Ask the Architect

Do we need more rooms?

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Q. We’re trying to decide on making more space, adding a den and deck in the back and redoing our kitchen. I know we need a permit, even for the deck. How much will our taxes increase, and is there any alternative you can suggest? We only entertain once or twice a year since our children are grown and do most of the holidays. We don’t agree on whether we need the extra space. Help!

A. First the easy answers. Yes, your taxes will go up, and you’ll need to ask the county tax assessors, since their system went to one based on recent sales costs of comparable homes instead of a cost-per-square-foot basis. This means that their evaluation is the only opinion that counts, because there’s no longer a formula.

As for adding to your home, I sometimes think that, for the cost, certain projects add little to the ongoing operating costs of home ownership. There are two schools of thought. While the average size of a home is increasing by something like 20 percent, there are many who are reducing their “carbon footprint,” scaling back to make the home more affordable, efficient to maintain and operate, and to get more use from their space. Some will admit, during initial design discussions, that there are rooms they never use, and others admit using certain rooms as dumping grounds for all the extra stuff in our lives, like obsolete technology we no longer use but can’t see throwing away — old computers, TVs, stereos, cellphones and even toys.

Worse, I was recently at a zoning hearing where all the neighbors got together to beat up on a business moving in at the end of their street, in a business zone. Even though they all had garages and three-car driveways, they made the effort to try to preserve the parking space in front of their homes from being used by the public. Most of them never use their garages because the parking space is filled with their extraneous stuff.

Cut down on stuff and make a list of what your needs are, such as a TV space, formal dining or an informal breakfast bar. Decide on whether you can share the use of spaces, such as a family room/kitchen/dining space. Picture the most extreme circumstances, when your house is filled with people and how limited the spaces are due to obstacles like half walls, hallways, bathroom right in the middle of everything, etc. By doing this, you realize that you can live with more open space, less clutter, fewer places to dump the mail, belongings and paperwork. Some people tell me they like the smaller space of a place where they stayed recently. “It was just right,” said one couple. They returned home, evaluated their stuff and where walls could come down, and we restructured without adding more rooms. You can, too.

© 2016 Monte Leeper. Readers are encouraged to send questions to yourhousedr@aol.com, with “Herald question” in the subject line, or to Herald Homes, 2 Endo Blvd., Garden City, NY 11530, Attn: Monte Leeper, architect.