Creative Ways to Expand Your Living Space

When you first bought your home it may have been the perfect size - but several years later and the addition of a child or two, a few new pets and a basement full of Christmas decorations and winter clothes might have your house feeling a bit cramped. Without major renovations like knocking down walls or building additions, the hope of creating more space may seem impossible. However, creativity can always lend itself when you're faced with a difficult challenge, such as making space where there is none.

Try these tips to get more home out of your house:

Do Away With the Dining Room: Dining rooms are often an extra space filled almost entirely with a dining room table and chairs that rarely get used. Unless you host dinner parties on a weekly basis, chances are your dining room is sucking up much needed space in your home. Purchase a smaller table and place it in the kitchen for sit-down meals and let your imagination run wild with how you might use your newly freed space. Any number of possibilities exist from home offices to a new nursery. Take a tip from the Beverly Hillbillies movie and convert your dining area to a billiards room where you dine on the pool table or keep the pool table and stick with eating in the kitchen.

Spill Your Inside Outside: In Michigan, this isn't a year-round fix for expansion, but it's great for summer and often possible during the spring and fall as well. You can get really intricate here and build a new patio complete with outdoor wood burning pizza oven, jacuzzi and fire pit or you can keep it simple with nice patio furniture and some flowers pots. The major issue is whether it serves its purpose and people want to spend time in the space. If you want it to be available when it's raining, consider investing in a covered tent or gazebo.

Make Your Garage More Functional: Garages are great for cars and skis and lawnmowers, but they're also great for recreational areas, workout rooms and even man caves. I recently visited a house where half the garage consisted of leather couches, a flat screen TV and a refrigerator with beer and munchies. The man cave that might have been in the basement had been relocated to the garage to conserve space within the home. This also let's the man inhabiting the cave turn the volume as high as he wants and open the garage door to let some sunshine in if the whole cave thing isn't really his style. Just make sure to prepare your garage so that it's comfortable for the use intended. For instance, a craft room may not go well if it consists of a folding table butting up to a broken down Chevy that stinks of oil.

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