Home remodeling ideas

[Aliceacc]

We live in a wideline Cape Cod, with a paneled dining room in the front (on the left side) and 60 year old kitchen directly behind it.

It's way past time for a remodel. We want to go down to the studs in both rooms, tear down the wall between them. (It's a load bearing wall, but the contractors know that and will work around it.) We'll put a peninsula between the two rooms with stools. We've already purchased a 4 piece stainless appliance package. (It was on sale, and we saved over $1200, even aside from all the rebates.)

At some point a few weeks ago, I came up with the idea of adding a small extension to the back. I was thinking 10 feet (the width of the kitchen) by about 6. It would give us a mudroom-- someplace to put the coats and hats and gloves and backpacks, as well as the pool towels in the summer. Two of the 3 contractors we're looking at for estimates have given us rough ideas, ranging from extending the kitchen and including a coat closet to a separate room with an archway to the kitchen.

We met with the 3rd contractor the other night. Here's what he said: if you're thinking of extending the house, why not add it on to the FRONT, where you enter the house? He's thinking an 8x5 foyer, with a closet. He says it will be a lot cheaper, and will accomplish what we want-- a place to put all that stuff. And that this plan leaves our back yard intact. We spend a lot of time there in the summer (we're both teachers).

We're having our last meeting today to meet see the ideas of one of the contractors. Right now, I'm thinking we'll probably go with the guy who suggested the front extension. A friend used him and adored his work, and I love that he addressed what we NEED, as opposed to what we asked for.

That said, we aren't locked into his original suggestion; he'll build what we want.

So what would you do?
An 8x5 foyer? Maybe a larger one-- say 10x6, giving us even more storage and benches with seats-- more seating and a place for boots? Add on to the kitchen? Go with the original mudroom idea?

I'm throwing it out to the internet, looking for ideas we haven't thought of... kind of brainstorming with the whole world. I figure that a few thousand heads are better than two.

Thanks for any suggestions. I'm already seaching houzz for ideas.

 

[bas71873]

I guess the first question that pops into my mind for deciding between mud room/coat closet in the front vs. the the back is where do you typically enter the house from on a daily basis? We enter our house through the front door (sometimes the garage which takes me right into the den), so for me, a larger foyer, extra space for shoes, backpacks and a bigger closet (mine is tiny) would work better for my family.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

I guess the first question that pops into my mind for deciding between mud room/coat closet in the front vs. the the back is where do you typically enter the house from on a daily basis? We enter our house through the front door (sometimes the garage which takes me right into the den), so for me, a larger foyer, extra space for shoes, backpacks and a bigger closet (mine is tiny) would work better for my family.

And see, we enter from the side.(However, we have a fairly small corner lot and our doors are about six feet from the sidewalk. No front or side extensions for us )

I agree that a mudroom extension is a great idea, but I also agree with PP...Where do you enter the most? I feel like if you add to the front and have to "retrain" yourself to enter that way, it might not get as much use as you think.

Are you sacrificing a lot of your yard for the side entrance? This would play the biggest part for us personally.

Good luck!

 

[mom2travel]

If you use your backyard so much in the summer, will you regret not having the mud room in the back? You had mentioned having a place to put the pool towels.

The PP point of which way do you enter the house is a good one. In our current home, we mostly enter through the front, sometimes the garage. Our last home was the opposite, where we mostly came in through the garage into the mudroom/laundry. The way this current house is set up, we'd rarely use a mudroom that is only accessible from the back yard, but for our old one with the pool that would've been great because we used our yard all the time.

Maybe make a list of pros & cons of each location. Good luck with the project! I love that you're opening up the space you're renovating :

 

[java]

I would stick with the back just for the pool.

Do you want the mess of coats ect to be th first thing people see when they om over? Wouldn't a clean entrance be better?

Where is your washing machine? Is it upstairs? Do you want it in the mud room?

Mine is off the garage and I can say I generally hate it. I love that the washing mchine is in there but mine is too narrow to add a bench with hooks kind of thing. Ther is. Long closet in there that had horrible sliding doors. We took those off and now use that as a pantry extension. It looks horrible though. But it's useful.

So my regret of my mud room is Width!

 

[MomNeedsVacay]

I'm not sure I understand---so the front foyer/mudroom would be an addition to the front? How would it change the look of the home from the exterior?

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Hard to say.

Keeping your backyard intact is certainly something to consider. Do you have any pictures to show us? I can't say unless I see it.

Here is what I would tell you to do. Get out your camera and start taking pictures. I do this with interior design and landscaping.

Pictures will help you get a different perspective. Make sure you get the perspective of what the curb appeal will be looking AT your house, esp. from the backyard. AND INSIDE your house looking out.

For example, when I landscape I don't just make sure it looks good just to look at from the street view, I also consider what it is going to look like looking OUT my window inside the house.