Planning a home extension to create more living area
If you are living in an older house, it can be frustrating to have all of the living spaces separated by doors and a hallway. Older houses also often have smaller living areas, with formal sitting areas and parlours. As the trend in modern living is to have larger shared spaces to spend shared spare time together, it can be useful to build an extension to create more family-oriented living space. Here are some questions to ask as you start your home extension plans.
How do spend your spare time as a family?
When contemplating a home extension, it's useful to contemplate how your family spends time together. If you spend a lot of time sharing meals, then priority should be given to space for a long table and an integrated kitchen. However, in some households meals are more of a grab-and-go proposition, and it can be more useful to have a comfy couch and a set-up for people to watch movies and play video games together. If you spend a lot of time outside, you might like to plan sliding doors and an integrated outdoor living area under shade.
How much storage do you need?
If you are a minimalist family, you might not need much storage and may avoid getting extra storage to encourage you to not hold onto items. However, if you have young children and oodles of toys, you might like to have some integrated storage so that you don't need to spend all of your time tripping over toys when entertaining adult friends. By integrating storage in the design phase, you'll spend less time jerry-rigging storage solutions later on!
How can you maximise natural light in the living room?
If you want people to use your living room, it helps to have natural light in the area. It can be useful look at ways to maximise your natural light if you are building out towards your neighbour's home or other structures such as sheds with this home extension, as you may find your living room becomes very shaded at some times of the day. You can either use skylights, more windows, or supplement with artificial light if that does occur but natural light is often the most inviting option.
If you are looking to build a home extension to create more living area, then you should meet with a home extension specialist. They can help to design a living room that fully integrates with the rest of your home and is a great fit for your families lifestyle.
