I didn't add on anything, I subtracted something -- turned a den into part of a much enlarged kitchen.

We remodeled our kitchen a few months ago. That entailed taking it down to the studs, removing a wall, and expanding it into what was the dining area. The nook now has room to put a small table and chairs in it, plus there's a seating area at the end of the new section of the kitchen. The small front living room is now the dining room. Easy enough to switch that out to a living room, because of the nook. We had our laundry moved to the garage. Much quieter, and now I have space to create a mud room in the former laundry area.

Currently redoing the master bathroom. Again, down to the studs. Adding a door where there was NO door to the bathroom. I'll never understand why houses are built that way. We're adding a couple inches of depth to the shower, frameless glass walls, custom vanities, two custom medicine cabinets w/integrated outlets, and new lighting throughout. It's not cheap, but it's gonna be a knockout when it's done. Tons of storage, and lots of place to stash your goodies out of sight.

After that's done, we're having all the windows replaced. Same contractor for all projects. Not sure if we're funding his next three bass boats, or sending both his kids through college. LOL

Pic of part of the kitchen. I was so exhausted after the job, I never took proper after photos.

I would say "zoning" my kitchen to add a living space. We renovated (and rewired!) the bathroom and kitchen in a small (<1000 sq ft) 1920s apartment. We were limited by plumbing, gas lines, and cable access to the apartment. In the relatively ample L-shaped kitchen, we moved the "laundry room" next to the sink in the form of a small all-in-one, built a (removable) banquette in the non-cabinet corner, and added in a home office area with a wall mounted TV/Monitor and the wireless router so that we can stream all over the apartment without needing any cables. Also the monitor area is measured to fit doors that match our cabinets so that later it could become a dry bar or more pantry space. I also gave up an awkward walk-in pantry to extend our main storage closet, and gain more space for the banquette in the kitchen. It took 5 years of living in the apartment and hating the old kitchen layout, and the washing machine being next to the bathtub (not to mention the plaster walls and cloth wrapped wiring!) to finally execute this reno.

FINALLY replaced the aged furnace (with a heat pump) and propane water heater (with an efficient electric model). Now I can demo the chase which contained the vents for those units thereby adding 9 square feet to the master bath. My 72x48 inch shower is now possible.

Before & after pictures show our kitchen renovation. We lived for 9 years with the pocket door between kitchen & dining room, dropped ceiling to accommodate the weird “UFO” light/fan combo, perpendicular double sink, outdated tile on the walls, delaminating cabinets & desk on the left which was never used for that purpose. We had to keep a similar floor plan since the floor tile was throughout the home. Removing part of the wall & raising the ceiling let in so much more natural light the after photo doesn’t have any lights on. For a small kitchen, it has tons of cabinet space. We had two “uh-oh” moments when a mis-measurement left too much space near the refrigerator (& therefore not covering the missing tile). This was remedied by putting in a spice cabinet (probably one of my favorite changes). The second was discovering the ceiling fan blades were too long & hit the cabinet door to the left of the microwave when opened. We purchased a fan with shorter blades. At some point we will match all appliances but this works for now.

We took the living room cantilever that was meant to be a TV area and turned it into a bar that is much used. Started with a contractor that didn’t work out and ended up doing a large portion ourselves before hiring another guy for the stone work. Did both sides of the fireplace at the same time. This is the previous owners’ before and our after...

I was surprised you didn't have powder room on your selections above since many homeowners in this area who remodel their kitchen do the first floor powder room at the same time. When we remodeled our kitchen, we did much needed window replacements in the kitchen and family room at the same time. Up-grading the nearby powder room with a new vanity, sink and toilet made both economic and design sense by adding the vanity and stone counter to the kitchen cabinet/counter order. Now there is wonderful visual congruity and better function in these living spaces.

We just remodel our tiny kitchen. When be bought the house it was an L shape and we redesigned it to have more cabinets. We are so happy now that we have a lot of storage space

we added 12 x 20 covered patio with a swing and a 12 x12 pad with a small hot tub on it, added a lattice surround and will add a roof soon and a small deck extending off the hot tub pad.

In the mist of a new build....so lots to get done. Today's project was to finish laying the tile in the kitchen/foyer areas. Tomorrow-will begin tiling on the stairs/landing down into the laundry room. Waiting for the granite counter tops to be delivered/ installed-> delayed till next week.

We bought our home on 2-1/2 acres a year ago. We have completely renovated the entire house inside and out. We just put up a 16x30 deck. We still have finishing touches to do but here are some before and afters.

Our 1600 sf home had both a formal dining room and large breakfast area to the rear of the kitchen where the washer/dryer closet was located. We lived with that awkward arrangement for a few years. The formal dining room was rarely used and the dining table mostly just collected junk while we nearly always ate in the sunny breakfast area that overlooked out back yard and the woods and creek behind.

We moved the tight laundry closet space to the dining room, creating a real laundry room with space for baskets, a folding table and place to hang clothes. The other half of the formal dining room became a walk-in pantry. Its fantastic, we added narrow shelves so nothing disappears in the back. We found a set of cabinets on craigslist which almost exactly matches our kitchen cabinets so we have plenty of cabinets in the laundry area. and enough left over to create a built-in bar at the edge of dining room faces the hallway just off the living room and looks like a neat little butler's pantry-coffee station-bar. My favorite part is the walk-in pantry. My kitchen doesn't feel so small anymore now that I have storage space.

Meanwhile, we removed the laundry closet from the breakfast area, added a window and we now have a 12 x 14 sunny dining room behind the kitchen. A house our size only needs one dining space anyway.

We did most of the work ourselves with the exception of the plumbing of moving the washer and dryer and some drywall work. We also updated the kitchen with new countertops, backsplash and appliances. All in all, we spent about $3000 on the kitchen-mostly appliances and probably under $2000 on the walk-in pantry / laundry room. Lot of labor. Husband and son took weeks building my pantry shelves. Very worth it.

I added Adirondack chairs, lanterns and candles to our patio and now it feels like an oasis. Now when I want to escape the hustle of life, I just go to my patio with a cup of java and a good book =)

@imhozz - do you have a photo of the powder room you can share with me for potential coverage on our website? If so, I am at chelsie.butler@emeraldexpo.com, and the magazine is Kitchen & Bath Business.

@shanfed - do you have a photo of the bar area you can share with me for potential coverage on our website? If so, I am at chelsie.butler@emeraldexpo.com, and the magazine is Kitchen & Bath Business.

@jashumbert - do you have a photo of the laundry room and walk-in pantry you can share with me for potential coverage on our website? If so, I am at chelsie.butler@emeraldexpo.com, and the magazine is Kitchen & Bath Business.

We've already renovated the kitchen earlier this summer. Basically just new doors, counter top and toe kick, new range hood (the old one was a disgrace!) and lighting (replaced 32 years old fluorescent fixtures over the work area and a sad pendant over the kitchen table with modern LED fixtures). The backsplash and floor ceramics were in perfect condition (and still best choice anyway) so no need to replace them, ditto for the sink. The appliances stayed as well, only replaced the very old dishwasher. Still need to paint the walls and ceiling.

We are in the midst of remodeling the basement bathroom. That started off as a shower replacement (the original plastic corner shower was barely holding up) and turned into a full remodel, with a new rounded tiled corner shower, new wall tiles and vanity top and sink. Few other fixes as well, such as the ceiling vent, fan and lights which are drooping and looking ready to fall. Painting of course.

Outside we are in the middle of week 2 of a complete re-landscaping project: front, back and sides, as well as re-levelling the unistone driveway which was sinking in places (but still pretty good after 30 years!). Hopefully all finished by tomorrow afternoon, ready for buying and planting some basic perennials and couple of flowering trees and some shrubbery. More will be planted in the fall.

Earlier in the summer we cut down (with requisite permits from the city) a couple of huge old trees that looked like they'd be breaking up and falling over the fence (pulling down wires), removed some badly overgrown cedar shrubs and pruned everything else, in preparation for the actual re-landscaping project.

Oh, the dust inside and out with all the ceramic, cement blocks and slabs being cut LOL But it will be lovely when finished.

Putting in a sprinkler system as well so the grass should keep in good shape for a change.

I have three add on projects in the works right now. The entryway got a new paint job, installed some wall mounted shoe storage that I made with wood and pegs. Now all I need to top it off is to diy a hall tree storage bench, and a diy dog leash and treats holder. I still need to buy a colorful entryway rug, light fixture, and an additional shoe storage bench in the walk in closet.

Our home office used to be a nursery from the previous family that lived here, so the walls went from being a mint green to an all white room. I’ve already bought a large bookshelf and a reading chair for the cozy reading nook. We refurbished two desks, I’m removing one desk and we will share the work area instead to prevent the room from looking cluttered. The closet will need plenty of wall mounted shelving installed to give everything a home. I want to replace the bulky filing cabinet with a small filing cabinet on wheels that can slide under our desk instead. A few desk and floor lamps I bought on amazon provide better lighting. I still need to replace the large area rug and create a built in area for the pottery wheel in the corner. We have a bunch of plants on the window sills, which I want to diy two window sill planters to unify the look.

Our garden beds in the front of the house need some work, to fill in the empty gaps, and add more garden beds. The walking pathways next to the driveway needs to have a brick pathways installed. On one side of the house where we currently have a bunch of mulch I’d like to plant a rose garden. I also want to install some brick edging around the grass to protect the garden beds when we mow the grass. So far I’ve added a garden bed to add curb appeal, planted more bulbs, and planted flower arrangements in pots to beautify the porch, and created a wreath for every season, and added garden accessories like flamingos.

You got me to LOL at the flamingos ;)

Just starting an addition that will create a new kitchen off of one wall of present L-shaped kitchen. I plan to keep the other wall of present cabinetry and create a pantry area (enclose with a wall) where microwave, tea kettle, coffeemaker, etc. will remain.

Our new construction home had rough-ins for a full bath in the unfinished basement. When we finished the basement, we decided we did not need another FULL bath in our home (we already had 2 full baths and a powder room in our 3-bedroom home). We instead chose to make a 2-piece bath in the basement and repurposed the planned tub/shower drain to work for a small bar sink/coffee station on the other side of the bathroom wall.

@ Chris H , you might live to regret this. Your basement bathroom could have had a nice shower and that would be very helpful when you have guests who stay with you overnight., or a teenager who prefers living in the basement (like ours). This would not have prevented adding a wet bar anyway, you just needed to plan the basement carefully.

The basement layout was not conducive to adding a bedroom as well as a decent size family room. Too many walls/small rooms would have cut things up too much, and although the windows are large enough for egress from a basement bedroom, their placement would have made for a very unliveable space. We tried several floor plans to try to accommodate a bedroom and a full bath, but in the end we determined that this layout worked best for the home and for our needs.

The one advantage though is that any future owner could actually remove the wall between the bar area and the bathroom, bump out the room about 18-24" and put in a shower, as the partition wall is built exactly where the drain goes into the concrete floor. We did not relocate the drains at all from where they were roughed in, so it would be a relatively easy modification.

Would love to have a functional "wet room" that opens to a yard, combining mud room, laundry, and dog-bathing station with hook to hold a leash, like groomers use.

Unfortunately our very large (about 1000 sf) and quite bright basement does not have a door to the outside. It would cost a lot to dig out an exit, between architect plans and building permit and then the actual construction cost. But we do have 5 good size windows. Whether or not they could be used for emergency exits is debatable. I guess numble younger people could do it. Touch wood.

In that space we have a small bedroom with a single bed, a small sitting room and a full bathroom (with shower) and a walk-in closet. This suite was used by first our daughter when she was a teen-ager, later by our son when he was a teen-ager after our daughter left home and now it's just a spare suite.

The rest of the basement is one huge playroom which we have divided with a screen into an additional queen size bedroom, a living room and the rest is one big music studio where our daughter (who lives downtown) gives piano lessons and has band rehearsals.

Apriltini,
I think we may have the same builder:( What you'll have completed in your kitchen and nook area, sounds very similar to my idea. Would you be so kind to post additional pictures of the area...I really hv't a clue on the design. Quite frankly, everyone either doesn't understand me or thinks "I'm coo coo". Thank you for sharing! Not crazy in Texas...

We are in the middle of a big backyard patio renovation. We demolished a large outdoor fireplace and laid new concrete for a patio. You can check out our progress https://happyhautehome.com/2018/08/09/landscape-design-patio-demolition-part-1/

We bought a 50yo house 2.5 years ago and spent 6 or so months redecorating and rethinking the lovely bones! We repurposed the (small oddly placed) dining room as a den/computer/library room, and the family room as the dining room -- with a Mediterranean bodega feel thanks to the rough stone fireplace.

The house already had a laundry room with a door to the 'alleyway', that sometimes gets called the mudroom (although our neighbors correctly guessed I was from Back East when I called it that); off the laundry room is a storage area that might be called a butler's pantry although not too convenient to the kitchen. We use it for things we buy in bulk, and seasonal storage.

About half of the backyard is cement-paved, accessed from the now-dining room through a patio door. We've added a gas BBQ, a fire-pit table set, and some loungers under the pergola, but I wouldn't call that adding on since the patio itself was already there.

So I vote "Bar or beverage areas": On the wall across from the fireplace in the NOW dining room, we installed two wine-cellar tall racks, flanking a cabinet sold as a "buffet" (it is not), and bridging over the liquor cabinet (which it is), three hanging shelves for glassware. To the right is a half-height fridge for white wine... not a wine cooler because I could not find any with good reviews in our price range!

For me, it was perpetual hot water and a built-in water filter. No more chlorine in the food. No more problems because the dishwasher, the laundry and the showers are all running at the same time; no more cold water when hot is needed.

When I purchased my little old cottage in 2011, I thought I could add a nice new living room, turn the old dark one into the main floor master bedroom and leave the upstairs as loft bedrooms for visitors. The first thing I discovered when I took my plans to the municipality was, that I could not do ANYTHING until after I built a carport. There was only one place to put it. So, 7 years later I have a nice big attractive car port, and I will not give up on my dream of turning it into the new living room some day!

Maybe once you have satisfied zoning with your "carport" they will not notice if it gradually is encompassed with walls? and becomes your living room!!!

Our houase came with a rickety 5'x8' shed addition with 42" square pushout casement windows back in 1963. It served well as a handy storage area off the kitchen. The addition led to our backyard. I can only guess it was built to be a tiny breakfast room as the kitchen is too narrow to have a table and too small to add a washer/dryer. It had to be torn down but I was used to it so I rebuilt it into a laundryroom. Its a challange go get W/D in Philadelphia basements that have poor access from the back yard. My neighbors installed tiny backhyard decks but I say my laundryroom was a wise albeit expensive investment that I included in my kitchen renovation project. The appliance delivery men were very happy to see a laundryroom off the kitchen.

We added a small pergola over our entryway this summer with spots for flower pots - now that it's raining, it's perfect cover while unlocking/locking the door!

Nice! This reminds me that we have to redo the caulking PROPERLY of the little roof we have over the entryway, because rain still gets between the wall and this roof and drips big dollops of water on the heads of anybody waiting at the front door. We usually come in from the garage so we keep forgetting this.

We did do the laundry while renovating the kitchen but the bigger add on was floors for the entire 1st floor so all floors have the same hardwood.

Fake Poll: Why doesn't Houzz update their polls, discussions and design dilemmas in their weekly email? This poll is from July, and the discussions and dilemmas are several years old.

If I could, I would add a combination half bath, mud room/storage and screened porch. Combination because there is room for any or all of that only in the square behind the garage, along the back door/stove wall of the kitchen.

@ Lizzy L. It's still 2018. This article was posted in July 2018. Of course the dilemmas are from times immemorial ;)

We had a 10x20 ft concrete patio off of our kitchen It faced west and we never used it. It was so windy at times that our patio furniture never stayed on the patio. I would find our metal dining chairs in our front yard on stormy days. In addition, since the patio faced west, the sun was in our eyes from afternoon until sundown. We finally decided to do something better with the space. After much discussion, we had a 3 seasons room added with vaulted ceilings. Best money we ever spent! We have the option to convert it to a 4 seasons room in the future. My favorite time out there is when it is raining or snowing. I can listen to the rain on the roof and it is so peaceful. When it is snowing, it is just beautiful! We have an electric fireplace that heats up the room quite nicely. It's not the most attractive thing we own, but it does the job.

Outdoor space is what is most important to us, and the only addition we have built is our pergola, which is now filled with orchids and bromeliads, in addition to a teak dining table with teak chairs. Our climate is mild all year, which is why we can grow these plants outdoors all year, and they make flowers all year as well. We do not get wind (a slight breeze at most) and unfortunately we do not get much rain.

We removed a stupid fire pit in the back yard to build the pergola - fortunately the fire pit was easily disassembled and had pavers around it that we kept and used as the floor for the pergola. We have year-round hummingbirds in our back yard as well, and they appreciate the bromeliad flowers, but I also have a feeder for them.

You're so lucky Lars to be able to enjoy your outdoors in mild temperatures year round. In Montreal, Canada, we're lucky to have any tropical outdoor plants (in pots) for at most 6 months of the year: mid-May to mid-October. Otherwise it's only evergreens that can survive. All deciduous trees lose their leaves and perennials freeze and die down and hopefully come back the next year.

We added on to expand the kitchen on one side of the house and master bath on the other side of the house.

The kitchen photos did not save. I guess I added too many.

Oh, I can add a few more....

No, it won’t add them

One added

Yes

Trying to add the shower

The central hallway dividing the bedroom areas from the kitchen/living areas in the brand new condo we moved into, was rather dark and narrow. We created between the joints two large ” picture frame indentations” with LED lights on a string along the bottom, with dimmers. We then added glass artwork. With the glasss lighted the hallway looks much wider and creates a nice ambience. The indentations are made of light birchply wood matching the bedroom doors and the walls painted cream with a subtle hint of yellow.

We recently finished a "fixer upper" house in Dubois, Wyoming. When we bought it there was a large 10'X28' sunroom addition with a multitude of broken single-pane windows spanning the sunny side. Now I love a good sunroom as much as anyone, but felt the house needed other things more, like a mudroom and 3rd bedroom/office.

I love a good mudroom in any climate where you have to hang up bulky cold weather gear. It's important for it to dry between uses. This area of Wyoming is at the bottom of Togwotee Pass, aka the Continental Divide, which is a hugely popular area for snowmobiling. Snowmobiling means bulky clothing, helmets, boots, etc. Kinda like skiing which is also big in our area, 1 1/2 hours away in Jackson Hole, WY. About anything you do in the winter here requires bulky clothing, so you need space to hang it, or otherwise corral it. If not it will take over the whole house and/or go missing when you need it most!

So we took the sunroom and cut it in half creating 2 rooms, each 10'X14'. A large mudroom and the other a 3rd bedroom/office. We took out the broken single pane windows, rebuilt the wall and used the sliding doors that were between the sunroom and dining room. They were double paned and lightly tinted. We took the sliding doors apart, turned them horizontally and made them into really lovely big windows. No they don't move, but they let in a lot of light, and are insulated, which is necessary in Wyoming. And each room has an exterior door for egress.

The existing floor was concrete, and I figured that was a good idea for a mudroom anyway so we painted it a medium gray with tough porch paint. Nice, but it needed something. So I had this "brilliant" idea to do a floor stencil and make it look like tile. Not my best idea, but in my ignorance I sat down in the middle of the floor and began to stencil the 3rd bedroom/office side of the floor...10'X14'...with a 9 inch stencil. Three days, and a barely movable-body later, I looked up from the end and decided...I'm thinking the mudroom side just needs a nice skinny runner!!

So I stenciled on a runner, and added some silly fringe for fun. Would you believe...I Love it!! Meanwhile Ken had found a long slab in the old barn, so he made it into a long bench for the mudroom, so you have plenty of room to sit and take off gear. Using more barnwood, and some iron hangars I found at a thrift store in Nevada, we made a couple of heavy duty coat racks. There is still an abundance of space if new owners want to add more storage, but we figure we made a good start on it.

We already had the old reclaimed door from an old guest ranch in Moran WY on the other side of Togwottee Pass, so we used it for the front door, after seemingly endless hours of paint stripping. We also put in a sliding barn wood door between the mudroom and the 3rd bed/office. Naturally the walls were the beetle killed blue pine from our local forests. Like the rest of the house but we left this part natural rather than adding a whitewash.

It hurts me that we are losing our once-beautiful forests, and creating disastrous wildfire scenarios. At least by harvesting these standing dead, bug-killed trees, we are taking a little of the fire-fuel out of the forests, and using it where it provides such warmth and beauty. I love it when people walk into our house and are drawn to the walls, where their eyes light up and they run their hands lovingly along the boards.

We moved into a new one floor home a couple years ago, and asked the builder to NOT put in a laundry tub in the main floor laundry room that’s just off the kitchen (because we’d never use it and we would rather use the space for storage).
Of course the builder included a cheapie plastic laundry tub anyway, so after living with it for almost 2 years, we finally decided to get rid of it and upgrade the laundry room.