Often, when people buy or build their home, they choose or plan one with enough rooms to accommodate their whole family and sometimes even with a guest bedroom to boot. However, it can be tricky finding yourself in need of another bedroom, either to accommodate another person who’ll be living in the house or to add another bedroom since the one for guests has become occupied. Luckily, you don’t need to buy or build a new house just for that purpose — there are a lot of ways you can ‘add’ another bedroom to your existing house or property.
Adding another bedroom to your home can be significantly cheaper and a lot less tedious than having to get a new home (and let’s not even talk about the stressful moving process). As such, we’ll be taking a look at your options when adding another bedroom to your house (or within your property):
#1 Expanding Your House
If you have enough space in your property, you can opt for a conventional house addition. This means adding a multi-room structure attached to your house to expand it. Often, it’s done on the side or the back of the house. It’s arguably the most expensive option in the list, but it can be still preferable over moving into a new one. This option allows you to build more than just a bedroom but other rooms as well, depending on the available space.
#2 Bumping Out
A more space-saving and cheaper option would simply be to “bump out” your house to build an additional room.
In contrast to a conventional house addition, bumping out generally uses only enough space for one room (your extra bedroom) instead of a multi-room structure.
#3 Dividing Your Living Room
For those with spacious living rooms, you can choose to ‘divide’ it to add another bedroom. This can be a relatively cheaper option, but you’ll need to time the construction right (or temporarily live somewhere else) since your living room would not be available as the walls are getting built and your living room and new bedroom are being finished.
#4 Stand-Alone Room
If you have enough room in your backyard, you can choose to build a stand-alone room (i.e., separate/detached from your house). Depending on the size and the design of the stand-alone room, it can be more expensive than bumping out or be as costly as a conventional house addition, considering that you also need a separate line for plumbing, electricity, and so on.
#5 Convert Your Basement, Garage, or Attic
Garages, basements, and attics are often used as makeshift storage areas, which makes converting them a convenient option for you. You may need to do some re-arranging and de-cluttering, but these room/space conversions are probably the cheapest options available — except for the attic, as they can be considerably more expensive to convert given their location. Since garages are generally utilized as a parking space, tool storage, or workshop, most people would opt to convert their basement instead. Just make sure that you choose a contractor that specializes in projects on those particular rooms, so if you’re looking to transform your basement into a bedroom, make sure that you select a local contractor in Utah that specializes in basement finishing.
The Takeaway
Adding another bedroom to your house is easier than you think, and it’s far more cost-effective and convenient than having to go through the trouble of getting and moving into a new house. So, if you need another bedroom, try to take check which option best suits you, and it wouldn’t hurt to get a professional opinion from a contractor to help you out!
