Does your home seem a little bit too small? Do you feel like your family is on top of one another? If you love your current home and don't have enough money in the budget for a major renovation, you may be surprised by how you can affordably create more space with smaller, innovative changes like these:
Convert a Sunroom, Garage, or Shed Into a Functional Space
You may not have the time or budget to do a full transformation for your sunroom, garage, or shed, but with a few simple and affordable changes, you can make these spaces into functional rooms. Your converted space will likely be just fine as an extra workspace, a play room, etc.
Simply add a wall air conditioner for temperature control and you'll suddenly find that the horizons for what a room can be for you begin to open up. Integrate a PTAC Unit into a sunroom, garage, or shed to make it the temperature you need it to be when you need it. When you’re not using the room, turn off the AC.
While you may waste some energy in a space that isn't insulated, if you only turn the AC unit on while you're using the space, you will likely find that you aren't spending too much on temperature control. If you'd like more functionality from your shed, garage, or sunroom, you can insulate it, but in the meantime, just installing an AC unit will make you enjoy these spaces much more.
Build a Screened Porch or SunRoom
A screened porch can make your home feel much bigger. You'll find that it doubles as a second living room when the weather is nice. By using fans, you can considerably extend the time that your screened porch feels nice.
Screened porches can be very affordable to build but will give you substantially more living space. You may find that your kids love being out on the screened porch, which can get you a bit more space in your living room and kitchen.
A sunroof is a bigger investment than a screened porch, but depending on your needs, it may be well worth the extra cost. It is still considerably less expensive than building an additional room in your home. Just by adding a wall AC unit, you can provide temperature control for your sunroom.
Temperature control will allow you to use your sunroom much more often without affecting the temperature in the rest of your house or using up a lot of energy by using central air conditioning for the sunroom.
You'll likely find that you can use a sunroom more often than a screened porch since it isn't as dependent on nice weather. Sunrooms can also be built in places where you may not want a screened porch, such as along a road, since they offer some sound insulation and more privacy than a screened porch.
Create a Garden You'll Want to Spend Time In
Many people think of their yard as being just a field of mowed grass that they pass on the way to get into their homes. However, your home’s outside space can be so much more.
Hardscaping, trees, seating, and other additions to your garden can all make it a place that your family enjoys being when the weather is nice. Don't have much privacy in your yard? Consider building privacy fences or even walls so that you'll be more likely to want to use the space.
Install hardscape like decks, patios, etc, and put patio furniture and chairs out so that people will enjoy hanging out in garden areas. Draw people out from the patio or deck with paths that run through the garden. Consider lighting your outdoor living spaces so that they can be enjoyed after the sun has set.
By creating a garden that your family enjoys spending time in, you'll find that everybody is drawn out more and that your garden starts to feel like another room in your house.
Get More From Your Home
By thinking outside the box, you'll find all kinds of ways to get more out of your home. Converting spaces like sunrooms, sheds, and garages so that your family will want to spend time in them is a wonderful way to get more living space from existing square footage without having to spend much for improvements.
Building on a new screened porch or sunroom is a little bit more of an investment, but it will pay off in a major way by giving you what feels like a whole new room much more affordably than building an addition to your home.
You may just want to revamp your garden space and draw the family outside. However much time or money you have to invest, you can get more from your home.
