Kitchen Bump Out Ideas: Maximizing Space

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Last updated: April 19, 2023

Kitchens are the most popular room in your home. They are where we cook, eat and spend a lot of time with our family. It is no wonder that a kitchen remodel is one of the more popular home renovation projects in recent years. We will discuss kitchen bump-out addition ideas to give you some inspirational ideas and to give your kitchen an extra space that will add to the resale value of your home.

People have asked how much it will cost for typical beautiful kitchen transformations.  It’s a really great question. This can vary widely for many reasons.  At the time of this writing, there is another housing boom that has led to an increase in raw materials supplies that home builders and home renovators need.  A typical bump-out kitchen renovation can start from $5,000 and go as high as $30,000 and even higher. 

Kitchen Bump Ideas: Hands Framing Custom Kitchen Design Drawing and Square Photo Composite

The average kitchen is more than 200 square feet in 4,000 square foot homes. In a 1,500 square foot home, the average kitchen is 103 square feet. In the United States, an average kitchen will vary from 161 square feet for a single story or 174 square feet for a multi-level home.

A 12-by-16 foot kitchen is a very popular layout and can support a kitchen remodel which considers an island.  It offers kitchen practicality because it is spacious and open, offering significant mobility and access to kitchen appliances, additional storage, additional cabinets, or additional base cabinets. 

A kitchen designer will likely tell you that any bump out two feet along one end of the kitchen is far more cost-effective than adding an entire room to increase your average kitchen size. It’s important to avoid any awkward layout that impedes any additions in design.  It’s possible to add up to 15 feet if you add footings or more foundation.

Table of Contents

  1. What Is a Kitchen Bump-Out?
  2. What Are the Uses of Kitchen Bump Outs?
    1. Here are Some Other Uses of a Kitchen Bump-out
  3. Bump-Out Kitchen Extension Pros and Cons
    1. Bump Out Pros
    2. Bump Out Cons
  4. How Do You Build Kitchen Bump-Outs?
  5. Why Should You Have a Kitchen Bump-Out?
  6. Some Other Bump-Outs to Consider?
    1. Home Office
    2. Room at the Garage Addition
    3. Master Bedroom Addition
    4. Sunroom or Porch Addition
    5. Attic Addition
  7. Conclusion

What Is a Kitchen Bump-Out?

A kitchen bump-out is a small extension of the kitchen that can be built on a porch or deck. The idea is to extend with a kitchen addition, adding more square feet so that it feels much bigger, and allows for more storage space. A regular addition would also allow you to use a whole new room for a pantry/storage area instead of having them spread out throughout the small kitchen.

Kitchen bump-outs are usually larger than a regular kitchen, and as an extension of your current tiny kitchen, they should have the same design style for consistency. Sometimes, the type of addition is enough room for the rest of the house and ends up feeling like a complete transformation. Soon, your home’s footprint will be able to support large family gatherings because of the kitchen island with seating.

What Are the Uses of Kitchen Bump Outs?

More people are staying in their homes longer and are renovating them to make them more livable. One great way is to consider kitchen renovations if they’re simple or through a general contractor if they’re more complex. You’ll likely need help from an interior designer, kitchen designer, or a design team if you have a small home, small spaces, or small rooms. A kitchen bump-out can be a great way to maximize space, add a beautiful entrance into your home from outside, add a kitchen island or create lots of storage space for cooking utensils or dishes.  These renovations included modified plans for upper cabinets and a finished floor and consider kitchen practicality. 

Here are Some Other Uses of a Kitchen Bump-out

A place to hang a pot rack or hooks for cooking tools.
An entrance from the outside of your home, which is great for older homes with no direct walkway into the kitchen.
Storage space, whether it’s as simple as adding shelves and kitchen cabinets to the bump-out or creating a pantry area.
Create more room in your kitchen by adding a formal dining room, family room, laundry room, existing living room, and/or game room.
A place for a breakfast nook.
It can be an open space for extra storage or a kitchen desk.
A place to add kitchen islands as well, which adds workspace and dining space.
You can also add small bathrooms with extra square footage.

Bump-Out Kitchen Extension Pros and Cons

Bump Out Pros

  • Kitchen bump-outs provide a more usable living space
  • Kitchen extension ideas can help capitalize on the natural light and help support a bright kitchen experience
  • Kitchen bump-outs are less expensive than renovating the whole kitchen
  • If you want a lot of space while cooking, kitchen bump-out is the is the perfect kitchen extension project
  • Adds new space to the place you want to have it: like an eat-in kitchen or an open-concept kitchen
  • Gives enough space for your kitchen appliances

Bump Out Cons

  • Kitchen bumps-outs are not an ideal solution for small houses but there always is a possible solution
  • Kitchen bump-out requires a permit
  • Kitchen bump-outs are less economical compared to the types of additions per square foot basis
  • It is can also be difficult to design your kitchen bump-out

How Do You Build Kitchen Bump-Outs?

You should always measure your kitchen before starting any construction process. Your home’s footprint will determine how the rest of your home can be modified.  Again, any kitchen extension project can be complex work so the support from the kitchen designer can be really helpful in your planning stages.

The exterior wall of the home is where you will find a lot of clues for what type of kitchen renovation can be supported to create a functional and attractive kitchen space.

These exterior walls are load-bearing. Removing a load-bearing wall is never an easy feat, especially if you need to maintain the structural integrity of your building. One way that has been proven as a viable replacement in some cases, though not all, is by using laminated veneer lumber beams (LVL).

The LVL’s role in replacing walls usually comes when renovating and upgrading older buildings with more modern designs; however, this does not mean that they cannot be used for new builds or other purposes whenever it might make sense – like removing sections inside larger structures where columns support the weight above them instead of from outside corners.

The LVLs also have benefits such as being lightweight while still maintaining high compressive strength so there are no worries about cracks weakening their structure over time.

A kitchen bump-out is a good example of this type of replacement for an older building where the wall and roof are not in line with today’s modern designs.

A kitchen bump-out is just a small addition, and you may or may not add an extra cooling or heating capacity. But if you want to add it, it is easy to do. For small areas, cooling capacity can be increased using window-unit air conditioners. You can use an augmented baseboard heater when dealing with heating for small areas.

Building a kitchen bump-out is also like building a full addition. Features like floor joists, new floor, foundation work, large windows, new roofs, and rim joists are also seen in a kitchen bump-out.

It is often difficult to find the perfect kitchen flooring. Matching it with existing color schemes can be a challenge, and sometimes new surfaces are better suited for an entire room or portion of that space.

This may require repainting everything to match up colors correctly though some rooms use paint standards that allow certain areas like off-white trim work or trim pieces on doors/cabinets to follow those guidelines instead of being matched precisely with other fixtures across the entirety of a wall surface etcetera.

The right type of roof can make all the difference when it comes to adding a kitchen bump-out. For those who are looking for something less expensive and quick, you may consider lean-to roofs that only extend a few feet beyond your house.

However, in any event – all kitchens do require their own roofing material and in some cases, a new roof since this existing roof may not work with your plans! We can’t think of a nicer place to have vaulted ceilings than in a kitchen because it is dramatic and eye-catching, and may make your new space feel like an open-concept kitchen.

Why Should You Have a Kitchen Bump-Out?

A kitchen bump-out is a great way to maximize your kitchen space. Bump-outs are not only for new construction and can be installed during kitchen remodels or renovations.

The increased usable floor area of the bumped-out portion provides more room for storage, play areas, an eating bar, an improved dining area, or a simple breakfast nook with a wonderful window seat to the outside world.

Kitchen bump-out helps you to get rid of that noisy kitchen traffic. It is also a great investment to increase the value of your property. Kitchen bump-outs are also great for a large window, allowing natural light into the kitchen that is lacking in both areas.

If you have a growing family, a kitchen bump-out is also great because it provides additional home space for your children or guests.

Some Other Bump-Outs to Consider?

Home Office

A home office is an obvious solution when there isn’t much space for an existing room. Whether it is an office for personal use or the home business, this new area will be used frequently and should accommodate all of the needs that come with working from a desk at home. Of late, the home or remote office appears to be one of the more popular home addition ideas as remote work takes the modern world by storm.

Adding a home office is a good idea when the bedroom is located on a different floor like the second story. One of the best things you can do is set up the office away from the kitchen or an adjacent floor where noise can be distracting to you and potentially others.

When designing your new workspace, consider what features are necessary for you and make sure they are all accounted for accordingly. For example, does your desk need storage? What about lighting? Do you want a comfortable chair to sit in while you work? How about a window for natural light?

Do not forget the room’s accessibility and overall design. Your new space must fit with the rest of the home, otherwise, it will look like an afterthought rather than something that was planned out from the beginning.

There are many other room additions to consider that will add extra feet to your home, where needed. But a home office and the examples to follow are considered full-size additions. 

Room at the Garage Addition

The garage is a great idea for a new bump-out addition because it usually takes up a great deal of space in the house, which is why people often decide to have an extra or additional room built. The extra room can be used as a bedroom, or office space, but the most popular option is to use it for living space. You’ve seen it before – it’s a man cave for some guys who love their sports. Imagine the additional square footage to support that home theater setup you’ve always dreamed about.

But you should be aware of this. If you decide to pursue a garage conversion to make for a living room addition, this will not likely increase your property value. Protected parking space like a garage comes at a premium for home buyers and you actually end up losing this value premium because new buyers may not want foundation work and will view it as increasing their average cost of repairs and renovations. If you plan to stay in your home for a long while, this may not be a big issue.

Master Bedroom Addition

An addition to your master bedroom is somehow rewarding and a great way to increase the square footage of your home. It will not only make you enjoy this comfortable space more but it’s also a great place for more storage space, and the easiest way to find things without having to search through piles and piles of clothes and other items in the bedroom.

Adding an extra closet is one good example of how you can add more storage space to your bedroom.

The same applies to adding a desk, especially if the master is also used as an office or study room. The trick with this idea though is that it should not be so close to the bed (or other furniture) that it will get in the way of things like getting up and Clothes take up a lot of space, and if you don’t have enough storage room many things will end up on the floor.

You can also put an additional master bathroom in the room, but if you think your house may not be big enough for this then a second bathroom in the hallway or just outside of it might work.

Full-size additions can also apply to external features of your home.  

Sunroom or Porch Addition

If you want more space but don’t want to go with kitchen bump-out ideas, you can consider a sunroom or porch addition. These options give you more outdoor living areas and storage rooms for your kitchen at the same time!

If you want to maximize your outdoor space, then a porch or sunroom addition is perfect for you. This will give you more room than just an ordinary kitchen overhang and it can be done with minimal demolition work on the original house. And if you’re looking for even more storage, these additions can be designed as separate rooms that can be used for a laundry room, mudroom, or another storage area.

A sunroom addition is typically added to the back of your house and given lots of windows so that it feels like an extension on your kitchen – perfect for baking in the sunshine! A porch addition is typically built off one side of your home with enough space for a kitchen table and chairs. This provides a space for enjoying your morning coffee, or cooking up some fresh lunchtime snacks!

Attic Addition

One of the most isolated areas in a house is the attic, which is often not considered a part of the living space. Indeed, attics are usually only used for storage or as extra sleeping quarters when needed, but they could be made into an area with more livable square footage.

Attics can turn into a necessary space in a home when an attic conversion is done to create living quarters. Since attics are not very large, the best way to use this area is by building onto it rather than cutting into the existing floor plan – adding on instead of taking away.

Conclusion

In conclusion, kitchen bump-out ideas can be a great way to maximize kitchen space. A bump-out will give your kitchen the feeling of being more open and spacious while also adding storage, marble counters, concrete countertops, apron sink, the all-important second sink, breakfast bar, or cabinet space that would not normally fit within the confines of an original kitchen layout.  

An adjacent breakfast nook next to a beautiful bay window offers a sense of romance and flair similar to that is typical San Francisco style and design.

We hope this article will help you spend less time deciding if kitchen bump-out ideas are the right choice for your home.

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