Keeping the tool trade local
With a surprisingly warm December now out of the way, it seems winter is well and truly beginning to kick in with temperatures starting to drop and the dreaded mentions of potential snow resurfacing. If you’re anything like us, this time of year often sees all of the home and garden projects get pushed to the back of the ‘to do’ list and relaxing indoors with a bit of Super Sunday getting moved firmly to the top!
A drop in temperature however does actually present the perfect opportunity to get underway with some home improvement projects – ones that won’t only keep your home warmer, but also save you money on your utility bills, potentially prevent larger, more expensive issues from developing, as well as helping increase your property value. We’ve listed a few of the best winter projects to get stuck into below, and we’d love to hear if there’s anymore you’d like to add to the list too, so make sure you let us know if you have any firm favourites of your own so we can share them!
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Add insulation
If you want to bring your utility bill costs down, one excellent way to do this is to add insulation to the loft. If you can see the floor joists – then you should consider adding some blanket loft insulation (ideally 270mm) to help reduce the amount of heat that rises into your loft space. If you keep photographs in your loft however, make sure you also add some insulation to sloping roofs, which will keep more heat in as well as prevent any precious items from perishing.
Redo your floors
If the carpet is looking a bit worn then winter is the perfect time to relay a new one – helping to increase both the comfort and look of your home. It’s also another opportunity to further insulate your home and save money on your heating bills, so remember to make sure a thick layer of insulating underlay is added under the carpet. You may also wish to add some MDF sheets for insulation too - remember, the more insulated your home is the more you'll save on bills!
Don’t neglect the doors
Doors are often overlooked when people are looking for quick home improvements – and you don’t even have to necessarily change the door to achieve great results! Most of the time a new lick of paint and replacing the door handles and hinges is enough to spruce up tired doors, which also helps to keep costs down. If you have very simple doors, you can introduce your own creative touch by adding some simple panelling – which will create a more traditional upmarket feel, or alternatively create a lime washed paint effect to give the doors shabby chic character.
Paint the walls
Surprisingly winter is the perfect time for drying paint. The dryness of the winter air actually helps dry the paint much quicker, so grab your roller and crack a window open! If you’re feeling particularly creative, why not show off your DIY skills by using painter’s tape to create stripes or an eye-catching pattern? If you are feeling brave, you may want to add some bold feature wall colours – or you may want to start the New Year off with a calm makeover of soft creams, soothing stone shades or warming mocha tones.
Give the bathroom some love
Winter is a great time to give your bathroom some TLC – especially following the family onslaught during the Christmas break - and it’s something you can appreciate all year round and gain big brownie points with your better half! Most jobs such as regrouting the tiles (why replace them when you can really improve how they look at a fraction of the cost?) or replacing a faucet are easily doable for the experienced DIY’er, and you’ll be surprised how much coming into a nice clean and fresh bathroom in the morning brightens your day! Even just adding a quick strip of clean white mastic round the basin will make a huge amount of difference – but don’t forget to clean up after yourselves though, you don’t want to get told off for leaving blobs of mastic lying around the place!