Entertaining space vs. sleeping space
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Anonymous
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Home remodel choices hinge on expanding the entertaining space of the house vs. expanding bedrooms and settling for smaller outdoor extensions. I'm leaning toward the deck and pergola because we love entertaining and this lot is stunning--a mix of sunny open areas and woods with lots of gorgeous landscape and wildlife on a full acre inside the beltway, but I think we'll only be there for another 6-10 years before retiring overseas, so I'm mindful of the need to think about resale. Would love to hear opinions.
Option 1) New deck off the LR/DR plus a full aluminum and glass pergola enclosing the back patio. These outdoor "additions" would take advantage of the amazing view and enormous back yard and vastly expand entertaining and lounging options year round. Pergola inspiration:[u] https://www.pinterest.com/pin/563018699037898/ https://www.pinterest.com/pin/240309330111370014/ Option 2) Smaller deck off the LR/DR plus a master bedroom/bathroom expansion over the patio with the underside of the MBR addition becoming a small screened in porch. Screened porch would have the same view as the pergola, but would sacrifice a lot of natural light because of the floor above. |
Anonymous
| assuming your bedroom already meets your needs, entertaining space wins. we generally just use bedroom for sleep and would have no need for extra large one-- always found it weird when master bedrooms/bathrooms had ton of extra space. i do wish our bedroom could fit a king instead of a queen-- but not enough that i'd redo our house for it |
Anonymous
| Make sure the master suite is up to today's standards. It's really hard to sell a house with a small master suite that doesn't have a large bathroom and large walk-in closet unless it's a lower-priced starter home. It would be even harder to recoup any update costs if the master suite and kitchen are lacking. |
Anonymous
| I agree with PP - this is hard to answer without knowing what your master bedroom/bathroom are like now. Agreed that for resale value, you need a big bathroom and walk in closet. |
Anonymous
| I don't think I would like that glass room, honestly. I would prefer a screened in space. |
Anonymous
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We recently did an addition/remodel and added a real primary suite to our 1960s colonial. It's not HUGE - fits a king size bed and has breathing space and high ceilings - but two walk-in in closets for our dressers and a spacious, but not huge bathroom.
I love it - I feel like I'm finally a grownup. Our previous bedroom wasn't fine - tiny en suite and tiny walk in closet, but only space for a bed. I didn't realize how much of a difference it made until it was done. We did also expand our outdoor space with a porch and bigger patio area with a dry bar. Definitely suitable for entertaining for the size of parties we usually have. I think the upgraded primary will add more value than if we had expanded our outdoor space even more - although we didn't have that option. So Option B then? Especially if your new primary will have a great view. |
Anonymous
Sorry - previous suite WAS fine. Or wasn't bad. |
Anonymous
I was thinking something similar, wondering if it was going to get really hot and muggy in there during the summer? I really appreciate having the overhead shade from my porch, and even though it's not fully enclosed, we use it 7-8 months out of the year.. However, if the porch is next to the living room, I wonder if the extra overhang (from a larger master bedroom) would make the living room a bit darker. That would be something to consider, though there might be some way to design around that. |
Anonymous
Same my guess is it would get too hot no matter how you tried to mitigate |
Anonymous
Master bedrooms and baths on the smaller side are common in some of the most expensive neighborhoods. Georgetown, Foggy Bottom, DuPont Circle, Chevy Chase, American University, even Spring Valley. Depends on your location. |
Anonymous
Many of them have been reconfigured to create a larger master suite. We took over the bedroom next to ours in our rowhouse to turn it into a spacious walk in closet and large bathroom. Ours didn't even have a master bathroom in the original layout. |
Anonymous
| Those glassed in rooms only look as good as you are willing to spend on cleaning the glass. |
Anonymous
| New option. Screened in porch. Best thing about my house. |
Anonymous
If your bedroom cannot fit a king size bed I would strongly consider adding space to the bedroom as this will add the most resale value TBH. Your personal tastes are important if you plant to live forever in the same house, but if you think you may need to eventually sell or you aren't super stable in your ability to stay there then you should consider the trends and preferences of potential buyers too. Most people would vastly prefer a bedroom that can fit a king size bed over a queen size bedroom when it comes to the main sleeping space. |
Anonymous
OP has a 1 acre lot and it's also a mix of terrain. It's likely not in an urban area. For suburban areas expectations of the size of indoor sleeping spaces is different. For resale value you should have at least one bedroom (with ensuite bath) that can fit a king size bed. People in highly urban areas do not expect this especially from older pre-war homes. IDK anything about OP's property, but it's quite possible if bedrooms are very small that it's an older home and would be a tear down. OP has to look at the sales of similar homes to see if extensive remodel is even worth it. In areas of massive construction turnover old homes are only worth the price of land, so you lose money put into your house. Only worth to renovate if you don't care you won't get a penny back at resale. If you have this loose cash to spend, then just do whatever remodel pleases you without worrying about resale tastes of other people. |