Renovating your home comes with countless considerations, from the tiniest deliberations over gutter covers to serious financial decisions that are years in the making.

Some types of renovation add value to your home and others primarily improve your day-to-day life. A sensible goal, especially if you intend to stay in your home for the foreseeable future, is to find a balance between those two major benefits. Bear this in mind while you browse renovation ideas and inspiration images. Remember to consult an expert contractor, designer, or architect before committing to any big-budget projects. 

Here are seven renovation ideas, ranging from affordable DIY improvements to major projects, which will improve your home while also increasing its value.


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Focus on Kitchen and Bathroom Improvements

Kitchen and bathroom improvements typically promise the highest return on investment of all major remodelling projects. The kitchen is at the top of the list for adding value, so if you’re only going to remodel one room, make it the kitchen. Contemporary kitchen desires are open-plan designs, luxury materials like marble and quartz, and modern, energy-efficient appliances.

For bathrooms, aim for serene, spa-like touches. Under-floor heating is a highly desirable feature in a bathroom. Glass screens or enclosures are preferred over shower curtains, and most home buyers prefer to have both a shower and a bath in the house. More affordable upgrades to kitchens and bathrooms include new paint, refinishing cabinets, and replacing hardware. When enhancing your kitchen or bathroom, don’t forget to consider the convenience and durability that high-quality drawer slides can bring to your cabinetry, ensuring a seamless and functional experience.

 

Consider New Flooring

Carpets are still popular for bedrooms, but they tend to look dated and impractical elsewhere. Replace older carpets with neutral ones and avoid patterned carpets that don’t age well. Installing natural stone or wooden floorboards – or even better, restoring original wood floors in an older home – adds considerable value to a home. Then, add rugs for cosier living and reflect your personal style in a non-permanent way.

 

Make Outdoor Improvements

There are plenty of budget-friendly outdoor improvements that increase your home’s kerb appeal and have lifestyle benefits. One is installing a leaf guard for gutters, limiting the accumulation of leaves and dirt in your gutters. With decent gutter guards, you’ll rarely need to get up on a ladder to clean the gutters (a generally unpleasant task). Gutter guards also prevent clogs in your drainage system. Also, consider adding a rainwater harvesting system, which will give you a free source of water for the garden and other household needs. Other outdoor improvements with a small investment include:

  • Painting the front door and adding new numbers
  • Adding outdoor lighting
  • Planting more flowers and greenery

These small changes can make your property feel especially welcoming when you get home at the end of the day. They also give potential future buyers a good first impression. 

 

Add an Extension or Loft Conversion

Extensions and loft conversions are significant projects that require a big budget and short-term upheaval, but the payoff in your home’s home value and enjoyment can be huge. Well-done extensions expand the home’s useful living space and can transform its entire ambience. You might add more space to a key room, such as the living room or kitchen, or create brand new bedrooms. You can gain an entirely new floor with multiple rooms or a large open-plan space with a loft conversion. Depending on your property, garage and basement or cellar conversions might also be an option. 

 

Get Cosy with a Fireplace or Log Burner

A fireplace, log-burning stove or multi-fuel stove is an excellent addition to a room. It becomes a new focal point, adds a cosy ambience, and can even cut down on your fuel costs as an alternative room heater. If you have a disused fireplace in an older home, restore it to its period style. In a newer home, look at modern fireplace and stove designs to fit with your decor. 

 

Replace Windows for Warmth, Light, Style

Most UK homes now have double-glazed or triple-glazed windows and they’re an essential upgrade in homes that don’t. Newer, draught-proof windows cut down on heating costs in winter and improve the home’s look. The cost of replacing older windows will be repaid in saved energy costs and improved home value. Other window ideas include adding shutters and re-caulking to seal any leaky draughts. It’s a more complicated project, but you might be able to add new windows or larger windows to a dimly lit space. Roof windows are a popular choice. 

 

Switch to Greener Energy Sources

Eliminating fossil fuels from your home is an excellent investment for financial and ethical reasons. There are some serious government incentives to switch from gas to more sustainable energy sources, for example, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme launched in October 2021. Some steps to improve sustainable energy use in the home include:

  • Installing high-efficiency ventilation and heat recovery systems
  • Adding eco-friendly insulation in walls and lofts
  • Installing low-flow toilets
  • Replacing older appliances with energy-efficient ones

From smart thermostats to solar panels, savvy homeowners keep on top of quickly evolving green energy technology. Know that these factors will also be increasingly crucial to green-minded potential future buyers.

 

 


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Design for Me is a free platform to help you quickly find the right design professional for your home project. My name is Emily Barnes and as a residential architect myself, I started Design for Me after finding that talented and innovative smaller firms and individuals, who are perfectly placed to design new homes, extensions and renovations, can often get buried under the online profiles of large commercial companies.

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Kiley – guest post writer for Design for Me

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