Every parent knows kids come with “stuff” like nobody’s business.
As your family grows, you find the toys are everywhere, kids’ stuff accumulates in every room, and your once spacious family home begins to feel small and cramped.
You can only do so much decluttering before considering an upgrade.
When considering the cost of upgrading to a larger home (once you calculate stamp duty, legal fees, real estate fees and the added mortgage investment), a renovation or extension could be the solution for you.
With proper planning and some strategic renovations or improvements, you can design a home that adapts to your changing needs. We like to call it future-proofing!
Create separate living areas.
A separate living area can be used as a games room when children are younger and become a teenage retreat when they are older. Design the second living area so it can be closed off with doors instead of being part of an open-plan area. This enables the room to be multi-purpose and can even be used as a media room without the noise filtering to the rest of the home.
Kitchen makeover: Make it open-plan.
The kitchen is the hub of the home, and modern open-plan kitchens are perfect for a family of any age. One of the main advantages of an open-plan kitchen is that it is easy for family members to move in and around it. In older kitchens, there is often a single point of entry. As kids get older and teenagers open the fridge 50 times a day, you will soon find this design results in family members getting in each other’s way all the time. Open-plan kitchens solve this bottleneck.
Breakfast bars are worth their weight in gold.
Breakfast bars are more than just a place to eat your breakfast. They are the centre of the home and serve as the meeting place that keeps everyone connected. Breakfast bars are many things in a household: They are a great homework station for younger kids (where parents can supervise while also cooking, doing dishes, preparing breakfast, lunches and more), and they are the perfect after-school snack zone for children as they run in and out of the house with friends. Breakfast bars are also fantastic serving areas for informal entertaining for drinks and food.
When designing your breakfast bar, ensure the bench extends far enough for a stool to fit under without banging your knees. Another design consideration is to consider how many people you have in your family. Breakfast bars are often designed for a family of four or five. If you have a larger family, you might want to consider designing the breakfast bar to enable people to sit at each end too.
Build in plenty of storage options.
There is no doubt that every home can use more storage. As kids grow older, they will have school bags, sporting equipment, bikes, books, and projects.
Be creative! Storage can be built under the stairs, under beds, in the roof space, overhead cupboards in the kitchen and laundry, built-in/walk-in wardrobes . . . anywhere and everywhere you can create storage, do it!
Splash out on the bathroom.
If you live in a home with just one bathroom, you will already know that it is not ideal for family living. In particular, as children become teenagers, there will be arguments and fights over the bathroom EVERY. MORNING. Most homes nowadays have a parents’ ensuite and at least one additional bathroom for the kids. Increasingly, homeowners are adding more than one kids’ bathroom, particularly when both boys and girls are in the family.
Create a greener home and save money too.
A home renovation allows you to start living a greener life and reduce the impact of your daily lifestyle on the environment. The good news is that many green choices are budget-friendly, too, delivering significant cost savings into the future.
But let’s save that for another post!
For now … It’s time to turn your current home into your dream home – for the WHOLE family.
Donna Etchells - McGrath Estate Agents 