Home gym makeover: award-winning designer Stephen Saint-Onge shows how you can transform a small space into a fitness sanctuary

Shape, April, 2005 by Leslie Ryan

The No.1 excuse people give for skipping workouts is not having time to go to the gym. One lucky Shape reader, Jill Lurie, 29, won't ever be able to use that one again! Jill is the winner of our $10,000+ Home Gym Makeover contest, in which hundreds of readers wrote in last fall for the chance to not only win home gym equipment, but to have their home space professionally designed by Stephen Saint-Onge, named "One of the Top 15 Designers Under 40 in America" by House Beautiful in 2003.

Saint-Onge, who is based in the Boston area and also a partner in Philips Electronics' "Designing at Home" program, transformed Jill's tiny 155-square-foot converted garage into a stylish, high-tech but homey exercise room designed to meet all her fitness needs.

When she moved into her house in Los Angeles a year and a half ago, Jill's dream was to turn the converted garage, which the previous owners had used as an artist's studio, into a home gym. "I like to do a succinct workout--a half-hour of cardio and a half-hour of weight training," Jill says. "I don't like to be in the gym longer than an hour." Between Los Angeles' bumper-to-bumper traffic and long lines to use machines at the gym, Jill found her "quick" workouts turning into 2 1/2-hour affairs.

"When you're really busy or if you are tired, it's harder to motivate yourself when you're looking at 2 1/2 hours versus just getting straight down to business," she says. Commuting to the gym was a further chore for Jill since she actually works from home as a landscape designer. And now Jill has one more reason she wants to stick close to home--she delivered her first child, a son, in December. She reports she's eager to hit the gym so she can get back her pre-pregnancy body.

Saint-Onge reviewed Jill's space, which already had 12-foot beamed ceilings and natural light flooding through the two sky-lights, and explained that it had great "bones" to work with. His biggest challenge? Making a very small space feel roomy.

"The key with a home gym is that you want it to be inviting enough that you will be drawn to it every day," he says. "We really wanted to meet all Jill's workout needs, yet not make her feel like she's crammed into this small room. The idea was to create a sanctuary."

To make the room appear larger--and to allow Jill to check her form while exercising--Saint-Onge installed three large mirrors on one wall, spacing them out so "you have the illusion that another room is there." He chose floating shelves as a space-saving display for the flat-screen Philips TV, DVD player and sound system. Jill also received a Nike+Philips MP3Run 256-megabyte MP3 player ($299).

Saint-Onge designed the room around Jill's new workout equipment, which took up the majority of the floor space. Because her favorite cardio activity is running, part of Jill's prize was a SportsArt 3108 Treadmill, which has a sleek design, no-maintenance running belt and a CardioControl display with preset courses and a heart-rate monitor.

Instead of trying to squeeze in several weight machines, Jill received a Life Fitness G5 Cable Motion Gym System, a versatile, space-efficient multigym that can work every major muscle group. It features a removable bench so Jill can substitute a stability ball as she progresses to more challenging exercises. Plus, taking the bench off and setting it aside gives Jill more floor space to stretch or practice yoga.

Because gym equipment can make a room look rather sterile, Saint-Onge softened the ambiance by painting the walls a sage green (Behr Paint in Tart Apple #420B-4), installing a natural-hued hardwood floor and hanging black-and-white photographs of Venice, Italy, Jill's favorite city. While the skylights provide natural light during the day, adding halogen spotlights (Philips HomeLight Cool White Bulbs and track lighting from Home Depot) to the room was key. Saint-Onge says, "No matter what time of day you're in there, it's going to be bright, warm and inviting."

The result? "The best word to describe my new gym is spa-like," Jill says. "It makes me feel both relaxed and energized." Mission accomplished!

the price of fitness

Gym equipment (treadmill, G5 machine, dumbbells)                  $5,520
Electronics (TV, DVD, MP3 player, hi-fi system)                   $2,080
Materials (paint, flooring, lights, mirrors, shelves, artwork,
  plants, baskets, chairs)                                        $3,000
Total =                                                          $10,600

To see more of Jill's home gym makeover, log on to designingat home.com, the website for Philips Designing at Home, a consumer-education program that teaches you how to mix home design and technology.

Shape would like to thank the following Los Angeles-based contractors for their participation. Floorgate Inc. (323-478-2000), Wadalley Handyman Services (323-295-2244) and A to Z Glass & Mirror (323-723-3449).

Photography by Nick Horne