If your long term plan as a home owner is to eventually sell your property then, it’s a high time you started thinking of home improvement ideas that will help increase the value of your home. These ideas will often go beyond construction and may even involve just some subtle changes in your home’s exterior environment.
In this article we are going to share with you 3 simple tips on how to increase the value of your home.
1 Make the house more efficient
Today, home owners are looking for homes that will cut their cost of maintenance therefore part of the improvement you can do is the construction of amenities that help make the home more efficient and less costly to maintain. Some of these amenities can be solar heaters, underground water storage tanks, water filtration systems, and biogas systems amongst others. This will help in the reduction of utility bills thus increase the value of your home.
2 Adopt low maintenance landscaping
Any home owner who has a lawn will fully understand how expensive it is to maintain one. The time, money and energy required to keep it looking beautiful can be a lot. It’s therefore a good idea to adopt a low maintenance landscaping and this can include replacing your lawn with a flower garden that has plants that are originally from the region. These will require very low maintenance thereby bringing down costs and essentially raising the value of your home.
3 Do some tree planting on your compound
Trees not only increase curb appeal but will also have added benefits such as ensuring you have a good environment in your home and also some much needed shade. This essentially will bring some tranquility to your home and this is something home owners will be willing to pay extra for because it’s very rare to find.
These are very doable things and the beauty is the long term payout will be way higher than the investment cost.
Kitchen is considered the heart of a house. It should be appealing to the eye and somewhere you enjoy working. If you are tired of your old kitchen and want something new, make little efforts and bring in a trendy kitchen.
Fitted kitchens have their own advantages. Top of the list is it elevates the overall look of your home.
You do not need to employ a professional for kitchen fitting job. Homeowners certainly can do it themselves. It might be a time consuming and expensive job but you will find it an exciting experience.
How you design it is completely your choice, but you need to consider a few important things. Fitting a kitchen requires a lot of skills including plumbing, carpentry, tiling and electrical work. To do it perfectly, read on the following points.
Take Measurements
Before planning the whole layout, you need to take the appropriate measurement of the kitchen area. Once you have your exact measurements, plan a proper layout. Decide the places of everything in your plan. It would save you from future problems.
Decide your Items
For your convenience, make a list of types of items you will like to have in your new kitchen. There are varieties of choices like for surface you have solid wood, granite and laminate options available. Every option has its advantage and disadvantages and chooses what suits your kitchen.
To be certain about your liking, have a glance at your old kitchen. Decide whether you want integrated or freestanding appliances. Other items that you need to have done the job include:
Drill Bits
Electrical Screwdrivers
Gloves
Cabinet Accessories
Cabinets
Claw Hammer
Basin Spanner
Bolster Chisel
Safety Goggles
Saw
Silicone Sealant
Crow Bar
Doors
Drill
Pliers
Pump Pliers
PVA Wood Glue
Hammer
Handles
Kitchen Sink
Kitchen Taps
Masking Tape
Measuring Tape
Screwdriver
Slotted Screwdriver
Spanners
Spirit Level
Wire Pipe and Power Detector
Worktops
Plus, add power tools in your list. You might already have these devices at your home. If not, then buy them especially RCD (Residual Current Device) for the job.
Decide your Budget
Things can easily get out of the hand of not decided before everything. Go through the options of items like drawers, cabinets etc. available in the market.
Kitchen appliances are not cheap and determine the cost and save you from shelling out extra bucks.
Safety Comes First
Fitting a kitchen is not a risk-free job. It is a dangerous mixture of gas, electricity and water which requires to handled carefully. If drilling holes, check water pipes and electrical cables. It is better to turn off main water, gas and electricity valves before starting removing old kitchen. Use safety equipment like gloves and goggles while drilling.
When you are planning to engage in any construction project that is geared towards home or office space improvement, there are a number of factors you must first consider before bringing in a professional. This is meant to ensure that as you bring in a contractor to run the project, you have covered all your bases and you have a clear picture of the deliverables you expect from them.
In this article, we will look at the 5 things you must consider before bringing in a professional to handle your construction projects.
1 You have to do the math
What we mean by doing the math is that before you engage in any construction work aimed at making improvements to your home or office space, it must make financial sense. You don’t want to be making financial investments that will not give you any returns.
2 Set a scope for the work
One of the challenges many people face when they engage in construction work meant to make improvement on a space is that once they start, stopping becomes a problem because they keep noticing things that can be improved. It’s therefore important for you to be able to have some personal discipline by setting a scope for the job and sticking to it.
3 Have a realistic budget in place
Whether you are working on improvement of your home or office space, it’s very important for your budget to be realistic. It won’t make sense spending money on construction work, when the cost of this construction is higher than the value of the property. It’s your budget that will help guide you on whether you will be able to recoup your investment.
4 Ensure that you have an end goal
Anytime you are engaging in an improvement project whether it’s for your home or office space, you must always know what your end goal is. This is because any financial investments you make must have a return therefore any end goal you have must demonstrate how you will recoup your finances from such a project.
5 Be ready for the disruption to your life
If you bring in a contractor to do some construction work in your home or office, you must realize that for the duration of the project, you will not be able to make use of certain spaces in your office or home. This can be a very frustrating period therefore you must be prepared for such disruptions to your life.
Once you have thought really hard and done the math and it makes sense, then you can go ahead and bring in a contractor.
Today, home owners are looking for homes that will cut their cost of maintenance therefore part of the improvement you can do is the construction of amenities that help make the home more efficient and less costly to maintain. Some of these amenities can be solar heaters, underground water storage tanks, water filtration systems, and biogas systems amongst others. This will help in the reduction of utility bills thus increase the value of your home.
Any home owner who has a lawn will fully understand how expensive it is to maintain one. The time, money and energy required to keep it looking beautiful can be a lot. It’s therefore a good idea to adopt a low maintenance landscaping and this can include replacing your lawn with a flower garden that has plants that are originally from the region. These will require very low maintenance thereby bringing down costs and essentially raising the value of your home.
Trees not only increase curb appeal but will also have added benefits such as ensuring you have a good environment in your home and also some much needed shade. This essentially will bring some tranquility to your home and this is something home owners will be willing to pay extra for because it’s very rare to find.
These are very doable things and the beauty is the long term payout will be way higher than the investment cost. 
Before planning the whole layout, you need to take the appropriate measurement of the kitchen area. Once you have your exact measurements, plan a proper layout. Decide the places of everything in your plan. It would save you from future problems.
