Is it Time For a Home Addition? A Guide For Growing Families

Considering a home addition for your Ann Arbor home? Good for you! Home additions are a great way to add value and modernize a smaller, cramped space while adding room and improving its layout.

In this post, we’ll take a look at questions you should be asking yourself prior to a home remodel and go over some advantages of completing a home addition.

Do you love your space and neighborhood despite a small home?

We run into many families who absolutely love their home, neighborhood, and most of all, their community. The only problem is they can’t fit everybody in their family into their home! For these families, a home addition could be the answer.

When you build an addition to your home, you don’t need to:

• Uproot your family: Particularly with young ones, it can be difficult to move. Children are sensitive to change, and it can be challenging for them to adjust to new schools, friends, and living spaces. It can also be difficult on you, too! Moving requires new routines, grocery stores, gyms, and other living resources.

• Pay real estate costs: Moving is expensive! This is especially true when purchasing new real estate and selling your old home. In addition to the literal moving fees, you need to pay realtor fees, inspection fees, land transfer fees, and more. Plus, you have to deal with the stress and emotional taxation that goes with juggling offers and showing your home.

Home remodel by Forward Design Build Remodel.

Are there more children than bedrooms?

Even if they haven't arrived yet, start planning for children down the road.

While multiple children in a bedroom may work at first, as kids grow older they’ll want their own space to match the little person they’re becoming. Plus, it will make the entirety of your home feel larger when your kid has their own space.

A home addition is a great way to do this, and can even be built with your kids in mind. Plus, the extra bedroom could be used to house in-laws and other guests when visiting.

Kitchen remodel and home addition by Forward Design Build Remodel. See the project story here.

Is your home too closed off?

When your home is closed off, it won’t feel vibrant and alive. Many of the older homes in the Ann Arbor area have never undergone a major layout-focused remodel. This has left them with the closed-off style that was commonplace in the past.

Home additions can give you an opportunity to undergo a major reworking of your layout. While many think of home additions on just a room-by-room basis, additions can add space to existing rooms as well. This can open spaces up while retaining the unique character that drew you to the home in the first place.

A common way homeowners open up their space is through open floor plan kitchens. Open floor plan kitchens can create a:

• Large but defined space. Open floor plans often integrate living rooms, kitchens, and dining rooms to create open, yet still defined areas.

• Hub for your family. A well-run home is just like a living organism. An open floor plan space can act as the heart of your home.

• Place for entertaining. Whether it’s a place to watch the Michigan football game with your family (Go Blue!) or a place to host Thanksgiving dinner, open floor plans create a space to spend time together.

Bathroom remodel and home addition by Forward Design Build Remodel.

Waiting too long for the bathroom?

A common refrain we hear from homeowners is that they want a home addition because their kids (along with themselves) are battling for showers every morning. Unfortunately, many older homes were not designed to give your entire family space to get ready in the morning.

Home additions are a great opportunity to add a full bathroom. You’ll be amazed by how much bigger your house will feel by just adding an extra one!

Some reasons to add a bathroom include:

• Your growing family simply needs more facilities

• You’d like a bathroom attached to a bedroom, such as a primary suite

• You want a specialized spa-like bathroom experience

Screen porch addition by Forward Design Build Remodel.

Do you feel like you have no space for “you”?

Wherever you live, you need to have a space that you can feel relaxed and grounded. Even if you had this space in your home when you moved in, the addition of children or in-laws may have made this space relegated into a more day-to-day functional area.

Home additions could give you an opportunity to either build this space, or create a new space that could restore your former sanctuary. Some possible room additions to build some “you” space include:

• Sunroom

• Home office or study

• Movie or tv room

Kitchen remodel by Forward Design Build Remodel. 

How can I add value to my home?

Home additions add value to your biggest investment.

In addition to just simply adding square feet, larger homes are always more marketable. They also expand the potential audience of your home into larger families, broadening the possibilities for home buyers.

If you’re not sure what to add to your home but want to increase its value through a home addition, take a look at features your neighbors have that your home does not have. There is a good chance the inclusion of these features into your home will be helpful during the sales process and increase the value of your home.

Lakehouse remodel and addition by Forward Design Build Remodel.

Enrich your home with a home addition from Forward Design Build Remodel

Forward Design Build Remodel can help you add functionality and beauty through impeccable design and fine craftsmanship. We can help you add onto your space in a way that fits in with your current design, but also add onto your home as part of a larger home remodeling project.

Contact us today to see how we can help you, or take a look at our home addition portfolio to see what we’ve done for other beautifully designed homes in Ann Arbor.

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