Large families are full of love, there’s never a dull (or quiet!) moment and there’s always someone to talk to or have fun with. However, large families need a lot of space, and if yours has grown over the years your house now might be feeling more than a little cramped. You always have the option of looking for a bigger property, but if you love where you are, you don’t have to give up on your family home. Instead, consider upgrading it so that it suits you and your brood and you don’t feel like you’re all living on top of each other!
Extend
The most obvious solution to a home that’s too small would be to go with a standard, brick-built extension. If you go with a double story extension, you can increase the living space downstairs as well as add bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs. If you have a large garden or enough space around the home then this is a good option and can resolve your space issues, although it’s a pricey renovation to make. If you’re planning on extending further than three metres then you’re likely to need planning permission, so make sure you check this out and go about things in the right way or it can lead to action being taken against you. If others on your street have extended already then it’s a clue that you will probably be approved, but you’ll still need to fill in the right paperwork.
Utilize the loft and basement
Do you have a loft and a basement that’s currently just being used for storage? Why not have them renovated to create usable rooms, they could become teenager’s bedrooms, playrooms, hobby rooms- whatever else you need to improve the space situation at home. Even just having things like kids toys and video games out of the main living room can make life more serene for you, you could set this up essentially like a living room for the kids while you keep the formal living room for yourself and guests. Once they’re fully renovated, insulated and decorated they won’t feel like cramped spaces, and can actually be a great way to maximize the space at home so you don’t need to move.
Consider a garden room
Are you fed up with your kids or teenagers being noisy and messy all over the house with their friends? If so, a garden room could be a great solution. These are freestanding structures that can be built anywhere in the garden, they don’t need planning permission but because they’re fully insulated they act as a proper room rather than just a summer house or similar. It could also function as a home office if you work from home but need peace as it’s set away from the house, or double up as a guest bedroom. These are usually cheaper than an extension and can be a good option in some cases depending on the kind of space you need to create.
Rejig the rooms
If you have a large family then it can make sense to split up larger rooms into smaller ones, especially as kids get older and become teens who crave their own space. A big bedroom could possibly be split into two or even three smaller rooms, you could always use stud walls or wall dividers if you didn’t want to make permanent changes. It will all depend on the layout and where your windows are placed, but changing around the layout can be an option. Downstairs, consider opening up the layout to make it open plan, as it will naturally feel bigger and more spacious and be suitable for a bigger family,
Add extra bathrooms
One of the biggest issues you likely have at home each morning is people fighting over the bathroom. Adding more bathrooms is a smart move when you have a big family, and it’s easier to do than you might think. Turn the corner of your master bedroom into an ensuite, that way you and your partner don’t need to use the main bathroom which helps to free it up for everyone else. Consider having a Jack and Jill style bathroom created between two of your kids’ bedrooms, that way they can take it in turns with this and everyone else can use the main family bathroom. You could have a wetroom or just a cloakroom bathroom in the hall downstairs. Add a shower pump to any shower to improve the power/ flow or look into pump repairs if you’re finding your shower isn’t performing as well as it should. You could even have a sink installed in some of your older children’s rooms so they can get a wash and brush their teeth in their room in the mornings without having to spend ages in the bathroom while people wait.
What changes have you made to your home to accommodate your large (or growing) family? Have you done any of these things?