The seven ways to add value to your home on the cheap – and one is totally free
IF you’re lucky enough to own your own home, you might be thinking about what you can do to boost its value without having to spend a fortune.
While there are big, obvious renovation projects to consider – like adding an extension and converting the loft – that can add thousands to a property’s price, many of us simply can’t afford it.
However, whether you’re considering moving or are simply looking to make home improvements, there are plenty of affordable, easy ways to add significant worth to your home.
Celebrity Home Organisers The Style Sisters Gemma Lilly and Charlotte Reddington have teamed up with Airtasker, a local services marketplace to help improve people’s homes as they struggle to move due to rising property prices.
Here, they share their cost-effective DIY tips to improve your home, and add hundreds – if not thousands – to its value in the process…
Focus on features
One of our favourite and most cost-effective techniques is painting a feature wall.
Painting walls is one of the simplest ways to transform a room’s look, feel and mood and make it appear completely different.
By painting or wallpapering one wall of a room in a different colour or pattern to surrounding walls, you add interest to a space and create a focal point by drawing the eye to one area of the room.
It can also help to accentuate the height of a room.
Look around the areas in your home that look a little bland, like awkward corners that can’t be decorated with accessories, or natural features that stand out.
Some of our favourite rooms for feature walls are the dining room – a deeper, darker-coloured feature wall can create a more formal feel, whereas a brighter colour can make for a more family- friendly space.
We also love feature walls in the living room, behind your TV or fireplace, to create a cosy atmosphere.
If you are short on space, you can create a feature wall with modular shelving to increase storage capacity.
Create the illusion of space
When you have lived in a house for a while, decluttering and creating storage space are vital to feeling like you have more space.
Many of us only declutter once a year, and usually after Christmas as a new year resolution, but there are always so many things that
take up space in your house that are never used, making it feel messier and more confined.
People often feel overwhelmed when decluttering, but you can start with allocating just thirty minutes every day and build from there.
It is a lot easier to declutter once you have started!
Set a timer on your phone and put it down to keep distractions away and be realistic about the items you actually use.
Once you have decluttered, utilise above and below uses for spaces
such as above wardrobes and under beds, and use storage chests or ottomans to store items whilst adding to the room’s aesthetics.
Ambient lighting
Lighting is one of the best and arguably simplest ways to create a beautifully warm and welcoming atmosphere in a room.
We swear by lighting as it can completely change the tone or mood of a room.
New lighting can quickly and easily open smaller spaces, by installing spotlights which are perfectly positioned to beam upwards, and outwards can create the illusion of a larger space.
Lamps can create a cosy warm ambience in snugs or living rooms.
Changing lampshades is a fantastic and low-cost way to easily change the mood and look of a room.
You can choose new lamp shades to add texture to a space or patterned fabric to add interest and colour.
Don’t forget the garden
Gardening and landscaping can create a fresh new space.
Gardens are one of the focal points of a house, and whether it is a small garden, a sloping garden, or an open garden there are tricks to improve your space.
You can use narrow, low-planted beds to define seating or
dining areas and separate the space.
If you have an uneven or sloping garden, decking is an ideal and cost-effective option for levelling it.
Decking can also have split levels and include steps, making it the perfect space for dining areas.
A trellis with climber plants is ideal for creating privacy in a garden.
We recommend choosing vigorous climbing species such as honeysuckle, jasmine, and clematis.
The lovely scent these plants will bring to your garden is another bonus!
Flooring
Floors can be changed quickly and easily; new flooring can completely alter your house without buying new furniture or accessories.
Floors typically receive a lot of wear and tear in a home, making rooms look older and dirtier.
You can freshen your house with new flooring.
By simply adding carpets, you instantly create a cosy, warm feeling to the room.
Wooden flooring is attractive and adds warmth to spaces.
If you do not want to change the entire floor, you can easily transform floorboards using a lick of paint to give an old floor a new look, embracing the Shaker style.
Create a good first impression
Front doors are the first area of the home you see, and sets the interior’s tone.
Paint the outside and front doors of your house to immediately improve the visual appeal of your home.
Painting the exterior of your home is one of the quickest and most
impactful ways to freshen up a tired or dated property.
Whether you’re applying the same colour or opting for a more drastic change of style with a new colour, a new coat of paint will
give your property an immediate lift.
When picking the new colour for the door, choose a colour that complements the colour of the window frames on the property, the outside furniture, and the colour of the garden and flowers around it.
We suggest that once you have picked the colour, you can make your door stand out with a glossy finish giving you a real boost for a minimal spend.
You can always make a small improvement – even if it’s just getting new door numbers to replace old and outdated ones.
Shabby to chic
Make your windows stand out with fabulous new curtains and blinds – we want to give those nosy neighbours a feast for their eyes!
Mismatched, grubby old curtains can make a house look tired and shabby.
Purchasing new, matching curtains and blinds in every room is
one of the safest and most effective ways to achieve a clean look on the outside and tie the spaces together inside.
You can now request The Style Sisters help on Airtasker for a limited amount of time this July to improve your home, online or via the Airtasker app.