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Home Addition Design Help

Matt C
16 days ago

Hello! We are looking to add on to our house as finding a 5 bedroom in our area is out of our range (going for more than 3x what we bought ours for). We have money saved and have seen the house's value increase by 50% over the last 3 years. We are a growing family and ideally don't want anyone sleeping on different levels.


Am I missing anything in terms of design here? The goal was to add 2 bedrooms, create a sun room/ bigger living area upstairs and have a garage. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!













Comments (7)

  • auntthelma
    16 days ago

    Are you looking for a way to add another bedroom on the main floor?


    Alternatively, maybe put two bedrooms on the basement floor so one kid doesnt have to be separated. The bedroom right off the living room looks a bit forced. Maybe move that one downstairs.


  • Seabornman
    16 days ago

    What climate are you in and which way is north? All that heated space over the outside could be a problem. What is all this going to look like?

  • kandrewspa
    16 days ago

    For a project this size you need to engage an architect. You go to an architect with your wish list and it's their job to fulfill it as well as possible. You aren't doing yourself any favors by trying to design it yourself. In any case you will be spending a lot of money. You can spend your money wisely on a good design that will enhance the value of your home and be happy to live in it for years to come, or you can pursue a less than optimal solution that could potentially devalue your home. For the record, I am not an architect. I just think it makes sense to pay professionals for the skills they have spent years of training and experience developing. Could someone do your job without any training or experience?

  • AnnKH
    16 days ago

    How old are your kids? Our twins were sleeping in their own rooms on a different level by age 4 or 5, and it was never a problem. As they got older, we all appreciated some separation.

    What part of the country are you in? 5 bedroom homes are not hard to come by, but I don't know if any of them are all on one level - that could be tough.

  • 3onthetree
    16 days ago

    A few things that I question right off the bat:

    - You are making a 2+1 bedroom into a 4+1 for a larger family, and adding a lot of square feet. Yet the Kitchen will be very undersized in the future with no opportunity for anything.

    - The entrance to each new bedroom being entered directly from the Family Room is not optimal. The Jack-n-Jill may want to be utilized by non-bedroom occupants because it is closer to the outdoor living circulation back stair.

    - The transition area between Dining and Family Room is inefficient dead space, the designer just placed chairs there because they couldn't think of anything else. Instead, with such a large addition, you can move the stair into the addition, and gain space in the Kitchen, which may also open up the opportunity for the Kitchen to be more visually adjacent to the Family Room as that is a desirable feature in American households since the 1980s.

    - You have eliminated a first floor deck (directly used by both 1st floor and basement), and replaced it with a back stair down to a covered patio behind the garage. No visual or functional connection to the main congregation areas of the house. You can actually move an a/c condenser unit (or keep it under a tall deck) to still have a deck off of the Family Room.

  • PRO
    RappArchitecture
    15 days ago

    What kandrewspa said. This is a major project requiring the services of a licensed architect. I know it's great fun to play around with floor plans (I do it all the time), but a talented design professional will be able to take your wish list, site and budget and create a home which will function and look better than anything you can come up with yourself.

  • Matt C
    Original Author
    15 days ago

    Thank you all. this as actually for a draftsman and not my own work but I wanted other opinions! these are all great points and i agree with dead space/ kitchen. we will in north carolina so while the deck is nice in late winter (before pollen) and fall, it is very hot out there in the summer. Not sure how to add more bedrooms without being connected to living room outside of spending 3.5 feet on a hallway