What to Consider When Renovating Your Family Home
As your family grows, their needs change. You love everything about your neighbourhood, the location, the schools, and the neighbours. You’ve decided to stay but, you’ll need to make significant changes so you can be happy in your home. This is a great opportunity to assess how your family uses your current space and identify ways to improve it.
We’ve assembled a list of areas to focus on before you consider a home renovation.
1. Sightlines
Can you see your children from your kitchen? Parents’ like to have their children within visual range. Whether they are in the backyard or in the family room. Often this can be achieved by creating a Great Room – with clean sight lines over most of the main floor and the backyard. Ask your renovator to convert your current space to allow for great flow and better sightlines.
2. Entryways
Is your entryway welcoming? Or is it congested and inhospitable? Your entryway should be able to accommodate several people arriving at once. This is often accomplished with a Mud Room – an area for guests and family members to remove shoes, muddy boots, wet coats, and umbrellas. It really helps to keep dirt from being tracked into your home.
3. Entertainment
As children grow older, their need for privacy grows as well. They have their bedrooms of course but, you may want to consider a hang-out space for them. Certainly, they would appreciate an area to watch movies, play games, and hang with siblings, friends or family.
4.Storage, Storage, Storage
i. Kitchen Storage
Do you have sufficient pantry storage? Often while your family is growing - you may find that you’re buying items in bulk – you’ll notice your needs for grocery storage grows as well. If you’re considering a full kitchen renovation, think of expanding the space to include a pantry – walk-in preferred.
Related article: Remodeling your kitchen? Read our handy Kitchen Renovation Guide.
ii. Storage Throughout
Do you have areas in your home that are clutter magnets? Ask yourself if you could benefit from extra storage. Often, the answer is a resounding – Yes! Built-ins are an excellent solution to your storage issues – especially if it’s custom built to suit your home and lifestyle. Consider built-ins in any underused section of your home, such as under the stairs or that awkward space in the basement. Efficient storage solutions are so effective – they may surprise you.
In the bedrooms, if you don’t have the space for a walk-in closet – speak with a closet designer to give you great tips and advice on how to redesign your closet, so you can accommodate more items.
iii. Garage Storage
It’s incredible how often garages - especially in Toronto - are used for anything but parking the car. They often tend to be filled with seasonal items, such as hockey gear, bicycles, Christmas decorations. It’s a great idea to get smart about your garage storage. Many big-box stores carry solutions that will help you effectively store items and park your car!
5. Bathrooms
Is the bathroom available when you need it or is it always occupied? The recommended ratio for bedroom to bathroom should be no lower than 3 beds to 2 baths. We propose parents have their own private ensuite - this should make for less chaos in your daily routine. The ultimate goal for a bathroom design is to have them be able to handle the needs of the whole family.
Related article: There is so much that goes into even the smallest bathroom renovations. Read our 2018 Bathroom Renovation Checklist.
6. Laundry
It is always worthwhile to invest in laundry appliances that can handle the everyday dirt, mud, and more that your family may track in. Consider rearranging the laundry room so that you will have more available storage space. Your laundry room should comfortably accomodate - the washer and dryer, a folding space, a space for hanging clothing, as well as workspace for ironing and/or steaming. Often times interior designers have the Mud Room and Laundry Room together.
Before you renovate your home, make sure you have all the bases covered so you and your family can get the most out of it. The Toronto design + build experts at Bryant Renovations have over 40 years of experience in delivering the right balance of style and function.
Contact us today to see how we can give your family the home they deserve.