Have you ever wondered just how all those beautiful rooms you see in magazines come together? From the ethereal subtle softness of nuanced colour and texture, to the bold and over scaled pattern, creating tension and drama to the room. But one thing holding you back is that you need to do a renovation. Big or small, it takes a lot of planning and thought in order to accomplish each of these well-executed and polished rooms.
One area that is often over looked or not as high of importance is completing and installing a finished basement. This can have nearly the same square footage of your main floor, that is just waiting to be designed, adding additional, usable and valuable space. In a city that is being filled with condos and not many new home builds, you live in a great home, in a wonderful neighborhood, this is your opportunity to renovate it and regain the unused space. Now is the time….LETS DO IT!
With a blank canvas to design and create a living space, this basement redesign included a living space, a bedroom, a four-piece bathroom and a laundry area.
On a recent renovation that my firm completed, we had a client that needed to better utilize their unfinished lower level. Rather large and with a perfect ceiling height of 9 feet, we had a blank canvas to design and create a living space; a bedroom, a 4 pc bathroom and laundry area. The house had already had plumbing roughed-in, so we were limited to where the water pipes and drains were placed, but it still gave us plenty of options on how we could implement this. However, your home also needs to be protected from flooding. Your home should also have a backflow valve. Placement of the device is also critical. It must be placed outside of the last exit point of the sanitary sewer pipe from your home. Additionally, you should consider a sump pump if your basement is prone to flooding, especially now that we have such inclement wet weather patterns. This is the perfect time to ensure that you have done everything possible to reduce the possibility of water damage. (The City of Toronto provides flood prevention rebates up to $2,300).
Adding a bedroom allows you as a homeowner to tap into some interesting contingencies, whether as a self-contained guest suite, a nanny suite or a new place for the kids.
Adding a bedroom, a bathroom and bathing area, allows you as a home owner to tap into some very interesting contingencies: you could rent out the space helping reduce your monthly mortgage, it would be an incredible self-contained guest or Nanny’s suite or a new place for the kids or yourselves to hang out in, in a more casual atmosphere. Its one thing to make it a great cozy cocooning room to watch TV, but would eschew from creating a theater. This would not only be a costly venture, but you wouldn’t get your money out of it when you sell as it is becoming too specific to its room use.
In order to maximize true living space, my clients agreed and opted to not have a designated room for laundry, but an area that was easily accessible for its use. In the living space of the basement, we placed this laundry area behind a track of sliding doors, backing on to the new bathroom, thus utilizing the water and drain system that was already in place. This also allowed us to reduce costs and remain within our budget.
Renovations are important to keeping your home looking fresh and new, not only for yourself, but especially if you are considering putting it on the market. Do it because you want to enjoy your home for several more years. It’s not always necessary to be opulent in your renovations, just smart. Once its done, you’ll be glad you did it, knowing that your and/or your kids have a place to hang out, or your in-laws are a safe distance away in their own suite….. Did I say in-laws???
Additional key areas that will increase the value of your home and help sell it in the future are:
- Hardwood flooring
- Adding a powder room on your main floor
- Renovating existing bathrooms
- And of course the kitchen
We’ve given you all the key areas to keep in mind for your next home renovation project, now you just need to find some professional help to get started. eieihome makes it quick and simple through our easy to use directory of general contractors. Find the service pro for the job and regain that unused space in your home.
