To complicate matters further, these rooms at the front of a colonial house are often lovely spaces — well proportioned with fireplaces and well-placed windows, so they are difficult to carve up and repurpose. Therefore, it is common to see the rear addition of a family room on this type of home.

The danger of this solution is that the front rooms will sit unused.

With today's cost of construction and high property taxes — not to mention the impact to the environment — we are loath to endorse a renovation that adds new area to a home while existing space is not being used.

Therefore, we encourage thoughtful analysis of this type of home (with the help of an architect!) to consider every option to integrate the separate rooms of a colonial home into a dynamic master plan that will make every room livable. If you have used all your space wisely and you still feel you need more, then you'll have no argument from us when you decide to add on.

Recently, a client with a beautiful colonial home and a growing family needed more space. The home already had a rear addition with a family room connected to the kitchen, but the owner saw potential in repurposing a sun room that was off of the living room. This old addition was removed and replaced with a new three-level addition housing two new bedrooms on the basement level, a new library/music room on the main floor, and a new bathroom and laundry room on the upper level.

Without increasing the existing footprint of the home, the owner significantly improved the function of the home, and did so in an architectural style that blended seamlessly with the beautiful colonial home.

The important thing to remember is that it is possible to renovate or add on to a colonial home and still keep the feeling of tradition, charm and place intrinsic in this style. It is a type that has served us well for hundreds of years, and with good design it should continue to thrive into the 21st century.

Architects Ann Robinson and Annie V. Schwemmer are the founders of Renovation Design Group, www.renovationdesigngroup.com, a local architectural firm specializing in residential remodels.