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Tips For Renovating Your Home to Be a Better Living Space

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Renovating your home is by no means light work whether you are doing it yourself or you have help. Here are some tips for before, during, and after you renovate your home!

Tips For Renovating Your Home to Be a Better Living Space

Image by Stacy Jenson via Flickr

Why Renovate?

There are many reasons to renovate your home:

  • Repair old or damaged elements
  • Update outdated decor and design
  • Improve the functionality of your living space
  • Add aesthetic and/or financial value

There are many reasons we feel compelled to renovate, but the opportunity is sometimes elusive. Renovations can require a fair amount of time, and more importantly, a steep investment. That’s why recent events have led to a surge in home renovation.

In 2022. home improvement sales are expected to increase to $465 billion up from $394 billion in 2018.  With home values on the rise, the increased equity is helping homeowners afford to invest in more home projects.

So now that we know all of the reasons why it is equitable to renovate one’s home, let’s look at some tips and advice –things to do for busy moms like you before, during, and after a home renovation to ensure that it is a wisely executed investment.

Before

Before undertaking any home renovations, it is absolutely imperative that you consider making friends with someone who is in the business of drafting services. They will help you avoid many of the pitfalls people fall into when considering a home renovation.

The US has some of the world’s most talented architecture professionals in the world all over so you’re quite fortunate to have one within driving distance.

Another key thing to do before a home renovation is to live in the house for a little while prior to jumping in to your renovation plans. The reason for this is simple; after living in a space, you will have a much greater understanding of the trials and tribulations that go with it.

Before moving in it with your family, you may be focusing your hard earned money on problems that don’t exist. By living in your home for a few weeks to months before taking on a new renovation, you can better sculpt what a “day in the life of” living in your home is going to be like after renovation.

The time will also allow you to let your finances settle a little bit, especially if you just bought said home!

Thinking like an Investor

There are a number of “gee whiz, that’s nice” renovations one can ask for, and then there’s those key renovations that will trump up the value of your asset; let’s focus on the latter.

Something as simple as a fresh coat of paint can give your home a quick facelift. Redesigning a cramped kitchen can make your daily life immensely more enjoyable.

But choosing where to put your time and money shouldn’t be based on emotion alone. Instead, you should try to get a good ROI out of your investment so that the large chunk of change you’re putting into the effort can do double duty — pay for itself AND make you happier in your home.

Home renovations that will deliver the most bang for your buck include:

  • New siding
  • Kitchen remodelling
  • Bathroom remodelling
  • New windows
  • Decking
  • Add additional living space
  • Energy conservation apparatus

Some home improvement projects that won’t yield a good financial return are:

  • Removing living space by converting a room into something you like
  • Adding a swimming pool
  • Laying down new carpet
  • Installing ornate lighting
  • Redesigning a garage

Of course, it’s your home! So if you really want to do one of the things on the list above, go ahead. We had a swimming pool built in our backyard and I haven’t regretted it once thanks to all the fun we’ve had in it.

After

After you have renovated your home, it is time to get it appraised. Home appraisers do not simply just add the value of your renovation to the value of the home.

It isn’t what you paid that makes any difference; it’s what could be paid. For instance you paid $40k to redo your bathroom when a bathroom of its dimension could have been done easily for $25k –your renovation will only be worth the $25k.

 

 

3 thoughts on “Tips For Renovating Your Home to Be a Better Living Space”

  1. My family just recently transferred to our new home and there are areas that definitely need to be renovated. Me and my husband have been talking about renovating these areas. Coming across your site, we have realized that it is indeed a very good idea to live in the house for a little while more. This is an especially handy tip for moms like me because we have very young kids around the house and it would be great to know which areas need to be adjusted not just for us but for our children as well.

    Reply
  2. Having just completed a kitchen renovation, I agree that it’s important to realize that the cost of your renovation is not simply added to the value of your house. You should always consider that before starting a home reno.

    Reply
  3. These are really great tips. I think the tip about living in your home for a while before renovating is so great. I can think about my daily pattern now and would make a better choice for changing things around.

    Reply

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