If you’re living in a home with children, sometimes it feels like that there is just not enough space for everyone.  If you feel like you’re always living on top of each other, the solution could be to build a parent’s retreat, where you can go to unwind and relax in privacy.  If that sounds good to you, here’s what you need to know to get you started!  For more information or to get things moving, have a chat with your local extensions professional.

Designing the Parent’s Retreat

The first thing that you need to do is to sketch out exactly what you want from your parent’s retreat.  Do you want it to just be a small quiet room where you can go to have a cup of tea or would you like it to be an area that can also be used for entertaining when you have friends over?  For example, one option is to have a small room off your bedroom filled with cosy chairs for reading a book.  Alternatively, you can build a large room to house a few couches, a large TV and DVD player and even a separate toilet, so it’s a room you can comfortably spend hours in.  Sketch out the approximate size and layout.  If you have trouble with this, a professional will be more than happy to help.  Make sure that you keep your budget in mind during the design phase.  Set out a budget and remember that it will need to include the cost of gaining permissions, the cost of building and labour, as well as an emergency fund in case of anything going wrong.

Locating the Parent’s Retreat

The second thing you need to do is to decide exactly where you want the parent’s retreat.  Ideally, it will be located away from the kids’ bedrooms.  One option is to extend the living area and separate it and the retreat through the use of large folding doors.  You could also add it onto your master bedroom, again separating the areas through doors that slide or fold away.  If you don’t want to go into your garden space, however, you’ll need to extend upwards and while this can be a great choice, it is also a more costly option.  Finally, if you don’t want the retreat attached to the home at all, you can build a small cabin in the backyard and use that as your escape area!

Building the Retreat

Once all the planning work is done, you can start the process of building the retreat.  Your builder can lodge the paperwork to your local council to get all the planning permissions that you need. Once this is done, the building process can begin.  This will disrupt your lifestyle while it’s happening so you need to plan for this (staying at a friend’s if you need to and so on).  The builder should also act as a project manager, making sure that the work is being done on time and to standards.  You may wish to engage the services of an independent inspector to ensure that work is meeting all building requirements and standards and that there are no defects.  Ensure that the builder that you have chosen provides you with a clear, easy to understand contract and that they will attach a warranty to their work.