As we continue to spend more time at home, working and taking care of our family, many of us find that we need to reinvent or add more room to our space. This is where room additions come in.
Room additions increase the square footage of your home and serve a particular need or purpose that wasn’t included when the house was originally planned out. Fortunately, these rooms are relatively easy to construct and don’t break the bank.
In the end, you get more space that can be considered a home feature and boost the value of your property. Now that you’re here, let’s take a look at the basic prep requirements before starting the construction phase.
Consult with Professionals
Before constructing an additional room or embarking on large remodeling projects for your home, the design of the space should be evaluated and given plenty of thought. After all, you want to make the most out of the new space and enjoy it for many years.
When it comes to these projects, hiring a licensed architect, a structural engineer, and a custom home builder is a wise decision. These professionals can help you with designing and planning your space, so you can achieve your desired aesthetic design and room functionality, without drifting away from the overall design of your home.
The roles of each of these professionals are different. To start with, the architect is the one who plans and draws up the ideal outcome of the structure — what the construction output is supposed to look like.
This will then be reviewed by the structural engineer, to ensure that the plan meets building code and requirements — the idea is turned into reality and put on paper how to actually make it happen.
Once the plan has been approved, the builders will then come up with the equipment and materials needed for the construction. They are responsible for the execution of work and the delivery of the final outcome.
The combined efforts of an architect, a structural engineer, and a custom home builder ensure that you get the best results for the project and that your new room addition is not only beautiful and functional, it can also stand the test of time; things that every homeowner hopes for.
Decorate with Thoughtful Pieces
Before adding furniture to the new room, consider how you want to use the space and how you can maximize it. If the room should serve as a home office and a study area in one, it’s best to incorporate furniture that the children will be comfortable using but at the same time does not disrupt the design harmony in the room.
If you wish to keep the children’s side separate from your workspace — which is ideal — consider designing each corner of the room based on who it’s for and what it’s going to be used for. Say, you want a clean minimalist look on your side of the room but a lively, interactive space for your kids to study and do arts and crafts in, you can make this work by defining each space and considering its proximity to one another.
In this case, hiring a professional interior designer or a decorator will prove worth the additional cost, as they can help bring to life your idea for the space. When you love the way the space looks and you can move around it freely and comfortably, you’ll surely make use of the room often, allowing you to make the most out of your home improvement investment.
Make the Space Green and Smart
In the last decade, many homeowners, designers, and the building community — including architects, engineers, builders, designers, and decorators — have decided to go green and smart. Over the years, the combination of the two revolutionary home ideas has become known as GreenSmart Homes.
While a Green home and a Smart home are often used interchangeably, there are key differences between the two. A Green home centers on environment-friendly strategies. These include installing solar panels, collecting gray water, roof gardening (aka green roofing), thermostat installation, and using non-toxic home insulation materials among the major reasons for going green.
A smart home, on the other hand, centers on technology and how to make home management more efficient. This includes the installation of energy-saving appliances, devices, and equipment, and the use of automation to promote economy in movement.
While these two are different, they work perfectly together resulting in an evergreen, ever-efficient home. And with a new space designed to cater to our new lifestyle, it only makes sense to make your newly added room a GreenSmart space especially if you’ve already done it with the rest of your home.
Overall, a room addition is an excellent way to extend your living space and add extra square footage to your home. By doing so, you can boost the market and the aesthetic value of your property, and have a space that is in tune with your new lifestyle at home.
Room additions are fairly easy and quick to construct, which means you get to decorate and enjoy your new space sooner than later.