Owning a home even before you start a family is a smart step that will save you a ton of money in the long run. Young professionals who choose to invest young and start a home even before a family comes are often given the privilege later on of having a start-up home already to provide for their family. However, most young professionals who buy a home before even starting a family often purchase homes that have just wide enough space for their needs when they are younger. Now that their family is growing, the need for a bigger space eventually comes. The property must accommodate the number of children the couple wants, and it should enable add-ons as the children get older. A home must adapt to these changes and provide the owner with enough exterior space to increase its size anytime. Here are four tips on how to adapt your home for a growing family:
Buying multi-purpose furniture
Instead of buying a new home, you might also want to stay living in the first home you bought as a young professional. You want your new and growing family to experience the fruit of your hard work. But the house and lot property you bought in the first place has just two bedrooms, so how can you accommodate two to three kids? Here’s an idea: multi-purpose furniture. You know how we have posted a lot of tips about multi-purpose furniture for extra storage space? Now, it won’t only benefit your storage but your kids’ spaces as well. There are plenty of creative styles of beds for kids nowadays. You can go for a simple bunk bed for two, or you can use a pull-out bed which saves more vertical space for cabinets. If you’re feeling like your home is becoming too tiny as well for your family, you can switch even the furniture in the living room into multipurpose ones, such as pull-out tables, pull-out cabinets, cabinets that are also mirrors, coffee tables with a hollow storage inside, and many more. Buying multipurpose furniture helps the family transition, too. For example, cribs that turn into toddler beds are great investments for families and will save them money. Couches that have a hidden bed provide more sleeping space when guests spend the night at the home. Kitchen tables that fold up to provide just enough space for guests and the family and the designs are easy to hide in an adjoining cabinet. Each of these options accommodates a growing family at different stages of life.
Adding more living space
Although your home is not originally designed for a family, there are plenty of ways to transform it. For instance, you can add more living space by using unused rooms, storage areas, or even extra spaces in your lot. This is one beauty of owning a home as well, it will always be available for you to be creative about it. As the family grows, children will need further room in the home, and the parents might consider building another bedroom or bathroom to accommodate them. That’s why it is also better to buy a house and lot property with a bigger lot if you can, so that when the time comes, it will be easy for you to expand your living spaces depending on your family’s needs.
Increasing storage space
As mentioned earlier, you can increase your living space by installing multi-purpose furniture and appliances. You will be surprised by how much space it can save. However, there are a lot more ways to increase your storage space too, especially now that the things you store are growing along with your family. Storage space helps the family keep the house neater. It provides necessary room for clothing, linens, and odds and ends, so one way is to declutter. Who knows, you might even find things that are not worthy of storing for? A cleaner house is a more spacious house after all. Built-in shelves don’t take up a lot of room in the living space. They hide some storage options behind other fixtures and are effective in keeping everything decluttered. Homeowners can consider some storage options created for tiny houses that accommodate a lot of belongings without compromising the room within the living space. Like Suntrust Properties, there are some house models that offer built-in cabinets, as well as room storage under the stairs or beside the dirty kitchen.
Expanding Outdoor Spaces
Apart from increasing your living space, when you have kids, a lot of activities happen outside the house. So it may also be a wise move to expand your outdoor area. Declutter it a little bit, perhaps trim the front yard, and start doing wonders on your lawn. Exterior spaces are superb for entertaining guests and spending time together as a family. Some families choose decks or porches to add more exterior space for the property. It gives the family an area where they can relax and cook outdoors, have barbecue picnic nights, or even install inflatable pools for a summer spirit even amidst the pandemic.