Certain Ways to Add Value to Your Home
We all love to improve our homes just t make living in them nicer. But there are some things you can do which will make your him much easier (and often more valuable) should you look to sell it in the future – equally there are some things which will do the reverse… you might want to avoid those unless you’re planning on staying put for the next twenty years!
So here’s the most certain ways to add value to your home – and also make it a much nicer place to live too.
1. Fix the Structural Problems
Don’t even think about painting the bathroom or recarpeting the hall until you’ve fixed the bones of the house. It doesn’t matter how shiny your kitchen is, if there’s damp in the bedroom or a cracks in the living room, any potential buyer is going to want a discount in order to fix the issues.
Yes, they’re probably more expensive than a new coat of paint – but as well as adding real value, they’re essential to the health of your entire home.
If you don’t know where to begin, try using a site such as Checkatrade to find a reliable local builder whose advice you can trust.
2. Convert Your Loft
Staying on the theme of big jobs – the number one way to increase the value of your home is to increase the living space. Converting a loft into a bedroom is much cheaper than an extension, and according to Nationwide adds an average of 21% to the value of your home.
But do make sure it adds more accommodation than it takes away (you do have to make room for a new staircase in the floor below).
You often don’t need planning permission, as you’ll stay within the exisiting space of your home. Though you may do so for any new dormer windows at the front of your property if you face a road.
3. Look At your Existing Space
If an extension is out, that doesn’t mean your house can’t work better for you. We tend to get stuck in a rut and only see ourselves living the way we currently are. But it’s never the only way.
Ask a friend to come over and suggest different changes and point out problem areas – a fresh perspective can be enlightening.
Move your furniture around and live with it for a week; not just within the room, but also between rooms. Does your dining room work better as a living room? Could your conservatory become your dining room?
Update high traffic areas – they tend to always look dowdy and unloved because you’re always just passing through. But your hall and stairs are often the part that welcomes your guests to your home.
Let’s start with the stairs – the absolute heart of your home (unless you have a bungalow or a flat, obvs…). Have you ever thought about replacing them? If they’re squeaky, wobbly, or simply look really dated, then a new staircase in wood might be what you need to give your house a total facelift. Or maybe go a half measure; we ourselves have the original narrow steep stairs that were built into our 1920’s house – they go up the centre of the house between two walls, and changing them would be expensive and pointless. They’d still look like the same stairs. But what we have just done is invest in a new handrail kit (you can get staircase balustrade kits too ) – no, I didn’t know it was a thing either. But a new handrail, and a single statement wall of bold wallpaper, and hey presto – the centre of the house looks amazing, even though the rest of the paint and the carpet are at least 8yrs old!
4. Replace Windows
Obviously we all expect double-glazing as standard now – not having it will impact on your house value considerably. But we’re also aware that double glazing has a lifespan, so if yours is old from the 1980’s then it might be time to get it replaced.
New windows have a huge impact on a home – we switched our old bedroom windows for new ones – same window opening and yet there’s so much more light it feels like the window is twice as big.
Check out Lins Drabwell’s AMAZING secret kitchen makeover (grab a coffee and work through her incredible IG stories here) last week – simply switching her diamond-leaded windows out lifted the whole room.
5. Give the Kitchen a Makeover
Again – check Lins’ fabulous kitchen transformation for total inspiration of what you can achieve. But you don’t have to be so drastic – if the bones of your kitchen are good, then a little paint is all you need. I totally transformed our old 1980’s kitchen for a yea before we could replace it simply by painting the cupboard doors yellow, and the brown tiles white.
A clean modern kitchen is essential to a buyer – and also those valuation surveyors.
And do stop and think before you invest in a whole new one; there are a lot of solutions f the basics are good and you know there’s no need 9or possibility) of structurally moving the layout. You can simply buy new doors for the standard-sized units, you can paint tiles (or tile bare wall), you can lay a new floor… old kitchens can take on a totally new personality with just a little thought, time and investment.
6. Refresh Your Bathroom
Along with kitchens, bathrooms can sell a house – they need to be fresh, clean and filled with light – and just a few simple luxury touches will add some properly valuable wow-factor.
Keep the colours bright and neutral, and if there’s not bags of window light then make sure the ceiling light is big and bright.Replace existing
If your suite is old, marked or in any colour other than white (remember when pink and avocado bathroom suites were totally a thing? Ugh.), then invest in a new one. A very basic white bathroom suite, complete with taps, can be bought for less than £300 and will instantly lift a tired old bathroom.
And if you have a nasty old tile pattern (I’m not talking classing 1930’s black and white gems here, leave those beauties alone – I’m talking about some weird orange and brown 1970’s combo, or a 1990’s stencil-fest) then don’t worry about re-tiling the whole room; just go ahead and paint them.
You also want to give it a great big deep-down clean. No mucky corners, odd grey-black gunky edges or spotty damp mould anywhere (if you want it, here’s our step-by-step guide to a proper bathroom clean).
7. New Bedroom
This one’s pretty straightforward, actually – there’s no need for a big remodel, as you probably already have it set out the best way. bedrooms are limited in their flexibility. But… new wallpaper, curtains and bed linen in a bright neutral shade and you’ll feel like you have a whole new room.
I’ve been plotting my own bedroom upgrade for… years, actually. It’s not a complicated job, but it is one we all put off!
