Guest post- Wonderful Ways To Add Value To Your Home!

In today's housing market anything you can do to add value and allure to your home will help you when it comes time to sell, home improvements can be daunting and take time, effort and yes; money, but it all pays off in the long term. Improving your home should not be simply about benefiting the next occupier, it should be about improving your lifestyle while you are still inhabiting so choose home improvements that you can benefit from too and make your home everything it can be.

Home additions increase the functional space of your property so you have more room to relax and enjoy your surroundings, adding extra rooms through home extensions and investing in a conversion to space you do not use will give you a great return on investment in the future and improve the look and feel of your house in the present.

1.      Convert Current Space

Defy convention and convert your space; your attic can be so much more than a space to store old clothes and your garage need not be the place where broken bicycles and empty paint cans go to die. Adding an extra bedroom is one of the most effective ways of pushing up the price of your home when it goes to market and an attic is a beautiful blank canvas, if the structure of the attic or loft is already sound all you need to do is add to it. Invest in skylight windows to make the most of the location of the room and turn it from a dark and musty hide-away to a light, airy master suite or guest bedroom.

Have a close look at your garage, then close your eyes and let your imagination soar. Take note of the amount of space available and you might come to find it is more than the other rooms in your house (can you fit a car or 2 in your front room?) and then consider what you could really do with it. If you have no need for a ground floor bedroom you could turn the space into a sprawling home office, dining room or living room, before you know it your house will feel twice the size. Your garage is a blank canvas waiting for you to imprint your style upon it, the first step is to open it up and let the light shine in with well placed windows. Large windows and bi- fold doors bring natural light flooding into the whole of your new room so there is no dingy spaces and no one will know it is where you used to park your car.

2.     Open Space Up With A Conservatory & Bi-fold Doors

Conservatories marry your home and your garden beautifully; they give you a stunning space where you can sit and enjoy the serene tranquillity of your garden in the peace, quiet and warm they are a versatile addition that can be used for whatever you wish. You can choose a style of conservatory that compliments the style, era and ambience of your house, go classic with Victorian inspired designs or be modern and chic with a Garden Room, they can be adorned however you wish and the only decoration you need is taken care of with the beauty of your landscaping.

One of the great benefits of a conservatory is you do not require planning permission to build them and experts suggest they can add up to 15% to the value of your home! By making sure they suit the building type and making sure they have the same flooring as the rest of your property you can ensure they fit seamlessly into your home design and do not feel like bolted on space.

If you are worried a conservatory will take up too much space then bi-folding doors have the same aesthetic impact of opening up your home to your garden. Bi-fold doors are a space saving innovation that is still relatively rare in UK homes, they give your room the feel of a Mediterranean getaway where your home rolls gorgeously into your garden.

3.   Revamp Your Bathrooms

How far you choose to go with your bathrooms is entirely dependent on your budget, if you want to save money on a re-design, simply investing in modern fixtures and fittings and a lick of paint can give your bathroom a whole new look without breaking your bank. If you have a bigger budget, you can completely remodel your bathroom to bring it soaring into the 21st Century in style, potential customers would not make the change from a contemporary bathroom with all the mod cons to a throwback to the 1960's so if you want the best price possible make sure it is modernised.

If you have the space and the time, adding a second bathroom or an en-suite gives your home an extra touch of luxury and an extra injection of space.

It takes time, effort and patience to make affective adjustments to your home but when the end result is outstanding you will wish you had made them sooner. Stay ahead in the housing market and take pleasure and pride in your new and improved space.

This post was written by Emma Smith on behalf of Abbey Windows, the experts in revolutionary windows and creative, classy conservatories.