Is Your Family Ready For More Space? Here’s How to Upgrade Your Home

Adding just one additional family member can mean a bit of cramping in your home. But even if your family isn’t growing in size, homes can become more crowded over time just by how we tend to accumulate things. The house you settled on years before once had ample guest rooms and closet space for storage. But now, these rooms are getting overcrowded, creating the need to reorganize, downsize, and shift your attention to possible upgrades. Which ones best fit your family’s needs?

One great feature of the many homes that make up North Bergen, NJ real estate is all the closet space. If you find your home getting a little too crowded from possessions, the first place you should look is the closets. Are these tiny rooms being used to their fullest potential? Is there a way to add more effective ways to store items while keeping them accessible?

Whether it's a living room closet or the walk-in of your main bedroom, the odds are there is a way to make better use of the available space within it. Adding additional shelving can sometimes be an option. You can also look into storage bins, closet organizers, and other items to keep your closets tidy and less cramped.

The longer we live, the more we tend to accumulate. And while some folks are great at routinely going through their possessions and culling ones they no longer use, many of us tend to hang on to items for dear life. They wind up in the back of closets, stuffed into basements and garages, and crammed into attics. Over time, they can take up a lot of usable space that the items we truly want and use could occupy.

If your home is getting cramped, look at what you currently store inside it. Are there items that you could sell, donate, or otherwise discard? While clearing out unnecessary possessions will not serve as a cure-all for those whose homes are getting too cramped, it’s an excellent starting point.

Many homes will have attics and basements that are virtually untouched. These rooms can be outfitted as excellent storage areas or even turned into usable spaces for daily living.

Attics in some homes can be remodeled to include an extra bedroom or two. While this can take extensive time and prep work, it is a rewarding project that creates more usable space and increases the value of your property.

Many homeowners will remodel basements for extra bedrooms and bonus rooms. These large spaces can sometimes feel like a whole other floor has been added to your home, as many have been transformed to include more storage space, an extra bathroom, and even fully functioning apartments (often referred to as “mother-in-law quarters”).

No matter what size basement you have underfoot, it’s crucial to have the space evaluated by a seasoned professional. They will be able to determine what the best use for the room is, as well as calculate the potential risks.

The garage can be a place that is more than just a spot to park your car or truck. This area will have three walls that are just begging for shelving. Creating storage areas in the garage will free up the cramped storage spaces in your home and make the items more accessible.

Depending on the dimensions of your garage, you might find that shelving isn’t the only addition you can make to this space for storage. Bins, cabinets, and other hidey-holes can be created to offer secure locations for dangerous items and give some objects an added layer of protection.

Be sure to carefully measure your garage's dimensions before planning this project. You’ll want to be sure you can still enter and exit your vehicle after these modifications are made.

There’s only so much space you can create by reorganizing and restructuring your available storage space. But no amount of new shelving or added bins can add a bit of square footage to ANY home. There’s a big difference between using the available space in the best possible way and adding more space. And when your family needs more room to live in, sometimes an addition to the home is the best route.

Adding a room or two is best accomplished with a trusted contractor. The professionals at Team Francesco have a network of construction experts at the ready whom they can refer you to. Once you’ve found one that’s a good fit, carefully list the reasons you want an addition and what you want to accomplish with it.

The cost of a single-room addition ranges from just under $25,000 to as high as $77,000. But those who need the extra space will also find that it adds significantly to the home's value.

Your professional agents at Team Francesco will guide you to the best decision when shopping for homes for sale in North Bergen. Use their network of industry contacts to find the right home inspectors and other contractors. That way, you’ll have an even better idea of what projects you want to complete before moving into (or selling) your home. Reach Team Francesco anytime to jumpstart your real estate journey in New York or New Jersey.