Real Home ImprovementThe Home Improvement Blog with real advice

There has never been a worse time than now to spend more money than you have or can pay back. That once large disposable income has now been demolished, and most probably your clothes are the same ones you had on 3 years ago. But what exactly should you spend money on, and if you could, what assets of yours would you increase the value of first and foremost?

Take this as an example; If you own or buy shares then you invest in those. If you like to modify your car then you invest in that. If you enjoy art then you buy sketches or any variation of the ones that take your eye. And if you are a home owner? Then you should invest in your home. Simple.

Home Improvement projects can be carried out under various objectives, with the top one being  increasing the value of your home – however there is another key objective to home improvement projects and that is better living. Home Improvement projects will make your home a better place to be, make your guests feel more comfortable and yes in the long run pay off down the line.

First of all you should pay attention to areas of your home which need genuine improvement, which could be your hall way, kitchen, bathroom, bedrooms or any other room – bringing every room up to the same standard will give you a genuine outlook on what could be improved or made ‘better’ within your house.

One of the best ways to create an instant lift within any home is to use neutral colours within rooms of an actual neautral nature – so hallways, and then move over to warm hues where the home starts to get more personal such as the living room. A nice deep shade of amber is usally a good bet for living rooms.

On a recession note this recession will not last forever, of course there will most probably be more (hopefully not in our lifetime) but investing in a home improvement project is one fire proof method of increasing an assets value in the long term whilst being happy  there in the short to medium term.

I recently got anowed in, and boy was I bored. On the 26th Decdember I decided to stay with family over in the north of england, near the Scotland border. I didn’t think anything of the snow flakes masking my windscreen as I came to a halt outside their rather warm looking home.

I had a pleasent evening, went to bed and didn’t look oustide the window (which could have been a good move).

In the morning I got up and checked outside, yeah, my car was submerged in snow – and I mean completely submerged. The wheels were no longer visible and I simply couldn’t get into the car to turn the heating on.

Stcuk then? Yep. No ammount of table salt or kettled water is going to help on this one, I’ll just have to sit it out. Mind, atleast I have my iPhone to keep me company and all the Apps in the world.

Why is it that in the UK we are fine with any amount of flooding, any sort of heat wave but rubbish when it snows? Everything seems to grind to a halt, my guess is that Technology won’t advance enough in my lifetime to see a remedy for this.

Heated driveways anybody?

Winter is here, and my god has it been cold so far. Here in the UK we understand that it doesn’t snow much and temperatures never go below -5 degrees celsius – Canada, Russia, Siberia and other countries in the northern hemisphere have this challenge to deal with.

And so I bet you are sick of us ‘Brits’ whining about the weather. But where you have snow we have rain, and it gets into all our clothes and quite literally depresses the best of people.

So I suppose it is best to stay at home and keep warm – wait, how much does that cost nowadays? Damn. I guess it’ll be a wooly jumper day again people *sigh*.

Not only that but fuel prices apparently aren’t going to fall this season (REF: Ofgem) and that means less travelling and more staying at home.

Does that mean you should have a stock up on wooly jumpers? damn no. Infact, I have some tips for you .

Insulation

We should all wrap our homes in insulation – after all it both keeps us warm and reduces our energy consumption thus reducing over-expenditure when the bills arive. About 270mm is recommended for lining your loft and it should last up to 4 years – insulation is not cheap however over its life span you will make up that cost through energy saving bills.

Smart Meter

If (like me) you are concerned about costs this Christmas then get yourself a smart meter which keeps a close eye on your energy consumption. Some energy meters are actually interactive and can allow you to set yourself weekly targets. They also keep your supplier informed real time and so British Gas (prime example) can not decide to send you a completely ridiculous bill.

Insulate Yourself!

Okay – I covered this earlier. Wooly jumpers and warm clothes should be worn if you are really concerned about money. By no means does wearing a jumper in your home dictate whether you have litter or no money though as fashion and social trends mean that wearing baggy and thick clothing is normal. Wearing a t-shirt and shorgts in Winter however is not.

Carbon Monoxide

Beware of carbon monoxide, dubbed as the silen t killer it is un-detectable and can take no time to effect people. New carbon monoxide readers were readily available from 2002 and I recommend you get one to sit beside your fire alarm.

If you do have a carbon monoxide leakage this Winter and something happens such as there is a snow storm and you are stuck or the phone lines are down then by all means ventilate your home! Keep a window open (yes we know its cold) and sit tight.

Time for a change?

If your smart meters and wooly jumpers are not doing the trick then perhaps it is time you switched supplier?  As with most tariffs if you are not paying my direct debit then chances are you are paying over the odds. Perhaps you should talk to the bank? or like I say just switch supplier. For the best deals go to a price comparison website (my favourite is confused.com) and have a look.

Patchett Joinery