Seattle Home Additions | Family Room Addition

When a family outgrows their home, often a family room addition will provide enough space to be able to stay in the house longer. The key is to design a multi-functional space that can serve many purposes.

Adding a Family Room Addition

 

As families grow, so do their space requirements.  Suddenly a house that seemed perfectly adequate in size for two or three may feel tight when more family members arrive.  If a home already has enough bedrooms, a family room addition is often a valuable addition to increase the amount of space in a home and increase the functionality.

Location of the Addition

 

Where an addition is placed on a house will vary depending on the layout of the home and actual site conditions.  If there is space on the site that allows for a family room addition on the main level of a home, we often look for a location near the kitchen.  If there is no space on the site at ground level for the addition, we’ll either look at a location such as in an unfinished basement, consider adding onto an existing second story, or adding a new second story.  One recent trend we are finding is locating a family room addition adjacent to bedroom spaces, especially if the space is located adjacent to kid’s bedrooms.  The family room addition often becomes the kid’s ‘hang out space’.

The Many Roles of Family Room Addition

 

Often a family room addition has to play many roles, so it’s important to design the space to allow for the functions you need.  Here are some things to consider:

  • While it’s nice to have a separate media room for movies, often the space or funds are not available for this luxury.  Consider designing the family room addition to accommodate movie night by incorporating room darkening black-out shades and the necessary electronic equipment and speakers.
  • If you often need a place for extra guests to sleep, a family room addition can be converted easily to a sleeping area if you incorporate the right furniture.  A queen size sleeper sofa can comfortably sleep two (look for ones with an inflatable mattress topper for additional comfort.  Also standard size sheets will fit better since the mattresses are as thick as a conventional ones).  If additional sleeping space, or individual beds are desired for activities like kid’s sleepovers, then look for chairs and ottomans that fold out to single beds.  If you have the space in the family room addition, you may also be able to incorporate a day bed.  For additional sleeping, look for a day bed with a trundle below (these are also great for kid’s bedrooms for a friend who sleeps over).
  • One of the complaints we frequently hear about homes is that the dining room is too small for big family dinners.  But when asked how often our clients entertain large groups, it is usually once or twice a year.  A family room addition can help solve this problem if space is designed in for a large expanding table. 
  • A large table is also useful in a family room addition because inevitably kids will end up doing their homework and school art projects where the family gathers.  A large table is a perfect multipurpose addition to the family room.  To save space, it can even be placed with an end against a wall, and pulled out when additional seating is needed.

Design Details in the Family Room Addition

 

Once you’ve identified all the necessary functions that the new family room needs to accommodate, you’ll want to start thinking about details such as fireplaces, the television location, and furniture layouts.  The primary issue with incorporating a fireplace in a family room addition is that it competes for the same space as the television.  There are many ways to solve this problem, with the obvious one being placing the TV above the fireplace.  Be careful with this solution, though, as it can lead to an uncomfortably high viewing angle.  Often incorporating a TV that is adjacent to the fireplace, or arranging a seating group that is at right angles where one side faces a TV and the other side faces a fireplace can solve this problem. 

Connect the Family Room Addition to the Outside

 

When possible we like to expand the family room addition to the outside by adding French doors or sliding doors.  A deck or patio outside a family room can help make a smaller room feel larger, and in warmer weather the space can open up to the outside.

 

A well designed family room addition can serve many purposes if well thought through in the initial planning stages.  This often means thinking ahead and planning the type of furniture, the size and location of the television, and the location of the fireplace.  But once you figure out all the pieces of the puzzle, they can be assembled into an artful solution that integrates into the existing house and provides a new space that will serve your family well for many years to come.

FAMILY ROOM & HOME ADDITION TIPS

  1. Plan the space from the inside out. Start with the furniture you'll want to use in the space and be sure the room is large enough to accommodate it.

  2. Natural light is important in almost every room, but it can be a problem when watching TV. Control the light by adding light blocking blinds or curtains to allow the room to be flooded with daylight or dark during the day.

  3. Consider multifunctional furniture like coffee tables that fold out and raise to become a dining table.

  4. If you are using the room for a media room, consider running speaker wire in the walls for surround sound speakers (run the wire even if you are not installing speakers because it is inexpensive to do while the walls are open, but difficult to do after the walls are covered with drywall).