Category: Home Tips

The weather is turning outside your window, which means that you want to make the inside of the house as comfortable and as cozy as possible. You deserve to feel warm this winter and it’s much harder to do that when your house isn’t prepared. Your lounge is the one place in the house that you can kick back and relax and the best thing that you can do for it is make sure that you create the ultimate, cozy space to enjoy. There are plenty of interior designers that are able to help you with your lounge, but we’ve got amazing tips to help you to get your lounge feeling comfortable this winter.

Making the most of your lounge depends on how warm it gets right now. You might choose to go ahead and redo the entire room (click here for new windows!), or you could choose to just relay the carpets and add rugs to the mix, too. To help you in your pursuit to create the best, coziest living room, you need to think about how to make the space as inviting as possible. Here’s some tips to help!

1. Make sure that you work to keep the heat in the house. You want a cozy lounge and the fastest way to get that is to ensure that your living room is insulated well for the winter months. Start with the windows (you can replace these), and then move to the rest of the room. You want windows that fit the space, and that means that you should also have triple-glazing if you can manage it! You’ll keep the drafts at bay far more effectively this way!
2. Rethink your colors! If you want a cozy space, light and airy colors won’t give you that. Instead, you need to think about a bolder color palette and go for navy blues and emerald greens. Think of contrasting your furniture in the right colors, too, like berry shades and deep yellows for something bright. Burnt oranges are also going to help you to create a cozy space to enjoy.
3. Look at the light. You don’t have to go too big with your ceiling lights, as a cozy atmosphere starts with wall sconces and uplighters. When you dim the light a little, you can create a space with better ambience. While you’re considering the lighting in your home, don’t be surprised when you find that complementary lampshades to match the deeper colors work for you.
4. Go metallic. Deep colors like emerald and navy work so well with coppers and silver. Think Slytherin and Ravenclaw: they are sumptuous and rich colors when you mix in the metals. If you balance it out with the right accessories, you can ensure that your home is cozy this winter. Plus, who doesn’t love a Harry Potter reference in their home!?
5. Add fragrance. The winter is coming, so stick to the berry pot pourri and the scented candles that make you think of bonfires and Christmas. A big part of making the room cozy is in making it smell good. You can introduce the new season to your living room when you add fragrances that match. Go for rich scents that really warm up the space.
6. Layers really help to make the space a cozy one. A soft touch blanket on the sofa and rugs on the floors will give your lounge an instant cozy feel. You can buy so many different things to layer the flooring, and this is the best way to make sure that your lounge remains a cozy place to be. If you have exposed floorboards, you can bet that you’ll feel it when the outside temperature drops.
7. Textures. While we’re talking about adding rugs and blankets, did you know that you can layer these textures to create an added feeling of warmth? Cushions on fabric sofas along with large, oversized bean bags on the rugs can really help your lounge to feel warm. When the wind is blowing hard outside, knowing you are in the comfiest room of the home is going to be a game changer!
8. Add some plants. Your cozy room doesn’t have to be stuffy, and when you add some dark green plants and flowers in deep colors, you can add some luxury to the cozy space you’re creating! Plants help to add oxygen and richness to the room, and if you add some large flowers, you’re going to really capture that feeling of opulence.

In order to make money, you have to spend money or time, and usually both. Selling property is no different. While properties do generally have a guide price that can be raised, it’s important to think about where your investment can make the most of that added value assessment, and where you’ll get the most bang for your buck.

Furthermore, it’s important to make sure any additions you do make are well applied and inkeeping with the general theming and aesthetic of the property. For instance, a huge modernist extension applied to a rustic cottage will not help as much as you may have imagined, but renovating a barn outside into a usable space? Well, that could be worthwhile.

While the positive alterations you make and the value you gain from that affair will depend entirely on the property you started with and how well-formatted and applied the changes are, in this post, we hope to discuss three of the most common means of improving house value. This way, you can make sure your investment is properly scaled.

Spa Areas

Spa areas can really help a home stand out, much more than you may have expected at least. With a beautiful hot tub spa and relaxing area outside or within a space curated for this, like a conservatory, you can unlock the benefits of true relaxation with very little in the way of expenditure renovating the space, at least compared to installing an in-line jacuzzi tub. This can give your home a great and unique flair, offering a utility that most people don’t consider but absolutely want when they see it.

Curb Appeal

Curb appeal is the essential measure of how appealing your home looks from the outside. This can be curated to keep your home in tip-top shape, as first impressions matter and will help define the overall value your home gets. Even something as simple as keeping the grass and hedges trimmed, fixing up the garden pathway, making sure the door is painted in line with the window frames, and also ensuring that certain fixtures, like the edges of the driveway or the mailbox are in good condition will be absolutely key. You would be surprised just how much of an effect this can have, not only on the valuer, but those touring your home.

Security

It might not seem like it, but solid security implements such as a properly fenced and structurally sound gate, privacy fences, a strong front door, a confidently installed garage door with full functionality, and features like motion sensitive floodlights can actually add a lot to how protected and safe a home feels, and this is especially worthwhile if those measures integrate well into the house design without looking overbearing or as if you were protecting government secrets. Security in this manner can make a difference in your home valuation for the better, and of course, keeps you safe as you look to sell, too.

With this advice, we hope you can focus on the investments that will always raise home value.

As people have been spending so much time at home the last year due to the pandemic, certain things about our properties have been more and more noticeable—especially the things we want to improve. There are certain things you can do to your property which will give it an instant facelift, things that can make your home feel more luxurious, all while helping improve the quality and value of your property. So when the time comes, and you want to look at selling, you will get a lot more for your money on the return. This is another bonus when looking to make home improvements.

Enhance Your Patio

People have been spending more time in their own gardens and in their patios which has made us want to make them the best they can be. You can do small things like adding plants, furniture, and different designs to help make them stand out, all while feeling more homely and somewhere you can relax with a good book. Another great addition to your patio would be a patio cover. Things like this will normally require a bit of extra help, so you will want to speak to some home improvement specialists like Northwest Exteriors.

Go beyond that and turn the entire patio space into an extension of your home. Hire fence builders to make the space more private, add a personalized touch with outside decor such as fairy lights, a water feature, an outside rug or even an outdoor cinema. There are a plethora of ideas that can transform your garden and turn it into a luxurious space to spend more time in.

Add Tiled Floors In The Entrance

Carpets and wood flooring are great options for flooring, but for your hallway, as you walk into the house, a new and upcoming trend has tiled floors. You can go for a classic of plain colours or black and white, or you can mix it up a bit and go for something that stands out, like Morrocan style tiles. This can help the entrance to your home stand out and give it a great focal point. 

The Dining Room Is The Heart Of The Family

It is so easy to just grab a tray and eat your dinner in front of the TV these days. Some families rarely sit down and converse over food anymore. It is something that is missed and a great thing to have in your family routine. It gives time for the family to bond, discuss their day and create memories to last a lifetime. Coming around the table to catch up and enjoy each other’s company doesn’t have to just be for special occasions. Make your dining room more inviting, have a beautiful and spacious dining table set and an attractive centrepiece like candles or a beautiful bouquet of flowers. You can even get some top-quality artificial ones, so you don’t have to keep replacing them. 

These few little changes can make such a difference in your home and how you feel while spending time at home and creating memories. That is what life is all about the memories we make. When you are looking to sell a house, you want to show off that so that potential buyers can imagine themselves in your home, creating their own memories and spending time with their family or the future family they want in your family home. 

When it comes to selling your home or redesigning the interior to meet your ever-changing taste, you will want to look at putting time and money into the features that will boost its value and enhance its convenience. Many people turn to redesign the obvious interior features and feel that it will boost its value when in actual fact it is the small features and appliances that really make a difference. Not only do the following features enhance the property price, but they will also make it more practical and convenient for you whilst you are living there.

Heating and cooling system

All homes need to have a well-functioning heating and cooling system in order to feel comfortable and efficient. There is no good in being freezing cold or too hot in your own home, so air conditioning repair and central heating services will ensure your systems are working efficiently. Efficient heating and cooling systems will make you more comfortable, make the property appear efficient to future buyers, and increase its value. Effective systems help reduce energy bills, which is a huge bonus for you and potential future owners. 

Revamp rooms that add practicality

Splashing out on new interior design trends is a common mistake people make when using their money to revamp their homes. Whilst it makes it feel nice, it doesn’t really add any real value. Instead, you could focus on rooms that involve plumbing and features that make the home more practical, like the bathroom. Years ago, bathrooms were rooms that just needed to be utilitarian. However, nowadays people are looking for their bathrooms to be a place of luxury, somewhere to relax and unwind, in an almost spa-like home experience. Modernizing a bathroom to reflect this is a great way to add value. To achieve this, a whole new bathroom suite isn’t always necessary and you’d be surprised how different a shower can look with new hardware and new tiles. But ripping a whole suite out and starting afresh may also be beneficial, particularly if you want to change the layout of the room. Any new bathroom should still tick all the practical boxes, be easy to maintain, and have a bit of style too.

Take care of defects

Having structural defects is one of the biggest issues that can devalue your home. In fact, it can even lose you a string of buyers when it comes to selling, as it can cause prospective buyers to run for the hills. And if it doesn’t, they’ll most likely be looking to knock a wad off the price. Structural defects can be as small as just having a cracked lintel, to as damaging as subsidence. In some cases, mortgage lenders may not lend on properties with serious defects so it’s well worthwhile getting these resolved. Sorting out defects will also make your interior look and feel nicer, which is key when you are living there and want to feel happy in your home.