If there is one thing always true about a house, it’s that there is never enough space for everything. No matter how much organizing, donating, or throwing away you do around the house, some spaces still feel cramped. But if you know the proper way to remodel your home, there are creative ways that you can make more space in your home and give yourself that extra square footage that you need. Here are ways that remodelers can expand the space in your home.

Create an Open Floor Plan

Open floor plans are all the rage nowadays, and for a very good reason. In older homes, there are often plenty of walls that close off and separate all the different rooms of your home to create separate spaces for each room. While this is great for things like offices, bedrooms, and bathrooms, where privacy and separation are paramount, they are not so necessary for things like the kitchen, living room, family room, or dining room. When a remodeler opens your floor plan by removing unnecessary walls to create a more open and dynamic space, you get so much more room out of it. You would be shocked how much space your unnecessary walls take up in your home. If you are looking for a great way to open more space in your home, then an open floor might be right for you.

Add a Story

If you live in a ranch style house, then the solution for your space issues might be adding a second story to your home. If you are already living in a two- or three-story home, you may run into trouble with local ordinances trying to go even taller, but if you are rocking out in a single-story home, a second story is almost always doable. With an extra story, you can completely reimagine your space, putting bedrooms upstairs and out of the way, allowing you to transform your first floor. Expand your kitchen or living room to entertain more guests or put a dedicated office space in. Whatever you can dream of is possible, it may just mean adding a story.

Finish the Basement

If you have an unfinished basement in your home, then you are sitting on an extra story of house space that you aren’t using. When you finish your basement, you are taking a space that could only be used for storage and turning it into a completely usable space. Turn it into a playroom for your kids, add a guest bedroom, put in an office, or even design a home gym or home theatre If you like. A finished basement can add hundreds of square feet of usable home space to your house. Don’t sleep on an unfinished basement, you are just a small remodel away from a significantly larger home!

Build a Deck

If you can’t make room inside, then try looking to the outside of your home for some additional space. Building a deck can give you a load of extra livable, usable space for your home at a fraction of the cost of other additions to your home’s space. A deck can be like an outdoor living room if you know how to do it properly. Decks provide room for hosting parties and other gatherings at your home. By building an easy wooden deck or a sturdy stone deck, and furnishing it with comfortable outdoor furniture, a fireplace, and perhaps some speakers or even a television, and providing a little bit of shade, you have yourself a totally functional extra room of your house. Consider a deck when thinking about cheap and effective ways to get your square footage up.

Reimagine Childhood Bedrooms

This is a tip for the empty nesters out there who are still in the home they raised families in. If this sounds like you, then you probably have your children’s old bedrooms still set up about how they were when they moved out. Well, as difficult as it can be to say goodbye to a childhood bedroom, you are sitting on square footage that you should reclaim to give yourself the space you need in your home. Have your kids go through the things they have stored in their childhood bedrooms, decide what they want to keep and what can be given away or thrown away, and then reimagine these spaces for yourself. Perhaps you need an office, a guest bedroom, a workout space, or a crafting or hobby space to explore your passions.

Add Balconies

Another great way to add a little bit of extra space in your home is to add some balconies, particularly to the living room and master bedrooms. Giving a balcony space to your living room is much like adding a deck, you are getting an extra bit of livable space without sacrificing anything indoors. And a master bedroom balcony can give you a reading nook or just another little spot to breathe. Think about balconies when you are looking to expand your square footage.

Reinvent Your Garage

Most homes have a garage, and yet many people park their cars in their driveway or on the street anyway. If you don’t use your garage for parking, or could live without using your garage for parking, then maybe it’s time to reinvent the garage space. By finishing out a garage, and installing heating and cooling and insulation, you can provide your house with a whole new room. A garage can be great for a home gym, game room, or even as a home theater.

Build Above Your Garage

Another garage boosting tip for you, if your home is multistory with an attached garage that is only one story, you can add an extra room by building on above the garage. Whether it is used as an office space, spare bedroom, art gallery, or anything else you can imagine, an extra room above your garage is a great way to add some convenient space.

No one likes a cluttered and cramped home. Lucky for you, there are quite a few remodeling projects that can add some serious space to your home. Give one or more of these eight ideas a try and expand the space in your home.

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