5 Ways to Modernise an Old House*

Houses with original features are incredibly popular with older developers, especially if they’re pre-70s and the rise of the social housing builds. However these aren’t popular with everyone. Some people want a modern house but can’t afford the modern price tag. These days a lot of young buyers tend to buy older and more run down buildings and do them up into their dream home over a set amount of years. This way they can buy cheap and spread the cost of making their home just the way they want it. As of yet I haven’t bought but a lot of friends and relatives have gone down this route, especially if they have someone who works as a tradesman near and dear to them as it can really cut costs compared to bringing someone in.

Today I’m sharing five ways in which you can modernise an old house to give it the feel of a personally designed new build that are all the rage at the moment;

Add a Roof Lantern
What’s a roof lantern I hear you say? Well a roof lantern is basically a skylight but they bring in more light and look more stylish. They can be installed on any flat roof. Rather than a straight beam of light that comes with a traditional skylight, a roof lantern brings light to every corner of the room. Why does it modernise your house? Well old builds are notorious for being dark and a lot have small rooms, natural light is desirable because it makes the rooms feel more spacious and airy. The Internet is full of places for you to look into installing cheap roof lanterns if you’re on a budget.

And while you’re working on your roof, make sure you hire a service like Gutter Cleaning Wichita to ensure your gutters are clean, not only does this look good, but it’s can be beneficial to your property too.

Renovate the Basement
A lot of old houses have a basement or a cellar and most of them simply get used for storage or as a junk room. But by renovating your basement into an extra usable room you give yourself more space and modernisers your house should you come to sell it. Before starting make sure you hire a reliable firm who will ensure your basement conversion goes exactly as planned and everything is up to code. Once completed it could be a room for the kids, a room for the adults or even a home office out of the way of the hustle and bustle of the main house.

Remove the Gas Fire
Gas fires, especially those with the grill are so dated and not the good kind of dated. My parents had one of those old grill fireplaces when I was a kid and they really did look hideous. There are so many other nicer fireplaces on the market these days if you still want to go that route for a sitting room focal point but these days a lot of people remove the fire completely and rely on heat purely from the central heating system and instead mount a TV on the wall or make a gallery.

Add a Water Feature to the Garden
A lot of old houses come with a lot of land which can become unruly and a bit uninteresting. By adding a large water feature such as a fountain from Outdoor Fountain Pros, it can fill up that space while still looking incredibly modern. Not only that but having water in your garden can attracted a whole load of wild life by giving them somewhere to drink which is so important in both the summer and the winter.

Create an Open Space
Apparently one of the most cost effective ways to modernise your home these days is to create an open space. When older generation houses were built they were small rooms, one room for a kitchen, one for the sitting room and one for the dining room however these days one big open space for all three is most desirable. Knocking through the walls and creating one huge living space is perfect for entertaining and for a growing family. A lot of modern houses are now built this way as not only does it make one big room but it also makes the room feel lighter especially with the modernised white walls that are so popular.

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