The Top Ten Home Improvement Projects to Tackle in 2021
What could you do to improve your home in 2021?
After spending a lot of time at home over the past 18 months, people are thinking about home renovations more than ever. With the ‘improve, don’t move’ trend in full swing, homeowners and renters alike want to add value and style to their living spaces, creating their ideal retreat from the outside world.
Whether you’re hoping to add function, value, or aesthetically pleasing design, these home improvement projects can help you create a space that ticks all your boxes.
No matter what your budget, here are ten of the most popular home improvement ideas for 2021.
1. Install Bi-Fold Doors
If you’re wondering why bi-fold doors are such a popular home improvement idea, just take a look at them – they’re gorgeous. The glass doors open up and fold like a concertina, tucking neatly against the external wall. The result is a massive doorway into your back garden, allowing light, sun, and a gentle breeze to waft inside.
2. Add Fly Screens for Doors and Fly Screens for Windows
The great British summer is a wonderful time of year, when everyone wants to fling open their doors and windows. However, certain unwelcome guests like to make their way inside – flies, mosquitoes, and bees. Fly screens for doors and windows keep pesky flying insects outside where they belong. Learn more about screens for insect control here.
3. Build a Conservatory
Conservatories (or orangeries, if you want to be especially posh) are always a welcome addition to any home. They cost a lot less than a brick-and-mortar extension but still provide useful additional square footage. Use your glass structure as suntrap in the summer months and as a cosy winter hideaway as you watch the rain pelt down. Conservatories are perfect for entertaining, and make an excellent alternative to a typical dining room.
4. Add a New Coat of Paint
This one might seem like a no-brainer, but a simple coat of paint can make all the difference in the world to tired old interiors. You can freshen things up with a clean coat of white paint, or go bold with dark walls in your lounge or bedroom. For the best of both worlds, opt for a statement wall. Simply choose one wall in an otherwise white room and paint it the boldest, brightest colour you can imagine.
5. Install Outdoor Decking
We haven’t forgotten about your exterior space! Your garden is like your outdoor lounge, allowing you to soak up the sun, plant food and flowers, and commune with your own little plot of nature. Outdoor decking is an easy way to add an aesthetically pleasing feature to any exterior space, available in a variety of stains, colours, and materials.
6. Convert Your Attic or Loft
If you’re looking to spend a little bit more cash on your home improvement project, you simply can’t go wrong with an attic or loft conversion. By building up into this unused space, you can add hundreds of square feet to your home. What will you do with your new room (or even rooms)? Will it be a games room, a new bedroom, an office, or a home cinema? The sky is (literally) the limit.
7. Upgrade Your Kitchen
Throughout most of 2020, it was cook, eat, clean, repeat… it’s no wonder so many of us want to upgrade our kitchens! You can spend as little as a few hundred pounds painting your cabinets and laying down new laminate floors, or you can really splash out with new cabinetry, appliances, a kitchen island, and even an extension.
8. Knock Down the Walls for Open-Plan Living
Open-plan living is more popular than ever before, as people want to entertain, cook, and dine in one large space. However, most British homes were designed with the lounge, kitchen, and diner as separate rooms. Start knocking on walls to find out which are load-bearing – it’s time to take them down and create the open-plan kitchen/diner/lounge of your dreams.
9. Create a Spa Bathroom
Do you miss staying in hotels? If you’ve been craving a holiday away, why not bring the luxury and relaxation of a spa to your home? Renovating a bathroom can cost less than you might think, with three-piece bathroom sets starting under £700. Opt for quality fixtures and a clean coat of paint, and crisp new tiles and grouting. A rainforest showerhead, candles, and dimming lights all add to the spa atmosphere.
10. Create a Utility Room
Do you have any unused space in your kitchen, an old outdoor toilet, or a downstairs bathroom that doesn’t get much use? If so, consider converting it into a catch-all utility room, perfect for chores and household tasks. Add a functional large sink, your washer and tumble dryer, and your cleaning products for an extremely useful room. You’ll wonder what you did without it!
