Additions
Space to Grow - The Joy of Room Additions
Completing room additions can be joyous occasions. Usually adding a room means you’re getting more space or making your house more livable. Additions make your house more comfortable and “user friendly” because you now have all that extra space. As the family grows or you add interests in your life, room additions give you the convenience of staying right where you are while adding the practical space you need.
If you’ve looked at new homes recently, it doesn’t take long to figure out you get less space for a lot more money. With the increases in material and labor costs, the prices of new homes have continued to steadily rise. This has made a new home unaffordable for many families. It can be much more economical and practical to add a room to the house where you currently live.
Room Additions
There are other reasons why room additions make sense in many situations. If you have children in schools you like, it means you don’t want to move. By adding a room to your existing home, you can stay right where you’re while adding the needed space.Room additions can be much cheaper than selling your existing home and buying a new one. When you add a room to your house, you also improve the value of your home by a significant amount. Many people add a room and then refinance the house at the higher value so they can access the equity. Room additions can enhance the style and design of a home too.
If you decide you like where you live, but need more space, a room addition can be the right answer to the problem. A remodel contractor can help you design your addition so you get the most for your money. A contractor can assist with design, construction and final inspection. But the contractor will also make sure you follow all code requirements which include getting necessary permits and licenses.
Completing room additions can be cost effective means of making your current home more suitable for your lifestyle. People add rooms to their homes for all kinds of reasons to create space in:
- Family rooms
- Bedrooms for children
- In-law rooms
- Sunrooms
- Home offices
No matter what reason you have for your room addition, it still is one of the most inexpensive methods for adding living or working space.
Top Five Room Additions to Make Your House a Home
Adding a room to your home is a major undertaking, but the results can be amazing. Not only can an extra room add value to your home, it can provide you and your family with that certain space you've always wanted. When you finally decide to take the plunge, however, make sure you think the project all the way through. The last thing you want after suffering through weeks of construction and spending your hard-earned money on supplies is doubt. These top five room addition projects, if planned and executed with care, can help turn your house into a more spacious and fun-filled home.It's a Great Room After All
The reemergence of the great room in recent years came from the novel idea that families want to spend more time together. A great room can help you achieve this by tying your eating, living, and recreational spaces together.If you own a home with a more traditional floor plan, adding a great room could involve knocking down a wall or two. Since interior demolition can be a dangerous undertaking, you may want to consult an architect with experience in structural design. They can tell you how to properly remove a wall or an inconvenient column without causing damage to the rest of your home.
Once the major stuff has been squared away, take time to think about the details. Remember, you and your family will spend a great deal of time in this room, so minor touches such as hardwood floors, crown molding, or built-in shelves can make all the difference.
From Bland Bedroom to Master Suite
Redesigning your bedroom area allows you to personalize the most intimate part of your home. Make the most of it by inviting everyone in, at least for the planning process--, talk to an interior decorator, consult a professional organizer. There are so many good ideas out there--his and hers showers, custom closets, breakfast nooks--that you'll want to flood yourself with options before settling on a plan. Make sure you never have to think, "Hey, we should have done that in our bedroom," after the construction dust settles.Everyone Loves Office Space
A home office is a room addition that can help you de-clutter your home, relieving counter spaces of bills and other paperwork that you need to get to…at some point. It can also make telecommuting, working from home, or schoolwork easier by providing a designated work space free from the distractions you'd encounter if you simply set up your laptop at the kitchen table.When designing your home office, keep the room's purpose firmly in mind. It's a place to do work, so functionality--not aesthetics--should be your primary concern. An antique desk might be sexier than a built-in desk and shelves, but a having a work space designed for efficiency can help you to finish your work more quickly. What could be sexier than that?
Bringing the Big Screen to You
Similar to a home office, a media room should be functional, not just pleasing to the eye. For that reason, a media room is often ideally suited for less-than-ideal areas of your home, such as the basement or the unfinished space above your garage. However, if you're stuck on where to put your room addition, Total Remodeling can help you pinpoint where and how to maximize your media experience. For example, no windows means no glare on the TV. And the tighter the space, the easier it is to achieve perfect surround sound.Since your media room will be a place where you watch movies, channel surf, or spend way too much time on the Xbox360, furnish your new space with lounging comfort in mind. A soft couch, game chairs, and even a beanbag can make your media room a haven for electronic entertainment.
A Garage in Need Is a Garage Indeed
A place for everything and everything in its place. Ask anyone who has added a garage to their home and they'll likely tell you they don't know how they ever lived without it. Suddenly, items that never belonged in the house--bikes, golf clubs, gardening tools--have their own place, and the extra storage will make it feel like all your closets have doubled in size.When planning your garage addition, remember to be very generous in calculating square footage. If you end up needing a spine like a Slinky and knees that bend backwards just to get into your car, your garage could become a burden, not a blessing. A good way to estimate the dimensions is to park your car in your driveway, then arrange everything you expect to keep in your garage around it. Can you open the car door without hitting anything? Can you move from one end to the other without turning sideways and sucking in your gut? When you can, measure from the outside edges and you're good to go.