We love our homes, but sometimes, it can be challenging to feel comfortable in our own space when there’s just not enough room. When you don’t have a lot of living space, it can be difficult for your house to meet all of your functional and aesthetic expectations. Therefore, you might be wondering whether there are any budget-friendly ways to add a room to your home.
In the rest of this article, I’ll take you through everything you need to know about how to create additional rooms in your home, so you can upgrade your space and make it match your expectations better.
1. Split Larger Rooms Into Two Spaces
Adding an entire new room to your home can be a pricey endeavor. These types of renovations can cost thousands of dollars, and not everyone has the financial means to afford that. In addition to being expensive, house additions can also take a lot of time and effort.
One of the cheapest ways to add a room to your house is to split larger rooms into two (or more) individual rooms.
This is an excellent way to upgrade your house without heavily affecting its structural integrity. This solution does not add to your house but instead divides a space you already have into sections to better meet your needs.
While this approach won’t add to the square footage of your home, it will decrease wasted space and promote higher functionality throughout your space. This fix is a lot more affordable than building a whole new bedroom, and it can ultimately improve your lifestyle with adjustments that suit your own needs.
2. Convert a Garage Into One or Two Rooms
Another excellent way to add a room to your house for cheap is to renovate your garage.
Most people use their garage as a parking space, a workshop, or a place to store barely-used furniture and clutter. However, let’s suppose you’re the kind of person who solely uses their garage to store a few empty paint cans or holiday decorations. In that case, you should definitely consider putting this valuable space to much better use. You can do so by converting your garage into one or multiple bedrooms.
Converting a garage is a relatively simple renovation project because it’s mostly cosmetic. Your garage is already a part of your home, and it most likely already has lighting fixtures.
Because of this, the conversion process, in many a lot of cases, is hassle-free and only involves simple improvements to the ceiling, walls, and floor. Adding proper insulation is probably the most complex this project will get– that is, if your garage is in an okay condition, suitable for living arrangements.
If you so desire, you can even renovate your garage into a studio space and rent it out to roommates or as an Airbnb, creating a valuable second stream of income.
As you can see, even though this type of renovation can require a bit of an initial investment, not only will you be adding resell value to your house, but you can also make an actual, short-term profit out of it.
3. Retrofit an Outdoor Wood Shed
Retrofitting an outdoor wood shed is another great way to add an additional bedroom to your home.
When you first buy a shed, it’ll probably be empty and made entirely of plain wood. This means that in order to make your shed a functional room, you have to make quite a few significant changes.
Here are some things you should add to a wood shed to make it a functional room:
- Proper insulation
- Drywall, like plywood
- Paint
- Flooring
- Electricity
- Windows (if not included already)
- Lighting installations
- Built-in furniture (optional)
- Air conditioning
- Heating system
- Running water (for a studio)
While this may or may not count as a bedroom on paper, it can certainly serve as a highly functional spare bedroom, studio, or office space.
4. Add a Modular Room or Guest House
Another solution for adding an extra room to your house on a budget is to purchase a modular room.
Modular construction is the process that takes place when a building is constructed separately from the location it’s ultimately supposed to be. Many homes are often made through modular construction and then set up on empty acreage. However, you don’t need to purchase an entire modular home. You can also buy individual rooms.
The reason why modular construction has become so popular over the years is that it’s cost-effective and takes a lot less time to build; it’s essentially purchasing a pre-built room, the same way you can buy prebuilt PCs rather than buying separate parts and making one yourself.
Modular homes are typically delivered and installed by cranes. This means that before you invest in a modular room, you have to ensure that a crane will be able to properly access your property. You should also check to see if you have any other legal or logistical restrictions that will keep you from adding a modular room to your lot.
5. Turn Your Basement Into One or Multiple Rooms
Turning your basement into one or multiple rooms is another excellent way to add a room to your house without drawing too many funds from your budget.
Again, this is a great solution because you’re not adding additional square footage to your home but instead renovating a space you already have. Because of this, retrofitting your basement to meet your bedroom needs is one of the most cost-effective and logistically sensible ways to add a spare room (or rooms) to your house.
Basements are an excellent choice for this type of project because a lot of them already come as rooms. This means that the majority of renovations you make to your basement will most likely be cosmetic, unless you want to add a kitchenette or bathroom to create a studio space. Cosmetic changes are a lot easier to achieve, as they don’t usually harm the structure of your home and are solely for aesthetic purposes.
Additionally, many basements are pretty sizey and often run underneath the entirety of your house. This means that you might be able to split your basement into more than just one room, which is excellent if you need spare bedrooms for children or other roommates. It’s also a great space for home theaters, gyms, and game rooms.
6. Renovate Your Attic Space
Another way to add an additional bedroom to your house is to renovate your attic space.
While many homes come with attics that are already renovated, not every home has a loft that is ready to be lived in right away. Your attic will most likely need cleaning, drywall, a fresh coat of paint, ceiling fixes, upgraded lighting fixtures, and suitable flooring.
Since most attics are entered by ladder and not stairs, they’re not as accessible as other rooms. This is something to keep in mind during the renovation process and while you’re assigning a purpose to the room. However, attics are excellent for cozy libraries or reading spaces, extra storage, or guest rooms.
7. Sacrifice a Laundry Room, Bathroom, or Walk-In Closet
If you want to add a room to your home without paying for the cost or hassle of adding extra square footage to the house, you might want to consider sacrificing a laundry room, bathroom, or walk-in closet in exchange for a bedroom.
Let’s take a laundry room, for example. While a laundry room may or may not be large enough to serve as a bedroom on its own, you can knock down walls and expand that particular room to make the sizing more suitable for living purposes. You can also remove the walls of walk-in closets and bathrooms to make room for layout changes.
This method is essentially just rearranging the space you already have to better suit your needs and make your house more functional.
8. Replace a Patio With an Enclosed Room
Another excellent way to add a room to your house for cheap is to replace a patio or deck with an enclosed room.
This option is more affordable than adding an entire room to the top of your house, for example. It can also increase your home’s value because this solution adds to the overall square footage by implementing an outdoor space into the layout of your home.
9. Change a Sunroom Into a Regular Room
Sunrooms make great living areas and seating spaces, but if you’re the kind of person who doesn’t use this part of the house a lot, you should consider changing it into a regular bedroom instead.
Like with a garage, sunroom renovations are typically cosmetic. You can remove a few windows, add better lighting fixtures, and change the flooring to make it a suitable bedroom. You might have to invest in some other improvements like insulation, electricity, heating, and cooling as well (if your sunroom doesn’t already have these features).
This is probably one of the most affordable options on this list because many modern sunrooms are already very similar to bedrooms– they just have quite a few windows.
10. Add an Apartment Above the Garage
Adding a small apartment above your garage is a great way to improve your home with the addition of some extra space.
This method is relatively affordable and usually pretty simple to implement. However, this approach usually involves the most time and effort out of all the options on the list. But if you’re willing to go through a longer and more complex construction process, then an above-garage apartment might be an excellent choice for you.
This option is different from an attic renovation because you can add stairs outside your house or inside your garage to reach the apartment. You can also make a bit of extra cash by turning it into an Airbnb or rental studio.
Why Should You Add a Room to Your House?
You should add a room to your house to increase your home’s value, provide more space to children or other roommates, or have a function-specific space like an office, playroom, art studio, or library.
Adding a room to your house is one of the best ways to raise the value of your home, as it adds square footage to your layout (depending on the approach you choose), and it increases the total number of bedrooms. Having more bedrooms is an excellent selling point if you’re interested in selling your house later on.
What to Use a Spare Room For
Adding a spare room is a great way to add value to your home as well as your everyday living experience. However, assigning a purpose to a room can be challenging when there are so many possibilities.
Fortunately, I’ve curated a list of some of the best uses for a spare bedroom to convince you to take a leap of faith and make the additions you’ve always wanted.
Here are some ideas regarding how you can use a spare bedroom to better meet your needs:
- Turn it into an office or writing space.
- Make it a small business workspace.
- Use it as an art studio.
- Turn it into a home library.
- Have a designated homeschool room.
- Create a recreational or game space.
- Create a home theater.
- Use it as a gym.
Let’s discuss these ideas in greater detail.
Turn It Into an Office or Writing Space
While it’s possible to get work done at a desk in a small corner of your bedroom or even at the dining room table, those options aren’t always the most efficient and can often provide a lot of distractions. Adding a separate office space to your room can help boost your productivity, asit gives you a place to concentrate in solitude.
Make It a Small Business Workspace
This is different from an office space because it’s essentially an at-home warehouse for small business owners who manufacture and package their own products.
You can add tables, shelves, creative workspaces, and packaging stations to help improve your workflow and decrease clutter.
Use It as an Art Studio
Separating your spaces into different functional areas is a great way to transition into different tasks.
For example, bedrooms can be solely for sleeping, offices can be just for working, and art studios can be specifically for creating. Having a separate space to create might help you get into an artistic mood quicker– it’s also an excellent way to hide the clutter of your art supplies collection.
Turn It Into a Home Library
A spare room is an excellent place to house your at-home library. You can also add a reading nook in the corner if you so desire, so you can give yourself a quiet place to read while surrounded by books.
Creating a peaceful, designated area to enjoy your favorite pieces of literature might encourage you to finally read your favorite author’s latest work, something many of us tend to put off for months on end.
Have a Designated Homeschool Room
If you’re a parent and homeschool your children, a room designated specifically for learning is an excellent way to keep your kids focused. It’s also a good place to store arts and crafts supplies, display completed projects, and provide your children with a place to work.
Giving them a designated space for schoolwork is a great way to make the transition from play to work a lot smoother.
Create a Recreational or Game Space
Spare bedrooms are fantastic for a recreational or game space. Game rooms are great for bonding with friends and family as well as entertaining guests.
Game rooms can include ping pong tables, couches, mini-fridges, you name it. These spaces are specifically designed for fun and allow a bit more joy to make its way into your home.
Create a Home Theater
Creating a home theater is the best way to improve your movie-watching experience, especially if you don’t have the time or the funds to constantly go out and see movies in public theaters.
A home theater can consist of a few couches and a large television, but you can also increase the luxury factor by implementing bars or kitchenettes, snack pantries, and even high-end recliners if you so desire.
Use It as a Gym
Transforming your spare room into a home gym is a great way to utilize your space and level up your workout routine.
A home gym can be a place to keep all of your workout machines like treadmills, ellipticals, and more. It’s also a great way to both store and use wrestling mats.
Final Thoughts
Not having enough space can make you feel suffocated in your own home. Your house is supposed to be a place where functionality and comfort work together to create a space that you actually want to be in.
Fortunately, moving into a house with more rooms isn’t the only way to solve this problem. Each of these suggestions can provide you with excellent ideas on how to add spare rooms to your home for cheap, so you can level up your living space without hurting your wallet.
