Lifestyle, food and drink, and our family life and travel adventures.
There was a time you might have thought buying a house would be the most expensive thing you would ever do; until you realised how much it cost to actually run the house. Energy bills, basic maintenance, and natural wear and tear can drain money out of your bank account before you even realise it was there.
When you’re so busy just trying to keep your house in the same condition as when you bought it, why would you even think about making expensive home improvements? Yet people choose to work some simple remodels into their budget because they believe it’s a worthwhile investment. Upgrading the kitchen or bathroom can add a lot of value to your property should you ever choose to sell, but if you do it right, it can also save you money in the long run. Although they might seem expensive upfront, here are a few renovations that are worth considering.
Solar panels
Energy bills can make up the biggest expense of owning a house, besides the mortgage repayments, so if you’re looking to save a bit of money each month, this is a logical place to start. Solar panels, like those from Rusty Tweed, can save you a lot of money in the long run because they help your house generate its own electricity. If you’re considering making this upgrade, go to a trusted solar company to go over your options and decide on a payment plan. The cost might seem steep at first, but over time, the solar panels will pay for themselves in energy savings. As an added bonus, they might earn you a discount on your property tax.
Adding an extra bedroom
Kids grow up faster than you think, and soon, these little people might outgrow their child-sized bedrooms. Give them a little more independence by creating a bigger bedroom for them. Adding bedrooms can increase the value of your property, which is useful if you’re open to selling your house one day. However, you don’t have to go crazy deciding which room to divide. Converting your loft into a habitable bedroom might not be as expensive as you think. In London, loft conversions usually cost up to £40,000, although throughout the UK, the average seems to be around the £20,000-£30,000 mark, and you can save even more by doing some of the work yourself. Even if you don’t plan to sell your house anytime soon, you could still pay off the renovations by renting out your new spare room to a lodger.
Insulation
Around 25 per cent of the heat lost in an un-insulated house literally goes through the roof, so why not look into insulating your attic and roof? Effective insulation will slow the rate at which heat escapes from your house in winter and will also slow the rate that which heat gets into your house during the summer. In short, it will keep your house at the optimum temperature. You may also find that you don’t need to turn up your thermostat as much to compensate for the escaped heat. Add new insulation along your walls, your ceiling, and your attic wall for maximum efficiency. You’ll particularly need improved insulation if you’re going through with converting the loft into an extra bedroom.
Energy-efficient appliances
When you’re renovating your kitchen, you should consider investing in some energy-efficient appliances. It might seem like an unnecessary expense, but technology has made dramatic strides since the 1970s. New appliances are more energy-efficient than their predecessors, so you’re actually wasting more money by not buying new appliances. Refrigerators and freezers, for example, aren’t something you can afford to turn off, so it’s better for your finances if you buy something that cuts down on your electricity consumption. Energy-efficient dishwashers also cost less to run than the lowest-rated dishwashers of the same size, and they use less water, which is good news for your water bills.
Upgrade your boiler
Older boilers are one of the worst offenders for wasting energy. This financial black hole probably wastes about 35 per cent of the fuel it uses, it’s often unreliable, and it’s most likely reaching the end of its life. It might seem expensive initially, but in the long run, you will save money on your heat and water bill, so the price won’t seem too steep if you think of it in those terms.
Bathroom
Despite spending quite a bit of time in there, the bathroom is often the most neglected room in the house. Once it’s been scrubbed until your fingers smell of disinfectant, it’s neglected in favour of renovating the bedroom and kitchen. Soon enough, that neglect starts to show when the bathroom doesn’t match the rest of your beautifully renovated house. Fortunately, you don’t have to do much to significantly improve the appearance of the bathroom. Give it a completely new look with a fresh coat of paint – make sure to use a satin or semi-gloss, as these types of paint are easy to clean and the most stain-resistant. You can get engineered wood floors that look really beautiful and last for years, and they can also be sanded down if you end up with any stains or watermarks.
Another bathroom upgrade to consider is changing your toilet fixture to an efficient upflush toilet for a more cost-effective toilet replacement if you want to save money and time on installation. With basic plumbing knowledge, you can conduct a DIY installation on this fixture.
Garden improvements
Home improvements aren’t just limited to the house interior. Now that summer is finally here, everyone wants to hang out in the garden. A garden with a deck or a summer house is in high demand with homebuyers, so building these in your garden can increase the value and desirability of your home in case you ever want to sell.
If you want a little sunroom at the bottom of your garden, getting a summer house built by someone like scottsofthrapston.co.uk/corner-summerhouses/ can help with not only your property value but also having somewhere you can disappear to if you need to escape for a while. Alternatively, if you’re perfectly happy with your patio, you can look into installing flat roof patios to provide you with a little extra shade during peak sunlight hours. Flat roofs have the simplest design, use fewer materials, and take less time to install, so the cost of getting one might not be as steep as you think.
Another excellent summer project is building a deck. Much like the flat roof patio, a deck will add value to your home should you ever decide to sell. In fact, decks have become so popular that the market has produced a huge variety of products built for outdoor living, from fire pits and fireplaces to outrageously comfortable seating arrangements.
Garden shed makeover
A garden shed is mostly overlooked as glorified outdoor storage for your gardening tools, but its potential is limitless; think of it as an extra spare room with a different view of the garden. Instead of keeping your tools here, move them to the garage and think about all the fun things you could do with the shed; check out whatshed.co.uk for more tips.
Make exercise easier by using it to store gym equipment without cluttering the house; working out in the garden is nicer because you have natural air conditioning and a better view. Get the privacy you’ve always wanted by turning it into a home office. If you’ve long wished for a quiet space to work or read your books, then transform that wooden hut into the office or library of your dreams. Or, you could turn it into a summer house and make it your go-to relaxation zone this summer.
This is a collaborative post.
Welcome to Birds and Lilies! I'm Lou: mother, blogger and freelance writer. This is my lifestyle blog, where I talk about motherhood, infertility and IVF, beauty, my love for food and wine, as well as my thoughts about stuff, and our real-life and travel adventures.
Contact: [email protected]
