Expanding your home is the best way to increase its functionality, as well as boost its value. After all, the value of the home is often determined by the square footage of the place but there’s a lot more to it than just that. A person buying a home may want a place with a porch, which means that this simple extension may make a difference between selling the place and waiting for a less picky buyer. At the same time, each extension is an improvement to your lifestyle. The best part is that some of these projects are incredibly simple. Here are a few ideas for you to consider.
Add a Porch
The first thing you can do is add a porch. This is a place with increased natural light, which means that it’s a perfect reading nook (far better than anything you could have made indoors).
Second, a porch increases the security of your home. By adding a porch, you’re putting some extra distance between your entrance door and a potential burglar. Unlike your home’s exterior, a porch is likely to be illuminated all night, which is, on its own, a powerful deterrent. Not to mention that porch flooring might not be nearly as silent as the grass surrounding your home.
Aside from this, a porch makes your home’s exterior look nicer and gives you a cleaner, more organized home. While outdoor furniture should be purchased independently, there are a lot of objects that can be taken outside. This way, you furnish your porch and declutter your home, at the same time.
Lastly, by putting a mat and an outdoor rug on a porch, you’re reducing the amount of mud that is carried indoors. This is an indirect home extension that you desperately need. It’s also an additional resting place on your property.
Walkway
On some properties, a garage is separated from the rest of your home. Now, this can be quite troublesome during the wetter (and muddier) part of the year. For this reason alone, you might want to connect it with a walkway. The structure itself is quite inexpensive. All you need is a bit of roofing and some glass walls. This turns your detached garage into a semi-detached one and increases the overall value of your property.
There’s also a way for you to merge these two ideas into one and create a wide-roofed porch as a way to connect the two. This, however, is not the best idea from the standpoint of security. Also, while it provides some connection, the protection from wind and rain may be less impressive than you would like. This is especially the case in a scenario where it’s raining sideways.
Create a Bay Window
We may have been a bit too dismissive toward an idea of an indoor reading nook, which is why it’s time for us to extend an olive branch. The best, most stylish, and most iconic way to do so is to add a bay window. This way, you’re giving your home a custom, iconic look, and gaining more space than it appears from the outside. Generally speaking, this is one of the most creative home extensions that you could invest in.
With this, you gain more light flow within your home, a unique sitting position, and a home that looks straight out of The Simpsons. Overall, it will also create some of the most unique gardening opportunities. You see, a bay window represents an island on your front lawn. This island can be surrounded by raised flower beds or even a low hedge. The opportunities are virtually endless.
Make a Conservatory
One of the biggest health concerns during the colder part of the year is the idea that you’re not getting enough natural light. With a conservatory, you can resolve this issue once and for all. It gives you an “outdoor” area of your home that you can use regardless of the time of the year. You can even have a gym in your conservatory and the sensation of working out in the winter in a conservatory gym is a unique proposition.
They say that natural light affects productivity in more ways than we realize. Well, what about the idea of turning a conservatory into a home office? Just imagine how strong of an impression you would make on someone who’s on a Zoom call with you. It might even be crucial to scoring a job or a client that’s still on the fence.
The resale value of the place greatly depends on this extension. Still, a proper conservatory (especially one that’s supposed to be a gym or an office) can be pretty expensive to construct. Therefore, this is more of a quality-of-life improvement than a resale value improvement.
Convert Your Garage Space
The next thing you should consider is converting your garage space. You see, a garage is a great functional area of your home but it’s not essential. A container shelter that’s customized just the right way can be just as good as a garage.
Why convert your garage into a living space? Well, it’s incredibly effort-friendly. You already have a structure (flooring, walls, and roof). All you need is a bit of insulation and optimization for living conditions. Keep in mind that this doesn’t necessarily have to fit your original plans. This can be something that you come up with on the spot to resolve a current issue. Perhaps money is tight and you need to sublet this space. Maybe a family is due an expansion and you need to move your home gym to make a place for a kid’s room. It’s always good to have options.
In Conclusion
The last thing you need to understand is the importance of expanding your home in your own desired direction. Do you need more space? Are you interested in making a unique home office? Is your intention just to raise the value of the place to sell it better? The answer to these questions should determine your future course of action.