4 Bonus Room Renovation Ideas for Your Home

Many spaces in your home have a designated purpose. For example, your kitchen is for cooking and your living room is for spending time with family and friends. However, sometimes your home has some extra square footage or an area that doesn't have a designated purpose. This space is generally referred to as a bonus room.
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A finished bonus room can offer immense real estate value to your home, but bringing this room to life sometimes takes a little inspiration. Whether you’re looking for the perfect nook to read your books or a space to rock out on your guitar, we have some unique bonus room ideas that will help you transform this part of your home into a place that adds value and functionality to your life.

Important Tips For Finishing a Bonus Room

Before you jump in and start renovating, there are a few things that you should know about fixing up a bonus room. First, check with your local permit office to see if your renovation plans meet building code requirements. By contacting the permit office, this will ensure that you’re able to do construction without breaking any rules. 

After this step, assess your room to see if you need to invest in plumbing, gas, and HVAC. Some bonus rooms like an attic may lack these amenities and you may want to add them to make the space livable. Finally, be aware that if your renovated room has significant remodeling done to it, it may also increase your property tax. Once you check these things off your list, you can get started!

Design Ideas for Your Bonus Space

• Library

Who wouldn’t love a cozy seating area to indulge in all of your favorite books? By installing a few custom shelves, looking for a comfortable seating arrangement, and organizing your favorite books, you’ll have your own personal library in no time. A library not only gives you somewhere to store all of your favorite novels, but it also gives your house a vintage, timeless feel. 

• Workshop

If you’re handy or are into DIY home organization projects, an in-house workshop might be the perfect space for you. Design your ideal workbench indoors so you can move your equipment and materials in from the shed or garage. Another renovation tip is to install overhead lighting for late nights in the workshop or a mounted storage rack for tools. 

• Home gym

Instead of paying for a pricy gym membership, you can work out from home and pursue your fitness goals with a home gym. To design an optimal gym, add rubber tiles to the floor for a soft surface to exercise on and install a mirrored section of wall to watch your form. 

You can also invest in equipment like exercise machines, foam rollers, and hand weights to stock your gym for your favorite workouts. With a gym at home, you’ll never want to take an “off-day.”

• Music room

If you’re a big music lover or are looking to take up an instrument, a music room will be the perfect place to practice some melodies. One big priority for renovating this type of room is soundproofing. This will limit neighbors and family members from being bothered by loud noise as you jam out. You can also get creative by installing mounts on the walls to hang up records or display your instruments. 

Adding value to your home

A bonus room is basically a blank slate that makes your home feel bigger, so why not create an enjoyable space? With so many options to choose from that cater to you and your family’s at-home needs, the possibilities are endless. Whether it's your first home or forever home, anyone will be impressed when you give them a tour and you’ll gain both intrinsic and financial value from this new space in your home.

Author

Lauren McDermott has written for the lifestyle, home, and insurance industries and inspires her readers to pursue their personal goals. She enjoys writing about home decorating, renovation, and the real estate industry.

​Want to learn more about designing, renovating and building houses?

"Great for those that DIY. Very helpful in home renovations!"  (Reader on Amazon.com)

​Paul Netscher has written 2 easy to read books 'An Introduction to Building and Renovating Houses - Volumes 1 and 2'. An Introduction to Building and Renovating Houses Volume 1 deals with Hiring Contractors, Managing Construction and Finishing Your Home.  and Designing your ideal home Volume 2 deals with Finding Your Ideal Property and Designing Your Dream Home. 
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These books are available from Amazon and other online bookstores in paper and ebook.