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Renovating the Family Room to Add to the Comforts of Home |
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Home renovation to increase resale value is usually focused on large expansions orkitchen and bathroom renovations. But when you’re more interested in making your home as comfortable as possible for you and your family, your priorities change. This article presents several ideas for renovating the room where your family spends its free time together. This is most likely the family room or, in a smaller home, the living room, and this is the best place to make home improvements when you are seeking the true comforts of home.
Age-Appropriate
 If there are young children in the family, you’ll want to make sure that the renovated family room is appropriate for their interests – and that it can grow with them. Obviously a parlor-like atmosphere is going to bore young children but, at the opposite end of the spectrum, a playroom-like feel will embarrass when they want to bring friends over as they get older. When planning your new space, make sure that you consider how it can be adapted for your children’s changing interests.
Functionality
Consider what elements can be brought into the family room to encourage each family member to use it as a central area for pursuing his or her hobbies and interests. If you want your children to study here, install built-in desks with adequate lighting. If music is important to your wife, create a nook for a piano and shelving for sheet music. If your family members are movie buffs, set aside space for your entertainment center and build speakers into the walls and/or ceiling for a surround-sound effect. If your family enjoys reading, build a comfortable bay window so that readers can take advantage of natural sunlight.
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Storage
A well used family room contains a lot of toys, games, and supplies, so be sure to have adequate storage space. Home organization stores have beautiful storage containers, but you can also build storage into the room while you’re renovating. For example, if you have a bay window, build some storage into the area below the seat. If you know there will be a lot of books, board games, and knick-knacks in the room, put beautiful carved shelving along the longest wall. It will look nicer than self-standing shelves and it will make the home easier to sell later. When you’re decorating, choose furniture with storage, such as ottomans that open as storage bins, or trunks that can be covered with decorative throw pillows for extra seating that doubles as a toy chest.
Bigger Projects
If you have money for more extensive restoration projects, a fireplace can be a great investment. It will not only increase the value of your home, but also encourage the family to spend time together around something other than the TV during the winter. If you live in a cold climate, you might also want to install a sunroom off one end of the family room. The extra sunlight makes long winters easier to tolerate and many families enjoy having breakfast there together, or growing an indoor garden. If a sunroom is too expensive, consider installing just a skylight instead, which can make almost any room more welcoming. The natural light may reduce your energy bills, because you’ll be less dependent on light bulbs. Individually, any one of these home improvement ideas is relatively small, but taken together they will bring you the comforts of home that you’ve been longing for.
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