If your family is bursting at the seams of your Miami Gardens home, remodeling can help you make better use of the space you already have. However, adding an entire second story may not be necessary. Even if your home feels small for a growing family, it may have plenty of potential if the rooms are redesigned to better suit your needs.
Remodeling Miami Gardens homes isn’t always about knocking down walls and “opening everything up.” While certain modifications to your floor plan can make cramped rooms feel more spacious and improve how they connect to one another, a well-planned remodel can make the most of your home’s existing square footage on a single level.
Here are some of the most common challenges homeowners face with older homes and ideas for addressing them during a remodel. If you’re considering remodeling in Miami Gardens, these strategies can help you determine which changes will have the greatest impact.
Household Pressure Points
Many older homes have kitchens that are closed off to the rest of the house; formal living rooms that get little use; bathrooms located in the hallway that can’t accommodate a whole family in the morning, especially homes that have only one bathroom; Florida rooms that get used as storage. Remodeling can open up cramped kitchens; carve out storage space that didn’t exist before; convert under-used living rooms into multipurpose rooms for homework and play; convert a closet into a compact shower; reclaim Florida rooms and make them into playrooms.
Before you plan the kitchen’s new color scheme or the family room’s carpeting, sit down as a family and make a list of the most annoying shortcomings in the way your house works on a daily basis. Start there.
Layout and Sightlines
Removing all of the walls between the kitchen and family room may not always be the best idea. Walls provide surfaces for pantries and other cabinets, refrigerators, etc. Removing one could lead to reconfiguring the kitchen, which can become expensive.
Consider removing only part of a non-structural wall. If there’s a load-bearing wall between the kitchen and family room – if you want the source, it’s https://washingtonpost.com/news/where-we-live/wp/2017/01/31/before-you-remove-a-wall-determine-if-it-is-load-bearing, talk with your contractor about leaving part of it in place. A partial wall can make it possible to add a peninsula, which gives you additional countertop space that’s convenient for seating and a place to unload groceries. Make sure there’s enough room around the peninsula for traffic. Aim for roughly 36″ clearance at a minimum, but wider aisles may be practical, especially if there are places where two people might pass behind someone who’s seated.
A formal living room might make a great space for a homework and playroom if it’s connected to the kitchen. Kids may be happier with a place to do projects within earshot of Mom, especially if it’s away from the TV and their bedrooms. Built-in shelving or cabinets and a long countertop for projects would make the room functional and convenient. Flooring should be durable and easy to keep clean. Partial walls, pocket or swinging doors and other space-saving methods of dividing the room could be helpful if the family likes having a clearly-defined room for projects and homework.
Florida Room Uses
A Florida room that gets little use could become a casual eating area, family room, a study, playroom or some combination of uses if it’s enclosed and permitted. If the room has been poorly maintained, has been converted from a screened-in to an enclosed space without permits and/or suffers from moisture problems, have those fixed before you get carried away with decorating. Check with your contractor that the roof is insulated, install ceiling fans, window shades or other types of glass and window treatments to help with energy efficiency. Have your contractor determine whether your A/C will be adequate. Especially in a room that has a west-facing wall of windows.
Storage and Systems
Look for ways to incorporate more storage during a remodel. A small, compact shower might be feasible by converting a linen closet that’s close to the hall bath in a house that only has one bathroom. Check with your contractor whether it will work for your floor plan and the closet’s dimensions, plumbing, building codes and ventilation. Other storage to consider:
- A tall pantry or other type of cabinet in or near the kitchen
- Cubbies, shelving, etc. to corral shoes, purses, homework, etc. in the foyer. A place to “dump” things when the family enters the house makes life easier
- A few cabinets with doors for homework, craft and other supplies in a former living room that’s becoming a multipurpose family/homework/playroom
- Storage within seating in the form of bench-type furniture in Florida rooms
- A utility/storage area for brooms, vacuums, etc.
Cooling and Comfort
Open up an enclosed kitchen for better sightlines into the family room, reclaiming the Florida room for year-round use and turning a seldom-used living room into a multipurpose family room all mean that areas of your house will be joined that were separate before. Air circulation will be different. Noise levels may be too.
Natural light may pour into areas of the house that didn’t get it before. Make sure the amount and direction of sunlight will be comfortable, especially during hot, humid summers in South Florida. Nobody wants glare on a homework table, a couch that’s too sunny or a TV that will be difficult to see during the day.
In terms of air conditioning, it’s not necessarily a matter of your unit’s capacity. The placement of supply and return-air vents and ductwork design, insulation, etc. all come into play when it comes to adequate and efficient cooling. Have your contractor review the situation and propose solutions.
As you plan a remodel with an eye toward rearranging your home’s floor plan, jot down how you use different rooms during the day, measure your hall bath for morning congestion, take pictures of your closets’ innards and do an inventory of everything that gets stored in the Florida room.
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