innovative ways to create extra space?

[ThatVikRinA22]

we are about to put our very small 3 bed semi in the market, but have decided if it doesnt sell within 2 years it may be worth looking at other ways of creating space.
we already extended downstairs to create a larger kitchen and a dining room.
standard options i guess would be a conservatory, or another extension, or extending upstairs as well as down, or rebuilding the garage with an upper floor perhaps....

but on other threads i recall some really innovative ideas. does anyone have any other suggestions for creating extra rooms or extra space?

Do you need more bedroom space or more living space?

Over the last year we have tried to increase the space and storage in our house. We gathered it would be much cheaper than moving home and we were happy here but it was getting very cluttered.

Things that have worked so far:

Ottoman bed - lots of storage under the bed, easy to access.

TV placed on wall, which meant that we could move the furniture around in our living room without the tv getting in the way.

Laptop instead of PC, no bulky desk needed.

In our bay window we had a window seat with storage built in, the space was so awkward, it did not really fit a sofa and everything just looked wrong there. The window seat has worked wonders - we can keep a lot of DD's toys under there and it provides extra seating.

Shelves in alcoves built in - great for toys and books.

Blinds and light coloured unfussy curtains - have just put these in and although the amount of space has not physically changed it has made a
massive difference to the amount of light in the rooms - making them seem bigger and lighter.

Compact folding dining table -seats 4 comfortably but can seat 6 when unfolded. Saves space.

We have not had it yet, but we have just bought DD her first bed which is a shorty bed (175cm) with sliding storage underneath. It'll fit in her tiny boxroom bedroom perfectly and last her until she's a teen at least. We also intend to place folding doors which open out into the landing for her bedroom to save on space.

I think that is all that we have changed - but we intend to do much more.

I want to install kitchen units which reach up to the ceiling to increase kitchen storage.

I also want to install wooden floring throughout the ground floor to bring in a more uniform/ connected look.

I also want to paint the rooms in a light colour and in similar tones, to bring the house 'together'.

Also want to place more storage in the garden and create more living space out there.

Hope that helps a little and I have not gone off tangent to what you wanted. I'd be interested in what others have done to increase the amount of space in their homes too, so thanks for starting the thread.

no, thank you thats great - we are getting house valued tomorrow but i fear we may not have enough equity to make a move financially sensible.

we have already done a few of your suggestions but others i would not have even thought of.

we have got to a point where we either spend money of the house which we will not get back or we move....

ds has a tiny box room, but i cant see any way of making that better, he has built in furniture (lots of storage)
we could look at extending further, or up, or adding a conservatory. or we can move.
its so hard!

I don't know how much this costs but it was very cool

instead of doing a loft conversion (because the stairs would have knocked out the box room and the extra space added would then have been minimal because would have been left with the same number of bedrooms) they made each room double height and put in mezzanines

so one room had a bathroom on the mezzanine, the other big room was shared and so gave the two kids a bit more private space, and the box room had more space on the mezzanine for a bed etc (small spiral staircase). it looked very cool but maybe for older kids

sorry - that didn't make sense as they ended up with the same number of bedrooms but the point was they got the bedroom with ensuite and a better room for the two sharers, whilst also making the box room viable

In ds's bedroom we couldn't quite fit a bed and a wardrobe. We got the tallest wardrobe we could from ikea, but didn't buy the doors (so cheaper). Besides hanging space it has lots of shelves. We then got a cabin bed, which fits along one wall, and at the foot of the bed we put the wardrobe (backed against perpendicular wall). As it's open fronted, it doesn't matter that there's only about 4cm between it and the end of the cabin bed. Ds is at the right height to scoot along the bed and reach clothes off the hanging rail each morning. The other stored stuff is concealed below the bed line, as are various trunks and storage for toys. It's all hidden by a curtain which turns below the bed into a den as I put a beanbag under there too.

George Clarke's Home Bible is quite good for looking at how you use a space and how to get the most out of your house

Watching this for ideas as we can't extend(listed building) & need more storage

Well this apartment is very innovative, but not sure about child friendly

I have seen the Desk bed on display and it seemed to work smoothly. I prefer cabin beds personally but I know some parents don't like the height.

diggingintheribs - I like that idea of the mezzanine level.

Runningupthatbill - I watched the video on that flat in Hong Kong, it was amazing.

well seems i will have to utilise some of these as i was right, not really enough equity to make a move viable

that mezzanine level sounds interesting but i dont think we have the height needed for either that or a loft conversion - the attic space is too low to stand up in here.

my ds has the box room which is basically a 6ft x 6ft square - we had a bed built in with storage underneath and a wardrobe built in with hanging space on one side and shelves with a pull out desk which incorporate all his computer, etc, but space is very tight, it leaves only a couple of feet in which to sit at it! he is built like a whippet but if he ever filled out a bit he wouldnt get in.

that room is the main problem and im not sure what the solution is.

We have a mezzanine which all teh estate agents have loved. It is much cheaper than a loft conversion and is a great tv/office/sleepover area. Also build storage into every alcove and f you have a biggish hall think about using a run of worktop with a couple of chairs as a computer/homework area

We have built bookcases either side of the fireplace and painted the whole house in light colours. Bedroom 2 was very long and thin so we lopped a bit off it and created a study area in the landing, we will be building our own desk and shelves. We don't have a third bedroom so have decided to go into the loft, you can't stand up in it if you are over 5.8 but it will be a great little bedroom for ds1. Our garden is like a postage stamp but we have been quite creative and builit a play area for the boys off of the balcony. You can either reach our garden by walking down the steps or if you are 8 its more fun to slide down! Climbing wall up the side and and a sandpit underneath.

our ds has a small bedroom but he has a sliding door rather than one that opens into the room, that makes lots of difference.
We also have made our bed into a storage bed by buying proper bed hinges to lift up the slats, thats made loads of difference and we can store tons of stuff under there.
rehanging doors so they open against the wall of the room you are walking into can make a lot of difference to how big a room feels too.

I watched that Hong Kong apartment video too and it was fab. It then goes on to a couple of videos about tiny homes which were interesting. Too much information to list here - you'd need to watch them really, and it seems to be a 'way of life' thing, quite inspiring.

Then there was a video on hobbit houses - round wooden structures used on posh campsites which unfortunately look way too expensive to have as an extra room in the garden, but maybe for some people some kind of wooden structure in the garden would be possible. I know two people who work from home and moved their offices into the garden when extra children arrived.