Here is what our clients are telling us about what home renovations are paying off for them.
Some decisions you make now will impact what renovations you will take this year and into the next.
Coming out of a pleasant, albeit short summer, August and September were busy months with planning and decision making for our clients. Whether new home owners, or long-time residents a picture of the projects that our clients find most worthwhile have emerged to create these 6 Golden Rules of Home Renovation:
- Make better use of the space you have
- Use the basement as added living space
- Take measures to increase insulation and energy efficiency
- Focus on preservation and restoration
- Renovate and upgrade existing kitchens
- Look at universal design for your home
Long term planning is a good thing, and most times clients come to us with a project that they do not want to rush. If they are spending a considerable amount of money, they want it planned and designed thoughtfully. We encourage that mindset. Planning – looking at several ideas and taking the time to get the best options – far outweighs the benefits of getting it done quickly.
Make better use of the space you have
Open Plan design comes first to mind, when space is tight. Removing walls between kitchen, dining and living room increases the functionality of all spaces. Moving a door can sometimes do wonders for a room, it can facilitate better storage, a more pleasing entry and hall way arrangement and improve on the flow and Feng Shui of your home. If you renovate your bathroom (s) think of breaking up spaces and functions with pocket doors, so more than one person can make use of the facility at the same time.
Use the basement as added living space
Basement renovations are an excellent way to gain more space without adding on. Sometimes an addition is out of the question because of zoning and a renovation of existing space is the only option. A basement renovation will increase usable square footage of your house but be gentler on your real estate tax assessment. If you plan to stay in your house through and past the ballooning of your family, which is increasingly becoming the new norm again, a finished basement can be an excellent investment. As a play space or a distant office, during the baby and teen years, we often call the renovated basement the overflow space or the All Room.
A basement renovation is not without its cost, though – especially if you need to increase the height of the ceilings, put in additional windows and replace a staircase to make it livable space, but a renovation can be as restrained or elaborate as you wish it to be. You can do the basics and simply get rid of unwanted electrical wires and plumbing, put in more lights, clean up the concrete floor and add area rugs and paint the ceiling as is to maintain the charm of the rough exposed ceiling beams. Or you can opt for a full-fledged renovation with new finished floors walls and ceilings, a wine cellar, a gym, a full or half bath and a bar or a kitchen. In all cases insulation is a must, and we will go into more detail on that subject in a future e-zine.
Over the last year we have completed basement renovations of both extremes, and we are in the process of yet another. On our face book page, you can see the progression of our projects this fall.
Take measures to increase insulation and energy efficiency
Uninsulated attics and crawl spaces are notorious energy wasters. We recommend insulating with spray foam wherever possible (but not in historic buildings). If you have a forced air heating system and one compressor is in the attic your installer probably didn’t tell you or didn’t know hard that unit has to work all year round to accommodate heat or cool. By insulating with foam your attic becomes part of the conditioned s pace, and your crawlspace is excluded from it.
Focus on preservation and restoration
There is much talk about the return-on-investment value of replacing windows. With historic homes there is the added issue of retaining the historic character of the house, and replacing windows can be extremely costly, if they done right. Energy statistics show that with proper repairs, out-fitting single paned windows with insulation strips, and adding a storm window, original windows can be as energy efficient or better than new, if those new are of poor quality or are installed incorrectly. Historic window restorers can be found by contacting your local chapter of the National trust of Historic Preservation or your Local government office overseeing Historical Preservation, usually a department of the Parks Services.
Renovate and upgrade existing kitchens
A kitchen renovation is most likely one of the biggest remodels after additions, so careful planning and assessment of what you are replacing and what you are replacing it with is important. From re-facing existing cabinets, to replacing cabinets in the same configuration to a complete overhaul – there is no one correct answer. It all depends on what your end goal is. If you have to recap for a quick sale – re-facing or painting might be all you have to do plus new fixtures. If you are planning for a growing family, thinking outside the box is imperative, and you might want to completely change the lay-out, move walls, focus on many Function Centers ™, upgrade to better appliances etc. If you are renovating to make room for an elderly parent or for yourself into your retirement, Universal Design Principles have to be part of the design. But remember, if this is for you to live and work in, whatever you do, think of your needs first – not re-sale value. Kitchen trends age quickly and taste varies. You cannot predict what a future buyer might like, but you should know what make you tick.
Look at universal design for your home
As a Certified Universal Design Professional, I recommend that every renovation, large or small, take into account the principles of Universal Design. I recommend that designs are implemented with adaptable features, wherever possible. That hallways and door openings are accessible for everyone. That you incorporate varying heights for work spaces. That appliances, fixtures, door handles, outlets and switches are ergonomically easy to use and placed in a way so that both big and small and mobility impaired people can use them. You should always consider elements in design that facilitate ease of living for all generations and persons of varied ability. And with a good design execution, you will have a stamp on your renovation that looks new, innovative – and livable.
When you’re looking to add value to your home and wondering what is happening in the industry, these rules can help guide you.
It’s good to know that I should take the time to focus on insulation and energy efficiency while renovating. I would have never thought to do that on my own. Instead, I tend to get caught up in the visible renovations, like kitchen or bathroom remodeling. However, it would definitely be nice to save some money each month with reduced energy bills!
No time like the present!
I think it’s so great you mentioned taking measures to increase insulation and energy efficiency. Recently there has been a turn in the culture to become more ‘green’. A lot of these older homes are bad at energy efficiency. I live in a home from the 80’s. I need to do some renovations soon.
It’s a great opportunity to keep what works but make it better!
We tend to put off the things that are not broken- our lives are so full that unless it is an emergency, we live with it. But if you do the math you may realize how much could be saved over time – and what else you could do with that money. it could be a huge savings or just a trickle. And when you think of other cost and expenses in the future such as college and – God forbid – retirement- it suddenly rings with more urgency.
If all of the potential new designated sites were built on, the borough would have 2,200 new homes and lose between 0.8-0.9 per cent of its green belt. In total, 845 of the potential new homes would be on green-belt land. Consultation documents reveal a proposal to take land at Sandcross Lane, in South Park, out of the green belt and earmark it for 260 new homes, shops and a health facility.
Thank you for this great article 🙂
Hello,
I’ve been working on Home remodeling in Darien CT my clients are always asking us to work on their basements. They frequently wanted to transform them into a place to spend their spare times, for example, dancing room, arts atelier or a family room. Congrats for this post, it is a good piece of advice for people to add value to their homes.
The basement in my house isn’t quite finished and could definitely use some remodeling. I like how you suggest that when remodeling, you should use the basement as added living space. Since I’ve never done a project that big before in my house, hiring a professional or a contractor who has experience will make sure the finished project will add value to our home.
When it comes to home renovation, I would assume that you would want it to be better than before. I really like the suggestions to make better use of the space you have. In my old house we used to have this HUGE island in the kitchen that took up all the walking space. If I could have redone it, I would have made it smaller. I also think hiring a home renovation service is a great idea!
I have been looking into doing some renovations on my home for a few months now. It is a pretty daunting task, I am not sure what I need to know. I really like the idea of using adaptable features on your renovation, to stick to the universal design principles, like you mentioned.
Making my house more energy efficient was my first thought when I decided to do some remodeling. I like saving on my energy bills. However, I think another golden rule for remodeling should be a focus on cleanliness. It is amazing how much debris gets carted out to the skip bin during the remodel. It is even more amazing how much dust there is. Plastic dividers and a good vacuum will be your best friend during the process.
I’m selling my house and thinking of renovating some part of it to increase its value. Thank you for giving me some idea.
Home renovation is a vast process that we perform under the guidance of experts. So that we can easily skip errors, whenever we are getting bored with our old traditional design and decoration in our home, then we definitely need some kind of changes in our home through renovation or remodeling. But before we start renovation process, we should follow some of the essential ingredients from this article which is quite helpful for us.
Preservation and restoration are important keys indeed. As long as these are still practical resorts when the costs are weighed. Thank you for this valuable enumeration of important rules.
My husband and I are wanting to mix things up in our home, and we need some ideas on how to do the renovations. I like how you pointed we need to focus on the preservation and restoration. That way we will be able to keep the historic value of the house, just add some modern touches to it.
I’m glad that you mentioned that an option is to renovate the basement, and that it can increase usable square footage. Personally, I think that there’s a lot of benefits from using a basement to it’s fullest. It can be so much more than just storage space. Growing up, I actually lived in the basement of some relative’s house. It was like a mini house for us while we were looking for a new place. Having that basement space was blessing for us at the time.
Thanks for your comment on basement renovations and how it adds more space. My basement is pretty old and it needs to be updated. I’ll be looking into home renovation for our basement to store some family items away.
Wow! I am very impressed with your blog post. This will definitely help many people who will go to renovate their homes. This post includes many important tips about how to make useless basement into useful, how to use space in a better way. I am in love with your blog post.
Some good tips in this article, good work!
Really cool idea especially on the basement part. My basement is in bad shape because of the storm and my only hope is to renovate that and follow your advice! Thanks
Thanks for the renovation tips. We are hoping to renovate our bathroom this year, so this is great. I’ll remember what you said about making the room as energy efficient as we can!
I appreciate your advice about knowing what to restore and about how to best accomplish that. My father-in-law is trying to restore an old family property and it has a lot of things that he’s been wondering if he should just replace or try to restore. I will be sure to let him know about who he can contact to get better advice. Thank you for your help.
I like how you said that careful planning and analyzing is important when doing any kind of home remodeling. Taking your time to really make a good decision on whether or not you need something or want to change something would probably help you avoid wasting money. My wife and I will have to be sure to do this when we remodel our kitchen this summer.
I like that tip to make better use of your space. Even a small space can feel large! I’m getting ready to sell my home, so I want to rearrange some of the walls in my home.
My wife and I want to remodel our bathroom this summer, so thanks for these tips. All the tips are great. I like your point about Make better use of the space. We’ll be sure to look for this.
I’m grateful for your advice that basement renovations are essential in gaining more space without having the need for an extension or expansion. You just gave me the idea that instead of adding, renovating our basement is the best option. I guess I’ll move the mini-library there and convert the old library into a new room.
Decent article. I love the way you mentioned the tips of the basement renovation. All the rules for windows installation & replacement are very useful. Thanks for sharing.
I like the first and foremost rule of renovation as we have to make better use of space we have. I was actually planning to redesign my basement into a gym, its a good source of investment. Thanks for sharing such a great article 🙂
Very informative article indeed. Thank you for sharing this knowledge. It helped me a lot to understand the different rules of Home Renovation. A renovation is a great way to increase the quality, the space, and the value of the home. I recently came across an article where they shared some tips for planning a home extension. Maybe you would like to add something from here-
http://projectreno.com.au/top-tips-for-planning-a-home-extension-in-adelaide/
My wife and I have been thinking about bringing in home renovation services to work on our house. The faucets feel out of date and we want to open the room up. I never knew that kitchen trends change very quickly.
I feel that with a lot of people, they use their basement for storage and nothing else. To me, I think that is a bit of a waste as you can use those rooms for living areas. You are right that a renovation isn’t without its cost as you do need to take that into consideration when planning a renovation.
Renovating your home is often a difficult phase. Make your renovation a successful one with these golden rules. Keep up the great work! Thank you so much for sharing a great posts.
Thank you for pointing out that you should have a good idea of your plan when it comes to remodeling the kitchen, such as are your remodeling in the same layout or are you changing the layout of the kitchen. Yesterday, I was talking to my cousin, and she mentioned that she wants to completely redo her whole kitchen and dining room. She wants to create a more open layout. I hope that she looks for good services to help her!
Thanks! actually I wanted to know. Home renovation is a vast process that we perform under the guidance of experts. and this article has helped me in understanding this. Keep Writing!
Thank yo sufro your kind remarks