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When Your Children Never Actually Move Out: Home Additions For Lasting Harmony

This summer, the Pew Research Center reported that 36 percent of 18 to 31 year-olds were living in their parents’ home. That’s more than a third, indicative of a wide spread social trend. Economic pressures and wide spread concern about the stability of the job market have led many adult children to stay with their parents perpetually – a situation that can cause even the most well-adjusted families some stress.

Living with your children when they’re adults is fundamentally different than living with them when they’re children. You can’t really order a thirty-something to go to bed when they get on your nerves. Adult children want to entertain their friends and date people, all of which may be something that you not want to actually see happening in your living room or kitchen. People need space and privacy. Your own romantic relationships might be uncomfortably stifled by the knowledge that your adult child is on the other side of thin bedroom walls. Things that didn’t matter so much when your kid was six matter a lot when they’re twenty-six.

One way Montgomery County families are handling this situation is by having first-floor additions built. Adding extra space to the home gives the adult child a place to move to and use as their own private living space. These additions don’t have to be overly large to accommodate a lot of functionality: even a relatively small addition can include a separate entrance, bedroom space, private bathroom and a kitchen/living area. While the family still shares an address, this separate space makes it much easier to lead happier, more harmonious lives.

We’d be happy to talk to you about your home addition project. Additionally, if you’d like to see some of the additions we’ve built for local families, you can find great pictures in our Inspiration Gallery.