Home renovations are very important. They give us a way to improve our existing decor and functions, and they allow us to refresh our homes to make them feel new again. After all, living in the same house for an extended period of time (we’re talking decades) can get incredibly dull and predictable, and we all crave a little change now and then no matter how stubborn we can be at times.
However, while most people think about rearranging furniture and installing fancy new devices for the sake of comfort (or to show off to their friends) the rest of us are improving our homes and making renovations in areas that provide a lot more than just style. So if you’re prepared to make some much-needed home improvements that will pay off for a long time to come, here are a couple of ideas.
Your Laundry Room
So not everyone has one of these, but for those of us that do, it’s extremely underutilized outside of being a laundry room. Yes, it kind of serves its purpose and we don’t need to renovate it very often or at all, but you’d be surprised at the things you can add or change in a laundry room to make it more attractive.
First of all, the laundry room is typically a small room without a lot of storage space. You could renovate the room by adding shelves, cupboards and in-wall storage to store things such as laundry supplies or fresh linen. You could also utilize extra space by adding a sewing station. It doesn’t need to be a large area, just a simple sewing machine to repair your damaged clothes as you’re sorting them.
If you have pets, then you could consider something like a dog washing bath because laundry rooms are typically located on the edge of a house with a door leading to the backyard. If you have back problems, then raising the washer and dryer can be beneficial because it’s easier to take clothes out and put them in, as opposed to kneeling down on the floor. If you want to be even more practical, you could install a pull-out ironing board that extends from the inside of a cupboard or drawer.
Your Basement
The basement has long been a room that people ignore. They leave it as a damp and dark area for storage or to lock away their darkest secrets. It can be filled with mice or other pests, mould, or quite literally be falling apart due to neglect. Instead of using your basement as a dumping ground, why not renovate it and make it an extension of your home instead?
There are hundreds of renovation ideas you could apply to your basement. For starters, you could simply turn it into a couple of extra rooms in the style of your home. Paint the walls the same co lour, use the same flooring, and add a couple of lights so that it feels like another part of your house and not a neglected afterthought. You could then turn the room into anything you want.
A relaxing chill-out lounge, an extra bedroom, or perhaps a hobby room. It’s important to remember that your basement technically is just another room in the house and you could turn it into anything you want. As long as you put in the work (or hire some contractors) you could turn the basement from a dump into a dream.
Check out these basement renovation ideas if you want a bit more assistance is choosing something suitable for your home. Of course, not everyone’s basement will be suitable for renovations and it might require a bit more work than just cleaning up the walls and the floor. In many cases, you might need to move around pipes or cover them up with some smart planning.
If you’re lucky, you might even be able to extend your basement assuming you’re allowed to. This can open up even more opportunity for extensions, and it will add a lot of value to your house should you sell it in the future.
Your Bedroom
The bedroom? You might be thinking that a lot of us do renovate our bedrooms and you’d be correct. However, they’re usually focused on style instead of function, and that’s where most of us get our renovations wrong. Sure, style is important and making a fantastic looking house is one of the biggest reasons for renovating in the first place, but we can’t forget the importance of a good night’s rest and improving the home to improve our lives.
Getting a good night’s rest is incredibly important. We sleep for roughly a third of our lives, meaning we should be investing a lot of money into our comfort when sleeping. For instance, you could invest in a Plumeria Bay down comforter if you want to feel warm and cozy during colder nights in bed. You’ll want several pillows that serve all kinds of purposes, some to hold onto and cuddle, some to support your neck, and so on. Next, you’ll also want to focus on your mattress. The are many different kinds and they all serve different purposes just like your pillows.
Some mattresses use springs, some are made from foam, and others can even be filled with water. Choosing a mattress is tough work because the comfort you get is subjective. What fits you might not fit your friend, so don’t listen to mattress recommendations online or from people you know. Instead, visit a store and test out the beds yourself. You might find that an expensive memory foam mattress doesn’t suit the way you sleep, or you could realize that a cheap spring mattress gives you the desired support and comfort you need. When you visit a store, take off your shoes and try out each mattress they have on display and make sure to ask plenty of questions to the sales rep.
Your Garage
Much like your basement, your garage can eventually be demoted to a storage dump because you have far too many possessions. If that’s the case, then you should first try to declutter your home. If you don’t break your hoarding habits, then it’s likely you’ll turn your newly renovated rooms back into storage dumps like you used to. Even if you use your garage the intended way (meaning you keep your car inside of it) there are still ways to use your garage for organised storage or even extra function.
For instance, if you don’t have a laundry room in your house then you could transform a section of the garage you don’t use into a storage area. If your garage is fairly tall, then you could build a loft-like extension that can be used for sleeping, study or just additional storage space.
Just like with your basement, you should consider your garage as an extension of your home and you should treat it like so. Give it a nice coat of paint, install some furniture and appliances if you don’t use it for your car, and consider what purpose it could serve. Maybe you could turn it into a movie viewing area with a projector and a large screen, or perhaps it can be converted into a secondary kitchen for when you have garden parties.
Garages are usually quite large and spacious, so don’t waste all of it by just storing your car in half of it and leaving the other half unoccupied or as a dumping ground. Garages are also common candidates for extensions, a great option if you have several cars or if you have additional space that you want to make use of.
