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Beg, Borrow, and Steal
If your home is short on space, and you’re considering an addition or "pop-top", you may find it less costly to re-configure the space you already have. Many families have un-used or under-utilized bedrooms, living rooms, attics, or garages. With a little creativity, you can beg, borrow, and steal space from these rooms to use for another purpose.
Many homeowners are concerned about the re-sale implications of cannibalizing existing rooms to enlarge others. The trend in new housing, however, is for fewer and larger rooms. Families are getting smaller, and the "baby boomers" are becoming "empty nesters". Entertaining is also less formal. As a result, many prospective homeowners will gladly exchange an extra bedroom for a larger master suite, or a formal living room for a great room. If the idea works for your family, it will probably work for thousands of other families as well.
Consider the following ideas for stealing space:
- Combine two bedrooms into one larger master bed/bath suite. An un-used bedroom can provide enough space for walk-in closets and a luxurious master bath, especially if combined with an existing master bathroom.
- Combine a living room and family room to form a "great room". With proper engineering, even bearing walls can usually be removed to provide a spacious, open feel. Perhaps a kitchen wall can be removed to enhance the open feel.
- Many homes have space-wasting parallel hallways. It may be possible to eliminate one of them and find use for the other as a storage closet, powder room, or welcome addition to an adjacent bedroom or living room.
- Enclose a covered breezeway, porch, or patio. In many cases, the foundation and roof are already in place. With the simple addition of some walls and interior finishes, a new room can be economical and convenient.
- An existing garage can be an excellent candidate for finishing into a new room or two. If your lot is large enough, you can replace the garage with a new one, or a carport. If you have a three-car garage, consider taking one bay as living space.
- As little as 16" borrowed from an adjoining room can be enough to dramatically improve a small bathroom. The extra space may permit a second lavatory, an added shower, or a whirlpool tub.
- A closet can be transformed into a laundry room. Even a small closet can accommodate a stacked washer/dryer. Many homeowners like the convenience of a laundry near the bedroom.
- An over-sized garage may lend space for a mud-room, pantry, wet-bar, laundry or powder room.
- Many older homes have large foyers or upstairs hallways. The addition of custom desks or built-ins can capture the space for a home office, library, or nursery.
- The space under a stairwell may be large enough for a powder room, laundry, wet-bar, or pantry. With efficient space planning, it is amazing what you can do with just twenty square feet or so.
- Many older homes have attics large enough for a home office or extra bedroom. The addition of a dormer or roof window can capture some spectacular views!
- Attic space can also be captured for the rooms below, by vaulting the ceiling. While seldom easy, the project can be well worth the effort by increasing the feeling of spaciousness in the rooms involved.
- Many people overlook finishing or re-finishing basement rooms because they are dark and inconvenient. Properly designed and executed, however, basement rooms can be an inviting and cost-effective solution to a space crunch.
- An easy conversion is to create a home office from a bedroom. Custom built-ins can convert the existing closet into storage for copier, fax, files, and storage. If the bedroom is ever needed again, it can easily be re-converted.
As you can see, the possibilities are nearly endless. Whether you need a little space or a lot, consider using what you already have before adding more. Stealing a little space is only petty larceny, and usually worth the risk!
