How to create more space at home without needing an extension
If your home feels rather cramped, your first thought might be to build an extension, but doing so could be costly. Real Homes puts the price of an extension at £1,500 to £1,800 per square metre, while that price could rise to £2,200 if the extension includes a lot of glass.
However, there are clever ways of increasing your amount of residential space without having to reshape the physical boundaries of your property. You could, for example…
Add an extra floor within a room
This would be practically possible if you have a room with high ceilings that leaves much space ineffectively used.
Fortunately, MADE.COM, a seller of designer furniture has developed an amazing online tool outlining how you can make use of your space effectively. There’s a nifty set of sliders to show what your space may look like before and what they will look like afterwards, when you’ve managed to maximise the space available.
Planning permission is not usually needed unless your property is listed, or if the changes that you’re making will alter the property’s external appearance, but any work must still comply with present building regulations.
Place some extra workspace tables in your kitchen
Many kitchens these days are multi-functional spaces, which is why it can be frustrating to work in one that feels uncomfortably small.
However, it might be a lack of work surfaces, rather than having little space in the kitchen per se, that is really the problem.
Therefore, you could remedy the issue by simply giving your kitchen some new workspace tables that largely match the existing work surfaces in height, and increase the usable area.
Set aside specific areas for new functions
Your home might have many empty or underused spaces which, with some careful planning and creative thinking, you could finally put to useful purposes.
For example, if you often work from home, part of your bedroom could be allocated for use as a home office.
MADE.COM has shown how adding a white desk and shelves can make a home office look less conspicuous – and the retailer can also provide a colourful chair if you want to add some contrast.
Convert your garage
Is your home’s garage currently standing empty? Many garages around the country do.
TV presenter Phil Spencer of Location, Location, Location fame has branded garages a “wasted asset”, while 90% of British garages don’t even include a car, The Telegraph has noted.
Hence, you might see sense in converting your own garage. Just watch out for the expense, which – for a basic conversion – can be between £850 and £1,150 per square metre, says Real Homes.
Add an en-suite bathroom
It’s not just in hotels that you can make use of an en-suite bathroom – as long as water and waste can still run to and from it, it can be a good way of repurposing unused space in an existing room.
A store like MADE.COM can provide suitable cabinets and accessories for use in your new en-suite bathroom, but be sure to avoid excessively compromising the existing room’s overall shape and dimensions by carving too much out of it.
Have you carried out your own clever changes to increase the amount of usable space in your home? Share your tips and ideas with us below.
