No matter what kind of home you live in – an apartment, a bungalow, a semi-detached, a townhouse, a detached – chances are it’s the biggest investment you’ve made in your lifetime and you want to make the absolute most of it. Not only do you want to make sure that it retains value or increases in value, but you’re going to want to make sure that it’s actually a nice place to live. After all, your home is your haven! It’s your personal space. You can make it your own. It’s where you spend time relaxing after a long day at work. It’s where you entertain your friends and family. It’s where you’re going to spend a whole lot of time.
Now, during the coronavirus crisis, the world has entered a pandemic and many of us are being encouraged to stay at home at all times, only leaving to get essentials like food or medication. So, this has given us plenty of time to reflect on our own properties. Many of us have decided that we want to undertake a little improvement.
Now could be a good time to start projects that you can carry out yourself and complete during the lockdown period. It could also be a good time to start planning any future work that you might like to see carried out. To get you off to a good start, here are a few different ideas that you might like to consider.
Spring Clean
The first step that you can take towards improving upon your home is to undertake a huge spring clean. Sure, we might keep up to date with the day to day household chores and tasks we set ourselves. We run the hoovers around. We’ll dust down bookcases and surfaces. We’ll wipe down kitchen work surfaces after doing the washing up. But every so often, you’re going to want to really deep clean your house. Here are some areas worth taking into consideration!
Cleaning Your Carpets
Now, you might think you already clean your carpets regularly. Vacuuming or hoovering is a really good way to pick up surface dirt. However, it’s good to bear in mind that some dirt can really get ground into the carpet fibers. This is why carpets can begin to look a slightly different color over time. Why not hire a professional carpet cleaning machine and run it around your floors. Generally, it will come with some kind of detergent. It will steam clean the carpets and you’ll really be able to see the difference. Just make sure to leave the carpet sufficient time to dry before walking all over it again. It could be a good idea to do a room at a time rather than all of your floors at once.
Steam Clean Your Tiles
Bathroom tiles can be wiped down. But it’s also ideal to give them a good steam clean every once in a while. This will help to remove any unwanted bacteria and leave them in pristine condition. Steam cleaners can also be used in other areas of your home by using different attachments! We’ll move onto this in our next point!
Clean Your Upholstery
Sofas, chairs and other upholstered furniture gets used on a day to day basis. It’s not all too surprising that it can build up dirt with people touching it so much! But many people don’t know how to clean it effectively. Some smaller furniture items (such as chaise lounges and smaller chairs) may have removable covers that can be placed in the washing machine, hung out to dry and replaced. But if your sofa or other items don’t have this feature, you could use a steam cleaner to really bring the dirt out of them!
Carry Out Repair Work
So many of us completely ignore repairs that our homes need carried out on them. It’s simple to simply brush off small scale issues and pretend they’re not happening. But over time, they will simply worsen and issues can become major, requiring you to call in emergency help from relevant professionals and potentially causing further damage in your property that will have to be tackled too. Instead, it’s a lot cheaper and a lot more convenient to simply have repairs carried out in the first place. Here are some of the most common.
Roofing
Our roof tends to slip our mind most of the time. As the old saying goes, out of sight, out of mind. But it is the roof over our head that quite literally provides us with shelter and any issues with your roof can quickly worsen. A small leak, for example, could become a major leak and could lead to structural and electrical damage within your property. If you do notice any problems with your roof at all, it’s a good idea to call in a professional Roofing Company who will be able to put wrongs to rights. Whether that’s nailing shingles back in properly, replacing lost or broken tiles, or anything else you may need carried out.
Leaky Taps
Again, leaky taps tend to get left for much longer than they should be. But this is bizarre. Not only will it slowly but surely drive your water bill up, but a leak can create an extremely irritating dripping noise throughout the day and night too! Now, some taps and faucets can be repaired by yourself. But if this isn’t possible, you’ll need the help of a professional plumber. They’ll generally be able to fix a leaky tap in a matter of minutes! If not, they can identify any further problems and get to the bottom of this leaky business in next to no time.
Renovations
Now, chances are you won’t be able to have any major renovations carried out on your property right now. Until all necessary stores are open and construction workers are able to safely carry out work together, things might be put on hold. But now could be a good time to plan! First, remember that most renovation work will require planning permission, so you can take some time to look into what permission may be required for your ideal plans and what the likelihood of your plans being approved will be. Here are some of the most popular renovations you might want to take into consideration!
An En Suite
Most people yearn for an en suite. This is basically the addition of a small bathroom to a bedroom within your home. It can prevent those early morning queues for showers before work and school. It can also give you a little more privacy. Plus, they’re a great add-on for guest rooms if you have people over to stay! Sure, it’ll take a fair amount of work, as plumbing will have to be rerouted. But all in all, most people deem this renovation worth the investment!
Loft Conversions
If you’d like an extra room in your property, but aren’t willing to move for it, a loft conversion could be ideal. You don’t require any extra space around your property. Instead, it just uses space you already have and turns it into a functional room. It could serve as an extra bedroom, a spare room, a games room, a snug, or anything else you could benefit from!
An Extension
If you want even more space and do happen to have a little room around your property, extensions could be a good option for you too! An extension simply makes your property bigger. Adding extra rooms to the ground floor, or even adding extra rooms to the top floor and ground floor.
A Garage
If you have a car, you could do with a garage. It creates a safe space to leave your vehicle overnight and it can bring your insurance premium down, saving you money in the long run. Even if you don’t have your own vehicle, a garage can still come in handy for easily accessible storage space and somewhere for visiting guests to park. This is also a great addition for the resale value of the property if you ever do decide to sell up and move.
Redecoration
While redecoration isn’t technically a renovation, it can seriously alter the look of your home. Whether that’s a fresh coat of paint in the same colours as you have now (simply freshening everything up a bit) or a complete overhaul of your property’s color scheme and style, it can really improve your home and make all the difference!
Sure, this may be a whole lot to take into consideration. But these are just a few different ways that you can significantly improve upon your property. Whether you undertake any of these steps now, or wait until the future, this is a great way to spend your time and to help make the best of your home.
Kori
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