Over the time living in your home, you may begin to feel your space getting cramped. The family increases in size, you’ll be able to amass more belongings, or you’ll need more space to move around at home. Whether you live in a small or a big house, those feelings are the same. Over time, you’ll find yourself wanting to widen up your home’s living space.
If that holds true, why not turn that desire into reality as your home improvement project for this year? There are so many different ways—both minor and major upgrades—for you to expand your home’s living space effectively. Soon, you’ll start to feel more organized and put together in your newly designed space. With that said, below are some home expansion ideas so that you can widen up your home’s living space.
1. Enclose A Patio
This first idea applies if you have a patio in your home. This outdoor space can easily turn into an extension of your living space once you enclose it. When done correctly, you’re adding more useful square footage to your home. Enclosing a patio means at least putting a roof over it. This enables you to better use your patio, even during rainy days. You no longer have to be constrained by the weather. Whenever guests come over, you can also use that newly-enclosed patio to entertain. This allows you to expand your living area literally, so you’re not just limited to your home’s indoor area. How much will a home extension like this cost, you may ask? You can view sources here for an idea.
2. Plan A Second Floor
You can also do this tip if you don’t have a second floor yet at home. Just be sure, however, to double-check your original blueprint first. First, you have to ascertain that your home’s foundation can withstand an added floor. That way, you know for sure that adding a new floor won’t weaken your home’s foundation. This project, however, can be an expensive one. Be sure that it’s something you can afford at the moment. The second floor doesn’t necessarily have to be a room. You can add a new living room on that floor, too. This can serve as your family room or entertainment area, so the first-floor living room can be reserved for your guests and relatives who’ll come over. Along that line, visit https://extensionprices.co.uk/side-return-extension-cost/ for a costing idea.
3. Take Advantage Of All Your Walls
If the second tip is not possible, take a good look around your current living space. Are there still bare walls you can maximize? This is what it means to make use of vertical space. Taking advantage of your walls means adding more cabinets without eating up more floor space. Installing cabinets is something you can easily do on your own or with the help of a professional cabinet contractor. The choice as to style is yours, too. You can opt for vertical shelves if you don’t want to conceal your belongings or want those things to be full-on display. If you want something cleaner, you can also have closed cabinets.
4. Add Mirrors
If there is no opportunity for you to create an expansion, at least build an illusion of it. The bare walls in your home can also double as a place for you to add mirrors in. This is an effective strategy to make your living space look and feel bigger—without doing any major renovation at home. Here’s a bonus, too. When positioned right, mirrors can make your living space look brighter. The reflection of natural light from the windows can give off that airier and less claustrophobic feeling, even when you’re in a small and tight space.
5. Finish A Room
Do you have a room in your home that’s unfinished? You may have intended for that room to be your guest room. Or, at the moment, your attic and basement are serving no other useful purpose than as extra storage. Why not grab this chance to furnish that room?
You can make many uses out of an extra room apart from a bedroom, per se. Some ideas include:
- Turning it into a home office, if you’re now working from home, and you’ve previously only used the dining table as your office;
- Transforming it into a homeschool room, if your kids are also homeschooling;
- Creating a family room or an entertainment area;
- Using it as a playroom for your kids, so the toys aren’t all over your living space.
Conclusion
Have the ideas above given you enough inspiration on how you can potentially expand your home’s living space? You don’t have to feel so limited and tight in your current living area when you now have the means to extend your floor area. Yes, the ideas above won’t dramatically turn a small house into a castle. But once those are materialized, you’ll be surprised at the extra square footage your home will now have.
