Eight Ways to Add Value to Your Home
"Two story brick
traditional with 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, island kitchen, and
large deck!" Sound familiar? We often talk about houses in
terms of room count, along with a list of finishes, such as
tile floors, granite counters, or faux paint. While this
vocabulary conveys certain facts, it does not provide the
tools to think about how to re-design a house in a fabulous
way.
It is valuable to be able to make the decisions that
transform a poor design into a house that is memorable,
enduring, and widely appealing. To do this we need to go
deeper than simply updating finishes or increasing square
footage. We must think about how the structure shapes the
feelings and experience of its inhabitants. In the words of
Winston Churchill, "We shape our buildings, and afterwards
our buildings shape us." When a house has design flaws, we
know intuitively that it does not feel right. On the other
hand, a well designed house can make us feel inspired,
enriched, and touched by a sense of order.
We often see houses that have some elements in the structure
and site that appeal to us, but cannot be lived in without
remodeling. Often our clients say that they want to find a
house with good bones (meaning good basic design), that they
can update. The truth is that most houses have some good
design and some bad design. Painting walls and updating
fixtures will not cover bad design. You will need to think
about the house in a deeper way. Use these design processes
to help you make the difficult decisions that will result in
a house that many people would love to live in.
1. Relate the house to
the site.
Think about how the house
integrates and interacts with the land around it. This
awareness is a basic, but often ignored, beginning. The
connection and interplay between interior and exterior
spaces enhances both in a powerful way.
Manage the views from each window. Is there an undesirable
view into a neighbor's home or yard? Is there a nice view
that is blocked by a wall or fireplace?
Notice how the walkway leads to the street, where privacy is
needed, where noise buffering is needed, how drainage will
work.
A side area could be a private garden, accessible from the
main bedroom. A front porch overlooking the street could
bring the house into a relationship with the neighborhood.
2. Bring in natural
light.
Houses can be transformed
by adding windows and other light sources. Generous light
feels safe and uplifting, and attracts people toward it.
Natural light raises the level of importance and the beauty
of rooms. Light all main rooms from two sides, if possible,
to reduce glare and balance the light. Use glass doors,
windows, skylights, transoms, or light tunnels.
Keep passive solar techniques in mind as you add windows and
shading devices. The control of solar energy for light and
heat is fundamental for an efficient and comfortable home.
3. Break down hard
barriers between indoor and outdoor spaces.
Glass doors, screens, and
walls that slide open can create semi-transparent walls,
forming indoor/outdoor spaces that have enormous appeal.
Breezeways, garden rooms, bay windows, and screened porches
are spaces that people love. These bring people into contact
with the outdoors, yet may be furnished in a comfortable
way.
4. Think of outdoor
spaces as large rooms.
When all areas of the
site are thought of as living spaces, new ideas open up.
These outdoor spaces expand the house by creating a sense of
semi-enclosure in various ways.
Their edges can be defined by trees, fences, wings of the
house or other buildings. For example, an outdoor room may
be a shady natural space on the site enclosed by a line of
trees and shrubs.
Outdoor living spaces can be courtyards, walled gardens,
trellis covered breezeways, stone patios, or outdoor
showers. Think about their use and connectedness to the
house.
Often, we see an exterior space that is built as an isolated
destination place - a second floor deck, for example. If you
have to make an effort to go there, the space will not be
used. Outdoor spaces are most used when they are on paths
used by people coming and going. This is why a front porch
is a very appealing design element. People naturally meet
here, and the porch connects with neighbors walking by.
A popular outdoor living area is the backyard deck. This is
often seems to be an afterthought, tacked onto the house.
Can it be covered and screened?
5. Consider widening
roof overhangs or adding propped shutters over windows.
This is a green building
technique in warm climates, blocking solar penetration.
The view of the outside roof structure seen from inside the
house evokes a sense of shelter and protection.
If possible, extend the roof in some areas to create covered
porches or breezeways. Rooms that are simultaneously open
and protected are very appealing.
Inside the house, exposed rafters, rustic beams, or wood
surfaces on the ceiling create feelings of strength and
character in the home.
6. Review traffic flow -
a crucial, but often ignored, design element.
Walk down the paths that
bring you inside the front door, then lead you to various
rooms through the house, and again to the outdoors. Do they
cut through the middle of living areas? When this happens
the living area will never feel complete and comfortable.
Circulation paths should lead along the edges of main rooms,
and efficiently to private rooms. A maze like floorplan
creates a sense of wasted energy and confusion. Few exterior
doors may result in a subtle feeling of being trapped.
Bring multiple uses to hallways and connecting spaces with
bookshelves, windows or window seats.
Set apart the main entrance with details such as a covered
place to stand, special doors, benches, or potted plants.
7. Compare the sizes of
rooms in proportion to each other.
People have an intuitive
sense of the correct hierarchy of spaces. Small living
spaces will seem wrong when combined with large bedrooms.
Homes with awkward design can often be improved by removing
walls to make one large space from several smaller ones.
Consider the use and function of each room. Is the room to
be used privately, such as a bedroom, study, or library? Or,
will the family gather here to cook and eat informally? Some
houses include formal areas, others do not. Some have many
rooms, others are very open. There is no right or wrong
decision here. Houses that have a true and intuitive appeal
have a clarity as to the function of each room.
8. Choose materials as
an integral part of the design - not as decorator selections
made at the end.
For example, structural
materials can be exposed, or flooring can be used to connect
and unify spaces.
Bring in the beauty and texture of natural materials. Use
materials that offset each other - warm and cool colors,
rough and smooth textures, solid and delicate walls.
Use materials to connect the house to the site - for
example, a wood clad house surrounded by woods, or a stone
house next to outcroppings of stone. Or, connect the house
to the neighborhood with historic colors and siding.
Repeat materials and colors to unify the interior and
exterior.
About Author:
Roselind Hejl is a Realtor with
Coldwell Banker United in Austin, Texas. Her website -
http://www.weloveaustin.com - offers homes for sale,
market trends, buyer and seller guides.
Austin Texas Real Estate Guide
Article Source:
http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/eight-ways-to-add-value-to-your-home-89220.html If you are looking for a Lansing Basement remodeling contractor, please call us today at 517-339-7955 or complete
our
online request form for your free, no-obligation home
consultation.
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