Perhaps the dining room table has gradually been occupied by your home office. You may have a garage that has become more of a huge locker room rather than a parking space. Whatever the cause, it is stressful to know that you are growing out of your space. But that is also the initial step of correcting the issue.
The good news here is that you do not always need to pack up, sell your house and move to get the room you need. By being creative and planning a bit, you can increase your footprint in the place you are.
Maximizing Interior Space: Basement, Attic, and Garage Conversions
The cheapest square footage is the area that you already have and you are not utilizing it effectively. You should consider the backyard of your house before you engage in a big building project.
Basements and Attics
Half-finished basements are usually goldmines in terms of additional space. A dark storage area can be a bright family room, a home theater or a playroom for the kids with some flooring, drywall, and lighting. On the same note, it is possible to turn attics into comfortable bedrooms or home offices, although you will have to install a safe staircase.
The Garage Dilemma
Do you really require indoor parking? To a great number of families, the garage conversion is a good trade-off. It gives a spacious and open space that is already connected to the house and can be converted into a gym, a workshop, or a guest suite.
Smarter Storage
Occasionally, it is not space but organization. Inbuilt shelves, storage under the stairs and customized closets would release the floor space that is now occupied by furniture. With a place to put everything, the size of the rooms that you already have will seem a lot larger.
Home Addition Options: Bump-Outs, Sunrooms, and New Wings
Rearranging is sometimes not sufficient. You simply need more room.
An addition will enable you to remain in the same neighborhood that you adore, you will not have to change your kids’ schools and you will save the expenses of relocation which are very high. This is where it is possible to make your own home more personalized to the needs of your family.
Common additions include:
- The Bump-Out: Adding breathing space to a kitchen or a living room by a few feet.
- The Sunroom: This is an extension, where a bright and airy area of relaxation is created, one that allows the indoors to be connected to the outdoors.
- The New Wing: It involves the addition of a master bedroom or additional bedrooms to accommodate the increasing number of children or elderly parents.
This is a big project, and therefore it is worth considering the long run. Professional home additions in Bellevue can craft designs to match perfectly with your current architecture, and your new addition will look like it was always intended to be there, and not an addition to the building.
Additions provide you with the liberty to correct the exact pain areas of your house. You are not only gaining space, you are gaining the right space.
Home Remodeling Strategies to Improve Layout and Flow
It may seem to you that you can make your home a lot larger with a simple change of the layout. Household plans of older houses are usually choppy and disjointed, preventing light and movement.
Open Up the Walls
The elimination of non-load-bearing walls between the kitchen, dining, and living spaces makes it appear to be an open concept. This enables light to pass through the house and family members communicate even when they are in various zones of the living room.
Fixing the Bottlenecks
Bathrooms are infamous for making a house look small. When you are always banging your elbows when cleaning your teeth, or the layout is not conducive, it will influence your day to day activities. An efficient bathroom remodel Bellevue residents prefer involves swapping an oversized tub that is hardly used for a smooth walk-in shower, or shifting the door to create more wall area to store items.
Even minor modifications in busy places have a huge impact on the feeling of home. It is not about space itself but quality.
Second-Story Additions: Building Up Instead of Out
When you have a small piece of ground, and cannot build out, look upwards. The second-story addition is an excellent idea as it will supply you with a lot more room without consuming your backyard.
This is usually the most suitable decision when it comes to the addition of bedrooms. You can reserve the downstairs to live, dine and entertain and move all the sleeping quarters to the upstairs to have privacy.
Things to Consider:
- Foundation: Your contractor will have to determine whether your existing foundation can handle the additional weight or not.
- Disruption: This is a big job. It is quite likely that you will have to vacate part of the building during the construction as the roof will be removed.
- Stairs: You will have to lose a bit of floor space on the main level to have a staircase.
Nevertheless, it is possible to increase your living space by more than half by popping the top of a house in addition to making your property considerably more valuable.
Remodel vs. Addition: How to Choose the Right Solution
The choice of reorganizing, remodeling or building an addition is a large one. One cannot give a blanket solution.
Begin by sitting down with your family and making a Wish List vs. a Need List.
- Needs: Things you need to operate (e.g. another bedroom, a home office).
- Wishes: It would be nice, but not urgent (e.g., a larger deck, a skylight).
Then examine your budget and your schedule. A remodel could require a couple of weeks and a sizable addition could require months. Consider the duration of time you want to remain in the home. When you have a permanent home, the investment, and the inconvenience that is temporary is nearly always worthwhile.
Conclusion
Home is where you should be able to get relaxed, recharge and be yourself. It is not supposed to be a stressor or frustrating.
When the walls are closing in on you, take a deep breath. You have options. You want to get rid of the clutter, you want to knock down a wall, or you want to construct an entire new wing, the answer is out there. You can make your home exactly the size you need today and even in the years to come by making practical moves to increase your footprint.