Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting case studies from my project files to demonstrate how clients can renovate and make home and office improvements. The cases are meant to illustrate some of the best ideas for maximizing the comfort, utility and cost-effectiveness of clients’ living and working spaces.
Current Situation
Client: Working professional couple with 3 young children
Need: Enlarge master suite and bathrooms to accommodate growing family; improve climate control for increased comfort and energy-efficiency
Budget Level: High
The clients are a young professional couple who work in San Francisco. With the recent birth of a third child, they have outgrown their current home but prefer not to move.
The house is a four-bedroom, two-bath house. As with many homes in the Marinwood neighborhood of Marin County, the original home was built mid-century, when closet and bathroom space were lower priority, and the current closets are very small, particularly in the children’s rooms. The parents’ bathroom has a one-sink vanity, creating problems when a working couple need to prepare for work at the same time. The children’s bathroom is very small and can only accommodate one user at a time, which makes getting three kids ready for school/day care a nightmare.
The home has no air conditioning, so increasingly hot summers mean the home stays uncomfortably warm for several months per year.
The family has considered moving to a larger home, but there are few affordable options in the area. The parents like their current commute and the school district. The addition of a master suite with new bath and renovation of an existing bathroom and closets is an affordable and attractive alternative.
Master Suite Addition
We plan to expand the home’s upper story, utilizing space over the garage, to add a luxurious master suite and bathroom with a walk-in shower and double vanity, as well as a walk-in closet. In addition to making the parents’ private living space more comfortable, the expansion will bring the home up to date with current home trends, adding to its potential value when the family decides to sell.
Expanded Children’s Bathroom
The children’s bathroom in the hallway will be opened up and expanded. The new bath will include vanity and storage space for all three children, plus a separate toilet room, so that multiple people can use the bathroom at the same time. Again, this change brings the home more in line with the desires and expectations of potential buyers.
Better Closets and More Storage Space
As with the master suite, the children’s bedrooms will benefit from larger closets that can accommodate toys when the children are small and a larger wardrobe as they get older.
Better Closets and More Storage Space
I recommended that the family replace their old water heater with a new tankless model, which will provide more hot water for the new bathrooms. The tankless water heater will also be more energy efficient than the older heater.
Energy-Efficient Climate Control
The family wants to add central air conditioning, and I have recommended ways to increase the home’s natural cooling to reduce energy use from the new cooling system.
We will add a whole-house fan above the stairway, which will take advantage of Marin’s cooler nights and mornings, using natural convection to pull cooler air into the upper story.
At the end of the remodel, the home will boast five bedrooms, including an up-to-date master suite, plus three full bathrooms.
Take-Home Points
- Carefully weigh the both the financial and other costs (time, emotional investment) of moving against the cost of adding on to a home
- Consider architectural design trends to determine how a remodel may affect your home’s future value
- Consult your architect about how a proposed remodel could affect your water and heating/cooling needs, and look for opportunities to improve energy-efficiency.