How to Design a Bedroom Addition
Adding a bedroom to your home can enhance the home's value, especially a master suite that includes a bathroom, if possible. Creating this space should appeal to future buyers, since families often need additional space for extended family or in-laws. A spacious bedroom addition can provide room to create a small rental space in the future or as well. Building on the bedroom can be a project the whole family can enjoy. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Incorporate fresh ideas into your new space, so the room will look cutting-edge for years to come. Make notes about materials and products you find appealing. Make a list of your favorite amenities, window designs, ceiling designs and bath fixtures. Include a bathroom, however small, if at all possible in the new addition.
-
2
Measure the exterior space you will use for the bedroom. Design the foundation for the new addition to look perfectly harmonious with the existing foundation of your home by using matching materials. Draw the basic design on graph paper to envision how the addition will fit the proportions of the rest of your house. Sketch the addition from a bird's eye view and other angles. Draw each wall from both the interior and exterior perspective. Calculate interior dimensions by allowing 12 inches of depth for each exterior wall.
-
-
3
Design the interior ceiling of the new addition to be 9 feet tall, if you don't wish to vault the ceiling. Allow a minimum of 16 feet from floor to top beam of the space for a typical vaulted ceiling. Lay out the room to look as spacious as possible by incorporating large windows or skylights. Sketch a walk-in closet no smaller than 6-by-8-feet and a bathroom no smaller than 6-by-9-feet, if you have room. Include a walk-out door onto a small deck area, if you can allow yard space for a deck.
-
4
Designate one wall of the bedroom, opposite the bed, for a wall unit that is built-in to help keep the rest of the room clutter free. Design the wall unit 8 feet tall, 2 feet deep and as long as the entire wall. Plan this space for a TV, media players, books and a computer on open shelving. Design closeable doors over certain parts of the space and incorporate a small desk area.
-
5
Consult with an electrician and plumber to figure out how you will route wiring, ductwork for heating and air, and water pipes into the space. Sit down with a heat pump expert to figure out if you will need to add a larger heat pump to your house as well to accommodate the addition. Draw all drain lines for your bath area in the plans and meet with city officials to determine any building requirements. Obtain a building permit before you actually start construction.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Leave room in your floor plan for a sitting area with a small fireplace, if the bedroom is for adults. Create the fireplace on one corner of an exterior wall, so that you can install gas logs.
Never proceed with construction until a local architect has reviewed your design plans. He will ascertain whether your plans satisfy local building codes. While builders can offer advice, most do not have detailed expertise concerning vaulted ceilings or how to design trusses to span a large room, for example.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit interior of a bedroom image by Aleksandr zholobov from Fotolia.com
