Expanding Usable Floor Space In A Cape Cod Home

Named for the area of the country where it became popular, the Cape Cod home is a common home style that is a comfortable and cozy home design that has migrated across the country. The Cape Cod home is a great choice for first-time homebuyers, usually young singles or young couples starting a family.

If you're living in a Cape Cod home and your family has outgrown it, but you don't want to move? Fortunately, this home style is flexible, and you have several remodeling options. The style lends itself to adding additional usable space, both by building an addition or remodeling within your home's existing footprint.

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While the Cape Cod home's traditional layout can pose challenges, today, there are many innovative, budget-conscious ways to provide the function, flow, and space that the modern family lifestyle requires.

In this post, we'll define the traditional Cape Cod home style and some options for adding additional space and functionality to your home.

Traditional Cape Cod Home Design

The standard Cape Cod home typically has a center staircase when you walk in the front door, with little or no space for an entry. It also has a separate dining room, living room, and kitchen. Often the dining room is to the left and the living room on the right.

The rear of the first floor houses the kitchen and often a bedroom and bathroom. Upstairs you'll typically find two small bedrooms and often a full bathroom. The upstairs bedrooms may have sloped rooflines within them but typically are still usable.

Some Cape Cod homes lack insulation upstairs in some parts of the country and may have minimal ventilation. Others are finished, completely usable space, including proper heating, cooling, and insulated second-floor bedrooms and a full bathroom.

Today, there are many remodeling options available that can open up your space without having to add to your home's existing footprint.

Improving Your Cape Cod Home's Flow and Functionality

While the Cape Cod home style does have some design challenges, all are solvable. Your design-build professional can work with you to identify your personal issues with flow and function and address them within your remodeling project.

Here are some typical challenges and solutions for remodeling and updating your Cape Cod home, keeping it within your home's existing footprint.

Open Up Walls

The open concept floor plan is popular for a reason. One of the best ways to create the illusion of more space is by opening up your space and removing walls. The Cape Cod home traditionally consists of enclosed spaces. By opening walls, you're not actually adding square footage, but you improve flow and brighten the space by letting in more light. Consider including a bay window, which can add some square footage without the expense of a home addition.

Enclosing The Porch

If you have a porch, enclosing it can add square footage and turn a seasonal room into a year-round usable space. An enclosed porch can become any type of space you need to improve your home's functionality, like an office, playroom, mudroom, or half bath. If you have a patio that's isn't enclosed, your design-build professional can check local codes to determine if it can be legally enclosed.

Adding a Shed Dormer

One of the reasons that the second-floor rooms of a Cape Cod home are smaller and sometimes have oddly shaped rooms is that the roof's slope directly impacts the room size. If your home needs a new roof, or if you have a bit of a budget, consider adding height to the existing walls with a shed dormer and then re-roofing your home. By raising the roofline, you can add height and create two decent-sized bedrooms when you move the knee wall back.

Finishing the Basement

The typical Cape Cod home includes a basement. A finished basement is a great way to add additional living space. Because much of the infrastructure is already in place (ceiling, walls, utilities), it's a relatively affordable remodel that can create any number of usable spaces. You can create anything from an in-law apartment with a kitchen, full bathroom, bedroom, living room, home theatre, office, a playroom for the kids, entertaining space, or a home gym.

Improving Your Cape Cod Home Part Two: Adding Space With an Addition

You may find that you need additional space, and remodeling within your home's existing footprint doesn't meet your needs. If you have the budget and your home is on a large enough lot, you may have the option of adding onto your home.

Here are a few ideas to consider to increase the livable space of a Cape Cod home:

If your home includes an attached garage, consider adding an addition above that can be used as a playroom, office, or extra bedroom.
If your home includes a detached garage, consider connecting it to the house and making the adjoining area a laundry/mudroom.
Add a full addition to the back of the house. This can add additional space to your kitchen and allow you to create a new larger master en suite and convert the existing master into a family room or additional living space.
If adding an addition, consider including a large bay window to create an eating area off the kitchen.

The bottom line? Working with a talented design-build professional can help you better determine your best option to improve your living space. The fact is, costs and budget can vary widely depending on the extent of your remodel.

Cape Cod home additions and whole-house remodels are some of the most challenging projects to design. The award-winning design team at Degnan Design-Build-Remodel has the experience to analyze your needs and determine what makes the most sense for your family and your home.

If you're considering a remodeling project for your Cape Cod home, and want to explore all of your options, give our award-winning design team a call at (608) 846-5963. We're always happy to talk to you about our process and show you what's possible!

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