Make 2023 The Year for Home Redesign

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Marleny Hucks
Marleny Huckshttp://MyrtleBeachSC.com
Marlene (or Marleny as she is known in Spanish) is a mentor, teacher, cross-cultural trainer, storyteller, writer, and for those who have been under her leadership or simply sat across the table from her, she is a mirror of destiny. Her love of word and image were formed early on by one of her heroes, Dr. Seuss. If you asked those who know her well, they would describe her a compassionate, funny, wise, curious, honest, real, strong, sensitive and totally human which comes out as she teaches and writes. She sees all of life, even the most mundane, through faith and believes that who we become as we live this side of the veil is what matters not the journey itself or our circumstances. Marleny Hucks has spent her life crossing bridges. She comes from a diverse background of ministry roles and contexts as well as has transitioned in and out of the business world. Having lived outside the country as well as traveled extensively she has a fascination with culture causes her to live her life within a global mosaic no matter where her feet are planted. Marlene currently lives in South Carolina with her husband David, who owns a news company but who she says is a “crime fighter”, bringing light into darkness in their systems of their city. Marleny currently works as a content management specialist covering Myrtle Beach News for MyrtleBeachSC News.

2022 is coming to a close and this means you may be turning your mind ahead to 2023. Sure, we have the Christmas period to look forward to. For most of us, this is a time of rest and relaxation. A period where we let our hair down, round up projects and spend much needed time with our family and friends. But now is also a time for reflection. We gain the opportunity to look back on the year that has passed and to determine where we’d like our lives to lead going forward. This is why it’s a peak time for resolutions. When we make new years resolutions, we take time to decide what we need to do to live happier, healthier and more wholesome existences. Of course, so many people will make themselves goals such as go to the gym more, cut out junk food or stop smoking. These are all great goals. But you may find that you are in search of a more comfortable living environment. If this is the case, why not dedicate 2023 to building a home that you truly love. This can be the year of home redesign, leaving you with a property that you feel genuinely happy with. Here are some suggestions that can help with this!

Moving House

First things first, determine whether you want to redesign your home or whether you could be better off simply moving home. Think about the things you’d change about your home if you could. Some can be achieved through renovations. If you want an additional couple of bedrooms, this could be achieve through a small extension (if you have the available land), a loft conversion or a garage conversion. However, if you want a significantly larger living space, this may be more easily achieved by simply moving into a bigger property. If you want to downsize, moving tends to be more logical too. If you want to make your home more accessible, it’s generally more simple to move into a bungalow than making major renovations and installing complex stairlifts. If the issues to do with your home are related to location (you want to live closer to work, you want to live in a catchment area for a good school, your neighbours are too difficult, there’s too much noise or similar complaints) you may find that moving is better too. Take some time to weigh up the cost, effort and general pay off of moving versus redesigning for you and your family.

Renovations


If you decide to go ahead with a home redesign, you may want to start big. This is where renovations can come into play. When you renovate your home, you change something significant in its structure. This is going to be a complex process with many steps and many different professionals involved. As you can imagine, this will also be costly. So let’s take some time to focus on the steps you’re likely to encounter along the way.

Type of Renovation

First, let’s consider the different types of renovation that you can choose from. There are endless options out there and you could even come up with renovations you’ve never seen before in your life. But for now, let’s focus on some common types.

  • Extension – extensions are, by far, one of the most commonly carried out home renovations. They extend your property, allowing you to use the extra space in whatever way you wish. This could be additional rooms, it could expand an existing room. You just need to make sure that you have sufficient space to build out onto.
  • Loft Conversion – most of us only use our loft for the storage of items that we should probably kick out through a decluttering process. Instead, you could conver this space into a room that you actually get use from. It could be a bedroom, a guest room, a play room, a home office or anything else. Either way, you should put it to much better use than it currently is. It will require a fair amount of work, but expands your property size significantly.
  • En Suite – we’re all familiar with the morning brawl for the bathroom. Everyone needs to leave at the same time so everyone wants to get ready at the same time. This means the shower can be taken up for hours at a time. We’ve also all experienced needing to use the bathroom, only to find there’s someone already in there. This is where an en suite can come into play. The en suite is a small bathroom attached to your bedroom that has facilities including a toilet and shower. It requires plumbing work to be carried off but makes a massive difference to your daily routine.
  • Garage Conversion – you may find that you don’t put your garage to good use. That you park your car out on the driveway anyway. That it’s just filled with junk. Instead, convert it into a usable space. This could be a room where you build things, craft things, host games nights and more.

Planning Permission

You may have a great idea of what you want to do, but before you get started, you need to make sure that you have planning permission to make the exact changes you’re considering. These processes are in place to protect the value of properties surrounding your home. Anything garish, offensive or otherwise problematic will likely be rejected, as councils have the responsibility of protecting general, local area property value. Continuing without planning permission can result in legal trouble and instructions to return your home to its previous state, which is a huge waste of money on your part. So, always get planning permission well in advance of actually getting started on any work.

Finding the Right Contractors

It’s absolutely essential that you do what you can to find the right contractors to carry work out once you’ve received planning permission. You want to make sure that you’re using someone who is trusted and reliable and who knows what they’re doing. You should make time to read reviews and conduct plenty of research. You may also want to check qualifications, as this will ensure that the work is legally carried out and completed to a high standard. Often, it’s best to pay a deposit to cover building materials up front and to pay the outstanding balance once the work is complete. This can ensure that the work is done, rather than contractors abandoning projects part way through working on them.

Decorating

Once you’ve carried out renovations, you’re going to need to spend some time decorating. Alternatively, if you don’t intend to renovate your home, you can decorate anyway. This will improve the look and feel of your space and breathe new life into it. There are multiple ways to decorate your home, so let’s just take a moment to focus on a few!

Walls

When people think of redecorating their home, the first area to spring to mind tends to be walls. Changing the colour of the walls in your home can make a dramatic aesthetic difference. You have two options when it comes to walls. The first is wallpaper. Wallpaper allows for patterns and designs that would be otherwise unachievable with the use of paint. If you’re looking for custom design wallpaper, you can find it here. A second option is painting. Paint gives a plain look but is available in a variety of colors. It creates a plain background for your belongings to stand out against. A third option that you may not have considered is getting the best of both worlds. You can always paint your walls and use wallpaper to create a feature wall. Take your time with painting or, even better, hire a professional painter decorator to get the job done to a good standard. They’ll leave smooth edges and a quality finish.

Floors

Another area you can focus on when sprucing up your home is the floors. There are countless different types of flooring out there that you can choose from. Think of practicality as well as aesthetic. Different types of flooring work well in different spaces. For example, carpet may be great for lounges and bedrooms, where you want to create a comfortable and cosy vibe, but they should be avoided in bathrooms or kitchens, where spills and splashes can mark them and cause an odour. For spaces that are prone to mess and liquids, you may want to consider wood, tile or laminate. Shop around and get a few samples. These can be laid down in your home for you to see how they look in the light of the space and when cast alongside your walls and other accessories.

Lighting

Different types of lighting can be installed to give your home a different look and feel, from different lampshades to whole new light fittings. Consider spotlights, dimmer lights or even options like chandeliers if you’re looking to make a statement.

As you can see, there’s a lot to take into account when it comes to redesigning your home, but there’s a whole year ahead that you can use to dive into this!

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