I encountered a rather delightful article this morning on a common mystery in Victorian homes: what exactly ARE those little rooms at the top of the stairs? They seem too small to be bedrooms, yet too large to be closets and storage rooms, and people seem to have a variety of explanations for their purpose and function.
Home inspector William Kibbel III has an answer at Old House Web, and I'm inclined to believe him, because it fits well with the norms and uses of the time -- important considerations for people pursuing home restorations and renovations. Understanding the use of some of the rooms in a home occasionally involves taking a step back from modern thinking and remembering that houses haven't always been laid out and used in the same way.
Here's where a knowledge of Victorian life comes in handy. In the evening, Victorians retired to their chambers, rooms large enough to undress, prepare for bed, and perform related tasks. However, if they wanted to rest during the day, they took advantage of the smaller bedroom (literally the room with a bed in it and nothing else, as compared to chambers, which contained dressers and other furnishings for getting ready). They didn't want to disturb the made beds in their chambers, and thus needed a small room to relax in during the day.
Many Victorian homes had several chambers upstairs with one or two bedrooms -- what we see now as the small and seemingly useless rooms upstairs that aren't functional enough for modern bedrooms. Other small rooms not connected to chambers were provided for servants to sleep in, as well as for sewing and the storage of trunks and supplies. Some chambers also had separate dressing rooms, which were typically attached to them for ease of use.
How would this factor into your home remodel? That depends on how historically accurate you want to be. You could restore a bedroom with a
vintage-looking chaise lounge or daybed to be historically accurate and provide a nice space for taking naps and reading during the day, paying homage to its original function. Or you could work with your
restoration remodelers on converting it to another purpose more suited to your modern uses.
Depending on the layout of your home, you could convert a bedroom into a dressing room, walk-in closet area, or similar private space for dressing and organizing belongings. Or you could branch out entirely, turning into into a small library, home office, or similar space. You might also consider its potential as a bathroom, since many Victorian-era homes lack the number of bathrooms we expect in modern houses; talk to your
Baltimore plumber about the ease of bringing plumbing over so you can convert the room.