Guest post by Steph King
Money invested in your home tends to be money wisely spent. Renovations will not only improve your quality of life and that of your co-habitants; they’ll also add to the value of the property, and thereby pay for themselves in the long-term. In some cases, they’ll also lower your energy expenditure, which ultimately provides the same advantage.
In many cases, you can improve your home without spending a lot of money. You don’t even need to bring in a professional. However, there are some larger jobs where getting a specialist in will end up cheaper in the long-term. These tend to include anything that involves plastering and electricity.
Let’s take a look at a few choice upgrades that might make the difference in your home.
1. Loft Insulation
You can pick up insulating materials relatively cheap, and, with modern gas prices being as they are, the investment tends to be worth it.
For a few hundred pounds you can get the job done professionally – or you can do it yourself for far less. Just make sure that you don’t compress the insulation if you’re going to be boarding over the top of it.
The benefits of loft insulation include increased energy efficiency which leads to lower heating bills. By minimising the heat escaping through the roof you’ll end up spending considerably less on heating the house up.
It can also help with noise reduction, once it’s properly insulated you’ll notice a lot less noise pollution, especially on the top floor.
2. Remote controlled lights
This is a quality-of-life improvement that will help you to dial in exactly the required lighting for every room in your home, at every given time of the day. Yes, remote-controlled lights are also great for creating flashy light-shows. But adjustable brightness and hue tends to be much more useful on a day-to-day basis.
They can also help from a safety aspect, if you have your lights on a timer then it can help your home to look like there is someone in even when there isn’t. This can help to prevent someone from breaking in.
You can even go one step further and install little curtain robots that will open and close your curtains on command.
3. Bigger Sink
When you can wash several pans in the same sink, you’ll wonder how you ever got by any other way. Big pans tend to crowd a dishwasher quickly, making for less energy-efficiency in the long-term. You’ll wonder how you coped without a big sink.
Having a bigger sink, or even two sinks can help massively when you’re cooking and cleaning. There are also sinks with a smaller sink in the middle, this can be very helpful with washing fruits and vegetables when you’ve already filled the sink with washing up.
4. Soft-closing cabinets
If you’re struggling with slamming kitchen cabinets, then the addition of soft-closing mechanisms will allow you to do away with the sound forever. This is a quick change that can be performed by yourself and can also help to upgrade the feel of your kitchen along with make your kitchen cupboards last a lot longer because they’re not being slammed around.
5. Stainless Steel Taps
If you’re looking for an upgrade for your bathroom, then swapping out chrome for steel tends to work out wonderfully. They’re much easier to clean, and you won’t have to worry about water spots sticking around.
Upgrading your taps can improve the overall feel of your bathroom, especially if your current ones are getting a bit old and warn, and maybe even leaky. This can also help you to save money on your water bill, getting some newer more efficient taps can make a massive difference.
6. Security System
Cameras, alarms and motion sensors have never been more affordable, or accessible. There’s no need for cables, and, thanks to wireless technology, you can check in on how your property is doing from anywhere in the world.
