Please not "the mancave"

August 15, 2024 12:22 PM

Mr. H. and I will soon be the happy occupants of a new room being added on the back of our house. What do we call this room?

Just looking for some fun ideas on how to refer to rooms in houses. We have a standard living room, dining room, kitchen, and bedrooms.

The new addition is in the back of the house (back room?), just off the dining room. It's large (18'x19') with a deck off the back. The room will be a 3-season room, not hooked to the house HVAC. It will have 8 huge windows, vaulted ceiling, and a gas fireplace/stove in the corner.

We'll use it for lounging, getting away from mosquitos, growing plants, playing games, entertaining, etc. It will be somewhat of a darker, moodier vibe; it's not a sunroom.

What can we call this room? Den? Back room? Dungeon room (we may play D&D in there)? Rec Room? The Parlor? All ideas - fun, punny, etc., are welcome. References to mythology or literature would be cool. Our last name is a single syllable and begins with W, so something alliterative with that could work. We have a large beam on the outside deck where Mr. H wants to put up a Green Man mask; we may put more masks along the beam; so something mask-related? Maybe the Lounge or the Ballroom (borrowing from Clue)? Not against something odd and esoteric...

posted by hydra77 to Home & Garden (72 answers total)

I'd typically call it a den, but if you want a fun name that's alliterative you could call it the W____ Warren.
posted by Night_owl at 12:28 PM on August 15 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Moonroom?
posted by notquitemaryann at 12:29 PM on August 15 [2 favorites]

Best answer: We have a dungeon but we also have a lair.
posted by ReluctantViking at 12:30 PM on August 15

Best answer: Conservatory?
posted by raccoon409 at 12:30 PM on August 15 [8 favorites]

Best answer: I dig the vibe of calling a room in your house the conservatory.
posted by phunniemee at 12:31 PM on August 15 [11 favorites]

Conservatory could also be fun if you put up some subtle or not-so-subtle nods to Clue.
posted by Night_owl at 12:32 PM on August 15 [3 favorites]

The withdrawing room.
posted by misteraitch at 12:33 PM on August 15 [7 favorites]

it's not a sunroom
darkroom?
posted by HearHere at 12:36 PM on August 15 [1 favorite]

The Batcave.
posted by zoetrope at 12:38 PM on August 15 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Mr. H wants to put up a Green Man mask
green room!
posted by HearHere at 12:42 PM on August 15 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Lounge is also Australian for living room, when you first described the room I immediately thought Lounge.

Other suggestions:
Harry Potter has the Room of Requirement
Love Island has the Hideaway
The Bachelor has the Fantasy Suite
You could call it the Woolf room, as it is a room of one’s own
posted by shock muppet at 12:44 PM on August 15 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I do like "conservatory" but we call the equivalent room at the front of our house "the front room." It's essentially a second living room and we called it that when we moved in and it stuck. So "back room" might stick (and has the bonus connotations of shady back-room dealings)!
posted by SeedStitch at 12:45 PM on August 15 [1 favorite]

In Florida, this would be called the Florida Room. Inside the roofline, windows all around, may or may not have AC.

Honestly, though, I urge you to furnish in rattan and call it the Wicker Room. Put up your Green Man mask. Let your hair go wild. Hold mysterious rituals. You know.
posted by seanmpuckett at 12:53 PM on August 15 [5 favorites]

No one's said The Library yet? It's The Library.

These rooms do have a way of naming themselves organically, though. I have a similar added-on room that we call The Barn, mostly because I had a very realistic dream that it was a barn.
posted by mochapickle at 1:03 PM on August 15 [2 favorites]

Game room/Play room
posted by olopua at 1:05 PM on August 15

Our satellite location.
posted by dobbs at 1:06 PM on August 15 [4 favorites]

War Room
The Room
posted by JohnnyGunn at 1:07 PM on August 15

It's somewhat pedestrian but, if it was up for sale, your real estate agent would probably call it a bonus room.
posted by kate4914 at 1:09 PM on August 15

Gloomy Sunroom?
The Enclosure?
Shrine to Our Lady of Indolence?
posted by cardboard at 1:10 PM on August 15

I like to undersell things so: The Doghouse
posted by Lanark at 1:12 PM on August 15

When I was a kid and my family built a room on the back of our house, we called it the back porch. It was not open to the elements or anything, and we put the dining table out there so it was sort of a dining room, but we called it the back porch.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 1:12 PM on August 15 [1 favorite]

I was going to suggest porch, also, or sunporch. I've heard of Florida rooms before, too.
posted by tubedogg at 1:16 PM on August 15

Best answer: 'Fred'. It's how I refer to things missing obvious names.
posted by zaixfeep at 1:17 PM on August 15 [2 favorites]

Ours is the sunroom.
Your extra space sounds like the green room or the garden room. Conservatory or arboretum are other options.
A few plants (genuine or fake, photos or stained glass) are enough to set the mood.
Maybe add a few dormouse or elf warrens in out of the way places.
posted by TrishaU at 1:18 PM on August 15

Maybe get a "sponsor" like a sports stadium. "Marvel Comics bonus room" "Bud Light Back Room" "Holden Caufield Memorial Sitting Room" or make up some family company or relative.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 1:19 PM on August 15 [1 favorite]

Family room would be generic term I think. But I think it will get a name organically.
posted by janell at 1:20 PM on August 15 [1 favorite]

'Fred'. It's how I refer to things missing obvious names.
posted by zaixfeep at 4:17 PM

In my family, we called anything or anybody without a known name an 'Oscar'.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 1:21 PM on August 15 [2 favorites]

The Lounge
posted by JohnnyGunn at 1:22 PM on August 15

the outback
or the veldt, a la bradbury
posted by Clowder of bats at 1:36 PM on August 15 [3 favorites]

Big rooms with vaulted ceilings are often branded the "great room."
posted by TwoStride at 1:45 PM on August 15 [2 favorites]

Eight windows? Clearly the Forsteroom.
posted by BobTheScientist at 1:54 PM on August 15

How about the "Three Seasons" - a nod to the hotel (not the landscaping business). As in "Are we eating at the Three Seasons tonight?" or "Meet you in the Three Seasons" etc.
posted by niicholas at 2:07 PM on August 15 [2 favorites]

The labORatory (with the "OR" part heavily overpronounced)
The Oubliette
Studio C
The Starboard Tequila Locker
An Undisclosed Location
posted by sourcequench at 2:10 PM on August 15 [3 favorites]

We had a similar addition done to my childhood house and we always called it the "great room"
posted by pjenks at 2:25 PM on August 15

I have a playroom - it's where I keep my toys - sewing, knitting, books, piano, puzzles.
posted by Ms Vegetable at 2:28 PM on August 15

The vaulted ceiling makes me think of
the chapel
the spire
the vault

the annex
posted by meijusa at 2:33 PM on August 15 [1 favorite]

Best answer: "The back room". (Mandatory louche raised eyebrow)
posted by Pallas Athena at 2:48 PM on August 15

You're putting in a sliding bookcase as the door, right? Please tell me there's at least one secret compartment or hidden entrance or false bottom drawer.

I would call it The Ghosts' Quarters.

The Library
The Conservatory
The Tower
The Hermitage
The Apothecary
posted by meemzi at 2:52 PM on August 15 [1 favorite]

The bestiary, for a more direct "mancave" translation
posted by meemzi at 2:53 PM on August 15

Best answer: Rumpus Room?
posted by Dr. Twist at 2:56 PM on August 15 [1 favorite]

In our family, we've referred to the added-on room as "the new room" for about twenty years now. It works well.
posted by dearadeline at 2:56 PM on August 15 [8 favorites]

Oz, as in Australia, as in Out Back. Oz gives lots of decorating options.

Conservatory is good, please don’t call it a library unless there are a lot of books on a lot of shelves.
posted by theora55 at 3:07 PM on August 15

Best answer: My parents have a similar room at the back of their house and we call it the conservatory but it must be called thus in a British accent.
posted by Sassyfras at 3:08 PM on August 15 [2 favorites]

The Spare Oom
posted by susiswimmer at 3:11 PM on August 15 [5 favorites]

The Refuge - works metaphorically in the ecological sense and in a sort of old-timey way.

I like 'conservatory' thematically but it also is sort of wrong for a darker room, as you probably know, and that would bug me, ymmv
posted by SaltySalticid at 4:28 PM on August 15 [2 favorites]

Building on theora55's request -- the Liebrary.
posted by chiefthe at 4:32 PM on August 15 [1 favorite]

A conservatory has a glass roof.

I would call this an orangery, although that might not fit with ‘darker/moodier vibes’.
posted by Pre-Taped Call In Show at 4:39 PM on August 15 [1 favorite]

In my house, it's called the library.

the reading room

the planetarium (with all those huge windows, surely you can see the night sky)

the observatory, similarly

the oasis

assembly hall

and my personal favorite, the Recombobulatory
posted by The Wrong Kind of Cheese at 4:51 PM on August 15 [2 favorites]

Best answer: We have a room like this that was/is light green when we moved in - so it's the Green Room. It faces north so it's not sunny; "sunroom" would have been wrong. It has the plants, overflow books, elliptical, cat stuff, etc. Masks definitely fit a theater green room vibe too...
posted by cobaltnine at 5:12 PM on August 15 [1 favorite]

A conservatory is a standard name for a sunroom in the UK. The 'I own a stately home and have one of these things' names would be an orangery, if you feel like going upmarket.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 5:17 PM on August 15

The Lodge
posted by MadMadam at 5:20 PM on August 15 [1 favorite]

Another vote for Spare Oom (Narnia reference), upping the chance you might get from there to somewhere else.
posted by xaryts at 5:40 PM on August 15 [1 favorite]

Escape room.
posted by effluvia at 6:55 PM on August 15 [1 favorite]

"The room will be a 3-season room, not hooked to the house HVAC. It will have 8 huge windows, vaulted ceiling, and a gas fireplace/stove in the corner."

We had a room like that in one of the houses I lived in as a child and it was called a sunroom.
posted by Jacqueline at 7:36 PM on August 15

I am a Star Trek nerd so that'd be Pike's quarters or the ready room for me.
posted by metasarah at 7:59 PM on August 15 [2 favorites]

In the house I grew up in, we called it the rec room (recreation room). That's where the TV was, so yeah we spent all our free time in there ...

In our current home, the missus and I call it the den, to differentiate from the living room at the front of the house.
posted by intermod at 8:27 PM on August 15 [2 favorites]

The Annex
posted by TimHare at 9:07 PM on August 15

The Hearth
The Crow’s Nest
Greenwitch
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 10:55 PM on August 15

Raffles (cane furniture, Singapore slings)
posted by b33j at 1:23 AM on August 16

The Keeping Room.
posted by pearlybob at 3:14 AM on August 16

Best answer: We have a Rumpus Room but I feel like your room might be a Conservatory since it’s at the back of the house. I also love your suggestion of the Ballroom. The thing is, no matter what you call it, even if it’s ironic or feels goofy or grandiose, will stick and feel normal pretty soon. So shoot for the stars! And don’t start calling it by a placeholder like the new room — as dearadeline said, you’ll still be calling it the new room in 20 years!
posted by kate blank at 4:47 AM on August 16 [2 favorites]

The snug?
posted by ellieBOA at 5:25 AM on August 16

Considering your description, you should consider placing a globe in the center of the room and a telescope by the window. Perhaps consider the discrete placement of a skull. And a mounted pair of dueling pistols or cutlasses. This is The Map Room darling, where will it lead you?
posted by SPrintF at 8:10 AM on August 16 [1 favorite]

We have this room, and it's a sunroom.

But if you don't want to call it that, we also have a room in our basement with no clear definition that's the "den of iniquity".
posted by madcaptenor at 10:39 AM on August 16 [1 favorite]

I agree it will probably name itself.

Perhaps the New Room.
posted by jgirl at 10:47 AM on August 16 [1 favorite]

I like "the new room". It will always be the new room no matter how long it's been there which seems kind of romantic to me.
posted by bluesky43 at 2:17 PM on August 16

Best answer: the west (or whatev) annex.
posted by j_curiouser at 7:04 PM on August 16

My friend has a room like this in his house that he calls the James Bond room. It has a big James Bond movie poster in a retro movie poster holder hanging on the wall and is sort of decorated in the same 1970s James Bond theme. So I suggest giving it a theme. Maybe the forest room to go with the mask?
posted by DEiBnL13 at 10:49 PM on August 16

the appendix
posted by equalpants at 12:33 AM on August 17 [1 favorite]

The New Room.

The Conservatory.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:45 AM on August 17

Best answer: Moon room if it's a dark version of a sunroom. Laboratory pronounced as in Young Frankenstein. So you can say It's pronounced Laboratory . If you haven't seen Young Frankenstein, I recommend it.

Room of __________
Unknowing
Groovening
Relaxifying, etc.


You're gonna tell us what you decided, right? Right?
posted by theora55 at 4:00 PM on August 17

Response by poster: Lots of good suggestions. Nothing final yet. I like the Rumpus Room, if only so I can say 'rumpus time is over', when we need to go to bed or elsewhere in the house.

Moonroom is fun and more accurate than sunroom.

Green room is likely if we end up painting it green.

I also might try calling it the East Wing, since it just out to the east, with the rest of the house running north/south.

Conservatory (emphasis and long A on VA) or laboratory (emphasis on 2nd syllable) are also possibilities.

Thanks all for the fun!
posted by hydra77 at 6:19 PM on August 17 [2 favorites]