OMG, why didn’t I / we do it before?

[VeryExpensive]

The loft ladder, loft floor put in and shelving all around. No more monkey acrobatics trying to get in and out of the loft, from a too short fold out ladder, fetched from a garage on a cold wet dark December night and then needing to go back. It smells fresh of wood like a log cabin.

It’s like a new sanctuary - spending spree tomorrow for clear boxes and already 2 bags of clutter to take to the skip, it’s not going back up.

What has been your absolute house update revelation, big or tiny?

Definitely air conditioning units, in the bedrooms, absolute game changer, don't worry about the weather being too hot now, and comfortable nights sleep.

@Easilydisturbed
.....installed a long run of the Ikea storage units which hold all the shoes.....

Would you mind showing a picture? understand if not. Sounds like a solution I could use. Thanks.

New bathrooms. Bye bye trip hazards, sharp corners, bruises, non functioning taps, tiny shower cubicles, leaks, rotten floorboards, cold showers and carpet. Hello non slip floors, space and lovely hot thermostatically controlled showers with warm towels from the towel rads. Bliss.

Been here 4 years and still working through the house but one of the changes I love... we got rid of the upper cupboards in kitchen. We have a long narrow kitchen that widens into a small dining space.

The upper cupboards were too low, so we couldn't put stuff on counter properly. It is also a dark room.

We got rid of the upper level and ran a shelf instead. Changed the worktop and the undercounter doors. No budget to gut the entire thing, but we realised the existing kitchen was from B&Q so we were able to add to it pretty easily.

We didn't lose storage, as we had space in dining area to use the 4 cupboards we removed as a free standing 2x2 unit. We added legs and new doors and it stands in the corner out of the way.

The kitchen is much brighter now and we have a better work surface to use.

@user1471462634 they do two types, this is the better one, wooden rather than plastic and they do a couple of different versions.

www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/hemnes-shoe-cabinet-with-4-compartments-white-60156121/

Throwing tons of our stuff out

Air con unit in our bedroom.

A light in our walk in larder - we used to angle a kitchen spotlight in there which was rubbish really! Only took ten years to have a light put in 😂

Decluttering.
And a strict one-in, one-out rule.

It's still a work in progress, but why the hell did we accumulate so much?

@VeryExpensive this sounds wonderful, I know costs vary vastly given complexity and size differences. But as a ball park how much did this cost and did the company do the flooring and the shelving? I hope your username wasn't created based on the cost!

I don't know if it counts as a house update, but I switched all the bulbs and sockets in our house to those app-controlled ones. It's wonderful being able to dull the lamps down to 10% brightness in the evening, and no more worrying about if I've forgotten to switch the hair straighteners off when I'm out of the house because I can just kill the socket with my phone.

@Nat6999
I bought the pull out drawers for kitchen base units, they just stick with extra strong tape to the original shelves. No more scrabbling to reach tins at the back of the cupboard, just pull out the drawer & get what I need. I've put them in every unit, even the ones that go into corners

Could you recommend/link to these please? I've looked on Amazon but there's so many options it would be great to have a recommendation. Thanks!

Thé motorised garage door. The change from heaving a heavy metal up and over door to a ‘plastic’ ( which will never need painting) with a motor is wondrous. We use the garage to keep the bottled water and the wine, ( plenty of both) , the two freezers, the vegetable store as well as the usual stuff like paint, tools, ladders etc. I seem to go out to the garage every day and quite often at night ( night in the winter) for stuff so not struggling with the door is a blessing.

user1471462634

We
brought a wooden box/chest to store shoes.

We had our understairs cut out and turned into storage, we have a large cupboard for DIY stuff, two drawers for towels and bedding and a bookcase. We have a small house so this was perfect.

We used to have an open plan living room/dining room and a tiny kitchen.

Our next door neighbours had made the space a kitchen/diner with a separate living room.

In 2021 after living here since 2007 we did the same.

Oh my god it's amazing. We put in double doors where the dining room window used to be and blocked up the tiny back door. We have a pocket door between the dining kitchen and the living room.

We have tons of storage space, tons of work space and the dining table fits better in the space. Somehow there's just more space! Making this change, changed the living room too. Somehow we have more space in there as well and it's now a much better layout with my WFH secretary desk in the corner.

People who visit think we've had an actual extension done - we haven't. Same footprint as before, simply a different layout.

I wish we'd done it as soon as we moved in.

We've made the new kitchen suitable for us as we age and added steps into the house we always felt the step up was too high and elderly visitors struggled, now we encourage them to come in the back doors as easier. The new doors are wheelchair width.

This is only a tiny thing but I bought a shelf that sits over the top of the microwave. It's got hooks on the side so my most used cooking utensils hang there (tongs, spatula, spoon and ladle) and on top I keep the toaster, salt, oil, scales, measuring jug and meat thermometer.

It makes life so much easier having everything I need within easy reach rather than having to dig around in a drawer.

How much work/disruption was it to enlarge the small loft hatch to a bigger one? Ours is tiny too but the hall/ceiling is decorated so DH is cautious about the idea due to the damage it could cause…

Building an annex with a games room. There's a teen sleepover in progress right now, they're playing the drums and no one can hear it!

The power-operated, rain sensitive velux window in my kitchen was the single best purchase when we renovated our semi-derelict house 15 years ago.

My biggest regret is not doing the same in the attic bedroom, and just putting in manual ones. The carpet has been soaked more times than I care to remember due to me forgetting to close the attic windows when it rains!

Many thanks FrongilLea, yes, they look very nice & thanks for the suggestion too Greytulips.

How much did it cost if you don't mind me asking?

My loft is empty and I've never been up there but it would be amazing to use the extra space!

I currently have a small hatch but it's above a big space on the landing so plenty of room for ladder and bigger hatch. Getting excited now!

We don’t have wall cupboards in the kitchen either. We’re lucky, the kitchen is 20x10, half of which is the table, a lazyboy sofa opposite a big tv for cinema evenings that don’t disturb the neighbour because there are 3 walls and the stairs rather than being up against the dividing wall in the lounge.

We’re also lucky to have a big utility with 3 double units, sink, loads of room for the washing machine/dryer. The kitchen pretty much sold us the house.

It was £1300 including the opening enlarging, new hatch and ladder, two thirds boarding and two battery operated lights

Not a single mark on the ceiling. And our ceiling is papered.

Thanks.

That's really doable in order to have a whole new room in the house.

I'm def gonna do this!