Things you wish you'd done when you renovated

[mobear]

We are going to be renovating a new house soon, and that has me thinking a lot about the every day things that irritate me. I've already decided I want to get a water softener and a separate washer/ dryer. The other decision I've made is to go for resin over tiles in the bathroom (I'm done with cracked tiles and grout!).

Is there anything you did when you renovated to make your life easier, or wish you'd done? If so, I'd love to hear about it!

Gazillions of plug sockets, with integral USB sockets. One of our best decisions was to move a door a stupidly small distance. It looked like a crazy waste of money but made all the difference to how the kitchen space works.

And you may well get more replies if you repost this on the Property/DIY board

Ability to have light and extractor fan on separately in the bathroom. We can have the light on its own but not the fan on its own. An electric shower is handy if you don't have a combi boiler or solar panels, particularly if your water is pressurized/ pumped as it runs out pretty quickly if more than one person wants to shower one after the other.

Light switches that do the landing above/below. Or if you have a room with more than one entrance, then light switches by each entrance.

GOOD lights with replaceable bulbs, not one of the many shit PITA-to-replace spotlights on the market. I mean go for spotlights by all means, but really look into how you replace them/how expensive replacements are/etc before you buy.

This might be just us, but network cables everywhere going back to the cupboard under the stairs where the switch and router are. Now we have a wireless access point on every floor, the WiFi is rock solid and we easily add things like CCTV cameras, printers just by plugging them into the ethernet socket.

More power sockets than you think you need (especially behind the TV unit). Wall/ceiling mounted the surround sound speakers for the TV and buried a conduit in the wall for the TV cables (power, HDMI etc).

We also moved the washing machine from the kitchen into the cupboard outside the bathroom, and installed a pulley airer above the stairs. This has really reduced the amount I cart laundry around the house. I spend a lot of time doing laundry so might as well make is as efficient as possible.

Things I want;

• out door socket
• outdoor hot water tap
• lights outside my front door
• some where to store mop, broom and the ironing board.

Things I love about my recent renovation:

• underfloor heating. It's wonderful!
• Separate utility room for washing abs drying. If I did it again I'd put all the laundry stuff upstairs.
• a walk in pantry in the kitchen. or just a walk in corner cupboard if space allows. It's brilliant having all the food items in one place.
• induction hub. Don't miss gas at all.
• power sockets in all corners or every room.
• all lights in dimmer switches.
• power sockets outside. Front and back.
• hot water tap outside - good for car washing in all seasons!

Put a lot of effort into visualising your finished article. If you want period features, plan them at the start. If you're going for a modern look, think about the finishes, the appliances, doors, flooring, handles, paint colours etc. Make mood boards and make sure it all pieces together.

Think about lighting. I put spotlights in every room and regret not having more feature lighting or zone lighting. I've had to add lamps around the house to soften the lighting.

Storage storage storage.

If you're doing an extension or taking up floors / ceilings. Make sure you add tons of noise & sound insulation. I have a new bedroom&bathroom extension over my kitchen.... and when I'm in the kitchen I can hear every detail of someone having a wee or shower. Vice versa, when I'm in bed I can hear the kids talking at normal volume in the kitchen below. I'm considering taking up the carpets and adding an extra layer of sound proofing!!

I wish we'd have put two holes (shelves) in the en suite instead of just the one. I've had to buy a command stick on thing.

When I was doing a house renovation, the best wish I had was a new security system. I decided to spend money on a reliable one. So, I have chosen Ajax and I will never regret it. I mean, it is a worthy professional security system that can make your life easier. You will forget about worrying about the house when you are out. You can easily control the situation through a phone application. Moreover, the company provides a 24 h free customers support line. So, if I have any questions I always call them to get an answer.

Lots of great ideas here.

One thing we loved was an electric toothbrush charger (like a shaving point, but with the specific toothbrush charger point) in our bathrooms. We replaced our old shaving point directly, but of course, you can add them in too. No more unsightly wires dangling around. We got ours on Amazon.

We did the whole, be your future friend. So the boys' bathroom has an electric shower meaning I don't worry about them draining the tank which Dh and I use with a mixer shower.

We have also hard wired Ethernet cables to the boys' computers.

Think about where you will put your Christmas tree and get a socket close to it so you are not trailing wires everywhere. We have an outdoor socket with a timer on it at the front for our Christmas lights, we can isolate the socket from the inside so it cannot be used. We also have one in the back garden for everything and anything.

Outdoor lights, whether for ambience or security.

You can insulate/add sound proofing with thermal or acoustic plasterboard, great for bathrooms and master bedrooms so sound doesn't travel through walls

Storage for coats/shoes, stashing suitcases, Christmas decorations, seasonal stuff. Enlarge the loft hatch if it is small or relocate it if it isn't in a good place.

Think about an upstairs laundry.

Outdoor warm water tap if you have muddy dogs
Outdoor cold water taps front and back
Boiling water tap in kitchen

Clearly I am obsessed with taps

Outside tap with hot water, dogs hate a freezing rinse after a winter walk.
More storage for items used regularly but unsightly, like clothes airer, hoover etc always need more than you think.
Large sunken matts by front and back door, save dirty foot prints or matts that scrunch up every time the door opens!

Things we got right:

• big utility room with plenty of storage for muddy shoes and coats
• hot tap outside, much easier to wash things
• water softener, helps with cleaning
• bathroom cupboard with sensor light and plug inside for charging toothbrushes
• underfloor heating - I was sceptical but it’s great!
• outdoor sensor lights, good for security but also when taking out rubbish or nipping to car

Wish we had done:

• extractor fan for bathroom
• electric heated towel rail for summer use
• wider kitchen door so don’t bash edges coming in and out

I want the laundry/washing machine area near the bedrooms not the kitchen - I read about it somewhere and it just makes perfect sense!

Wish we'd got two dishwashers rather then one (we are a big family), two ovens and a six ring hob!

I wish we had done a side return extension and put a utility room in. Between a floofy dog, DH’s cross country and two DD’s who do a lot of sport and dance I am doing loads and loads of washing on a daily basis.

Best thing we did was to decide not to knock the two reception rooms into one. Sounds odd but I have a business and had to move out of my unit at very short notice and I have managed to fit everything into the 2nd reception room and have been able to continue trading through lock down.

In the future I will move back into a unit or I will get a shop and then we will turn that room into a 2nd living room that the dd’s can use and add a sofa bed.

I do know people who knocked through and it looks nice but I prefer the separate rooms.

Electric car charging points. One inside and one outside the garage.

At the moment we’re only using the one outside the garage as we only have one plug in hybrid EV, but I’d be thinking about the next 5-10 years when everything is going to need a socket!