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comparing different remodeling possibilities - which are best?

5 years ago

I purchased my first home earlier this year, and that has lead to countless "hmmm, how can I made this place better?" ruminations. It's a two family building, with one unit on 1st and another on the 2nd floor. Both units are 3 bedroom 1 bathroom. I'm on the 2nd floor and have thought of 4 potential improvement items, 2 of them being somewhat dependent on each other. I'm attaching a screenshot of the combined before/after floor plan, where before is on the left and after is on the right. Disregard the fact that icons for windows only appear on the "after" floor plan. Also, the bottom of the floor plan is the front of the house, with staircase against the left wall leading to the 2nd floor.





The four potential improvement ideas I have are:

1. increasing the size of the main living room area by getting rid of the secondary entry door that I rarely use - the secondary one is closest to the bathroom, and rarely used only because I find it more convenient to have a coat rack + small table near the entrance, and there's not enough space for that in the small hallway between the bathroom and living room.


2. increasing the size of the bathroom and rearranging where the shower/tub is (by using the space no longer needed for that second entrance) - dependent on the previous item being done - doing this would make the bathroom feel much bigger, as well as make it so that a window is no longer directly on the shower wall


3. tweaking the rear bedroom so that its entry door is on a new small diagonal wall, allowing for more light to reach the living room via kitchen window as well as the bedroom windows - this is only on the list because the two neighboring houses to mine are very close, just a couple feet away max, even less on the side opposite the bathroom (hence why there's that concave intrusion for two windows). During the afternoons, sunlight enters from the rear of the house, so both the kitchen and that bedroom get tons of light, but the living room barely does


4. making the 3rd (smallest) bedroom accessible via the living room, instead of only through the neighboring bedroom, by changing where the closets and entry doors are for both bedrooms. That smallest bedroom is in my opinion currently kind of limited in terms of its usefulness since the stairway leading to the 2nd floor doesn't have any sloping ceiling. Meaning the top of the stairway and the first few steps both share the same ceiling. If that were changed to a sloping one instead, the space above the lower part of it can be used as a closet for that bedroom. The right side of that new closet might not have any floor space, but could still be efficiently used for upper shelves.


Also regarding that last point #4, I swapped the adjacent bedroom's closet and entrance door, for two reasons: I think it would be weird to have 3 doors all next to each other, and 2nd reason being the whole right side of the house (at least from front bedroom to living room) contains baseboard radiator heating. Leading to the current undesirable situation where it passes through the bedroom closet (so wasteful!).


My end goal with these remodel ideas is to have them take place sometime next year whenever I find another place to live since I would then convert this floor into another rental unit. And have the construction begin as soon as the place is listed for rent (so the remodeling costs can be depreciated). The way I'd like to rank these 4 remodel ideas against each other isn't necessarily ROI, but more about which ones would attract the most tenants and keep vacancies down year over year, as well as lead to higher appraisal values down the road.


Does anyone see flaws with the 4 points I brought up that I might have overlooked, or see completely separate opportunities to improve the place? Final screenshot I'm attaching below is for indicating where the hydronic baseboard radiators are (blue lines), in case that would make a difference:




Comments (7)

  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    “Improving” homes does the exact opposite for your pocketbook. With no real added value. Your home might appraise for 10% more than your neighbor. After spending 60-120% of the purchase price. You don’t rearrange homes. And you never get rid of egresses.

  • 5 years ago

    Good question, and you guessed correctly, I don't have one. Thanks for highlighting the size constraints. I realized the measurements displayed for that room are somewhat off. Holding a tape measurer between the front wall and the wall against the back of the stairs gives 8 feet. And from that point to the closet door gives another 4 feet. While length from left wall to corner of the stairs is 44 inches, and from that corner to the opposite wall (where current room entrance door is) is another 40 inches.


    So 84 inches total width of the bottom half of that room or 7 feet. Which I believe would fit a twin-sized bed, but might be better to have it rotated 90° compared to the placement in the "after" drawing.

  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    7’ x 8’ is still not a bedroom, I’m sorry to say. 10’ x 10’ is a tiny bedroom. What are you using it for now?

  • 5 years ago

    Right now it's only being used as a storage room. And yes I totally agree 7' x 8' shouldn't be considered a bedroom, that's why I want to make use of the area above the stairs by converting it into some sort of hybrid closet with upper shelves on the right side of it.

  • PRO
    5 years ago

    ou can use it for walk in closet instead of bedroom.

  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    @Pat I really like the changes you've made! They're all well-thought-out and achieve what you've set out to do. I have a couple of ideas to add, however:

    - in the front bedroom, now that you've switched the closet and entrance, I'd like to see the bed on the opposite wall. Either way, you might need sliding doors on that closet. This would feel safer, have better feng shui (?!), and also allow you to keep that door open -- bed made or not! -- to permit yet more light into the living room, as well as front-to-back air circulation.

    - I'd re-name your "3rd bedroom" to a study or nursery/child's room. I'd turn the bed a quarter-turn so that it's nestled in the niche that would be formed between the front wall and the new closet wall. It could be a standard twin or a daybed, or, initially, a crib.

    - You could even put a convertible sofa instead of a bed in that position (the sofa opening into a double bed) -- as long as you plan for its open footprint, i.e. keeping the lower part of that opposite wall clear.

    - On that opposite wall you could install bookshelves, and under those, a surface to accommodate a laptop and a tucked-in desk chair. The shelves could be the length of the bed if it were to be used as a study. Alternatively, in nursery mode, the shelves could be much more narrow, the desk surface could instead be a changing table, and room could be left in the front-right-hand corner for a small upholstered chair or rocker.

    - In child's room mode with a twin- or day-bed, the room could pitch hit for a guest room for one person (some of us would adore staying insuch a cozy little room!). In study mode, with a sofa-bed instead, the room could accommodate a couple providing you temporarily locate the desk chair elsewhere.

    Either way, as a nursery that little room has great proximity to the parents if they're in the next-door room. As a guestroom it's a fine distance to the bathroom now that you've [wisely!] gotten rid of that access door through the other bedroom.

    Love to learn what you end up doing :-).