second floor.
  • One straight-on shot of the full north wall.
  • One photo looking back toward the stair entry.
  • One photo that shows how the kitchen and living / theater area relate to each other.

2. Window + wall + ceiling coordination

  • Close straight-on photos of each north-wall window.
  • A photo showing the full window band together.
  • Ceiling slope photos from multiple angles.
  • A photo showing the exact area where the recessed screen pocket will live.
  • Any framing or blocking already present in the north-wall / ceiling area.

3. Bench and entertainment details

  • Bench framing or millwork progress photos.
  • Inside-bench storage photos if accessible.
  • Any speaker wire, power, conduit, or low-voltage paths.
  • Projector mounting area and throw-path photos.

4. Kitchen build details

  • Cabinet runs straight on.
  • Under-sink cabinet interior.
  • Appliance opening photos with tape measure visible.
  • Countertop overhang and sink-area closeups.
  • Any vent hood and duct path photos.

5. Mechanical / environment photos

  • Mini-split indoor unit locations.
  • Mini-split outdoor condenser location(s).
  • Spray foam areas before and after if possible.
  • Any soffits, chases, or access panels tied to HVAC routing.
  • Blinds / shade sample photos if already selected.

6. Plumbing + electrical photos

  • Panel, subpanel, and generator-related equipment.
  • Tankless water heater location.
  • Natural gas meter, piping, and branch runs.
  • Drain / waste / vent paths where visible.
  • Grinder pump equipment and service area.
  • Any switch boxes or lighting rough-in locations before drywall is closed.

My Creative Direction for This Home Page

I would make this page feel less like a spreadsheet of links and more like a polished project foyer.

Design intent

Use this page as the emotional overview

  • Start with one strong hero image or project poster.
  • Use a warm, confident intro paragraph.
  • Keep the section cards visually distinct but still in one family.

Let each subpage do the technical deep dive

  • The home page should summarize the why.
  • The linked pages should hold the measurements, specs, and ordering details.
  • That keeps this page beautiful and usable.

Build it over time, not all at once

  • Add environment, plumbing, and electrical when ready.
  • Keep uploading photos.
  • Let this page become the living front page of the whole project.