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7 Tricks to Visually Enlarge Your Living Space

No matter how much thought you put into your home renovation to create more space, there’s not much you can do if you’re constrained by a small house on a small lot.

But even though you may not be able to squeeze more space out of it, there are still some illusion tricks you can use to visually enlarge your living space:

Maximize storage space

If you already have a small house in the first place, then it’s all the more crucial to make every inch count. You’d be surprised at how a little creative remodel can pack a kitchen to the brim and turn a basement into storage haven.

Let in natural light

The more natural light you let in, the more open the room will feel.  Go for large windows and even put in a skylight or solar tube if you have to. Whatever you do, try to leave the windows uncovered or at least use solar shades or sheer curtains as the window treatments.

Bring attention to the ceiling

You can make the room seem taller by guiding people’s sightlines to the ceiling. Use vertical patterns on the wall like vertical shiplap or wainscoting. Another good trick is installing a floor-to-ceiling bookcase or, even simpler, mounting hanging shelves near the ceiling.

Neutral or light colour scheme

You’ll want to stay away from dark colour schemes as those are used for a more enclosed and intimate feel. Stick with neutral or light colour shades and the room will open up to a comfortable brightness for everyone.

Light it up with lamps or sconces

Ceiling lights will create the illusion of a lower ceiling, which further cramps the room. Instead, use sconce lights as ambience lighting while floor or table lamps can serve as the room’s functional lighting.

Get the right furniture

When choosing furniture for a small living space, opt for those that are multi-functional. This will save on space big time. Try to find furniture pieces with exposed raised legs as the visible space underneath them reinforces the open feeling of the room. Also, make sure the upholstery is done in light, solid colours. If you really want some patterns, go with those that are minimal and less busy.

Put up mirrors

This is a classic space-enlarging trick. It all depends on where you place them. Ideally, you’ll want them across from a window to bounce natural light around the room. They’re also great behind large furniture pieces to make them less imposing in the room.

Besides taking full advantage of these tricks, remember to keep a regular de-cluttering schedule! That in itself will go a long way in making your living space seem larger.

Here’s Your House Key to Energy Efficiency Success

With every renovation project that you take up, take small steps to strive for net-zero energy housing standards. By always thinking about how you can make your house more energy-efficient, both the environment and your utility-bill savings will thank you.

Here’s how you can get started:

Heating and cooling efficiency

It’s crucial to first make sure that you stop all current and potential air leaks in your house. That means reinforcing or replacing weather strips around your windows and doors. It also means going further by covering air leaks around electrical sockets, pipe cut-outs, dryer vents, and even pot lights that stick out into the attic.

Next, you’ll want to find the best insulation options for your house and shore them up. You should also think about changing your furnace to an energy-efficient one. For greater efficiency, make sure that your HVAC system is connected to smart thermostats that you can program around your work schedule.

Don’t forget about radiant floor heating either! Often times, it’s your feet that feel the coldest so warming them up may be all that’s needed. Radiant floor heating does that with less energy use than turning up the thermostat.

Water conservation

Rather than going with a standard toilet, a low-flow or dual-flush toilet is one of the biggest water conversation investments you can make in the house. Continue the same theme with the installation of low-flow showerheads and aerators on all faucets. By watching water consumption in your house, you’ll also do your part in conserving the decreasing global fresh water supply.

Electricity savings

This last part addresses your day-to-day electricity use. With electricity being such an essential part of modern life, it pays to find ways to use it more efficiently. A major upgrade you can consider is adding renewable energy sources like solar panels to your home. They’ll help offset your electricity bills since you won’t have to draw as much from the city’s electrical grid. And if you end up producing more electricity than you use, you may even be able to sell the excess back to your electric company.

Modern life also comes with an ever-increasing number of electronic devices in the household. Even when they’re not in use though, they still draw standby power. Prevent this by plugging them into smart power bars. Another significant way you can save on electricity is to switch to LED lighting throughout your house.

Finally, before implementing any energy-efficient initiative, see if it’s eligible for Toronto’s Home Energy Loan Program (HELP)!

What to Watch Out For When Renovating Older Houses

From mid-century houses to those built even earlier, they all have their charms. Maybe it’s the one-of-a-kind craftsmanship or architectural details that draw you. Or maybe it’s the beauty in its aged finishing materials.

Whatever moved your choice to settle in an older house, there are some specifics you should watch out for when you get down to renovating:

Damaged foundation

Time takes its toll on everything and it’s evident in a lot of older houses. With the foundation holding up everything for so long, there’s bound to be cracks you should be wary about. It also doesn’t help when mid-century house foundations were built with cinder blocks instead of sturdier cement ones. Depending on how damaged the foundation is, you’ll have to factor in the high costs of repairing it or most likely pouring a new foundation altogether.

Hazardous building materials

There’s a reason why building codes are always evolving. We often don’t realize until years down the road that the construction materials and methods we use are actually not as safe as we thought.

Older houses are full of questionable and even downright hazardous materials. Be on the lookout for lead-based paint as well as lead presence in plumbing pipes. And, of course, be extra careful with asbestos as it’s a common hazardous construction material used on houses in the old days. If traces of these hazardous materials are found, they should be removed by professionals only.

Corrosion-prone galvanized pipes

Besides getting rid of lead, you should also check if your plumbing is made from galvanized pipes. Galvanized pipes are no longer in use because they’re prone to corrosion and eventually clogging. If you have galvanized pipes for plumbing, you should think about replacing them with PVC or copper ones.

Unsafe electrical system

Our household electricity needs have increased massively since the last century. If old electrical boxes are not brought up to code to handle modern appliances and electronics, they’ll be safety hazards that run the risk of electrical fires starting. On top of upgrading the electrical box, make sure as well that all electrical outlets are grounded.

Single-pane windows

Windows are a major source of heat loss in a house and even more so if they’re single-pane windows often found in older houses. It’s always a good idea to invest in double-pane windows for better insulation and future heat cost-savings.

Odd floorplans

Tastes in living spaces change over the years so you may have to reconfigure room layouts to suit your needs. For example, houses back in the day tend to have smaller rooms. If you want larger rooms, you can knock down some non-load-bearing walls to combine small rooms together. Again, you should always leave that to a professional to handle for safety’s sake.

Keep in mind too that older houses mean a long history of multiple owners who had different standards for home improvements. As renovations are under way, you may find it necessary to fix or even completely overhaul some features so that everything is done properly. That can be an expensive exercise in and of itself.

The key to renovating older houses is finding that sweet balance between preserving the house’s character and remodeling with modern materials. And that can sometimes lead to treasure hunts for original construction materials at salvage stores! Whatever you do, ask your general contracting company for advice. By talking about what you’d like to preserve in the house, you have lots of opportunities to hash out some creative ideas together.

4 Steps to Budget for Your Next Home Renovation

Committing to a home renovation is a big deal. While it’s much more exciting to dream about the new changes to your home, it’s important to make sure you have a solid budget for the project.

It’ll go a long way in ensuring a smooth renovation and there’s only four steps to it:

1) Know what you want

Take the time to write out exactly what you’d like to be done on the renovation. By sitting down to outline what’s most important to you, it’ll be clear where the focus should be. Should you start on the kitchen, bathroom or basement first? There are also advantages to renovating more than one room at the same time. How extensive will the renovations be? Is it a complete gut and remodel? Or do you only want to swap out the finishing?

After your wishlist is finalized, split it into two sections: “Top-Priority Features” and “Nice-to-Have Features”. This will come in handy later on if you have to cut back on what you want done.

2) Get a rough estimate of the costs for what you want

Talk to your friends and neighbours who have recently done renovations that are similar in scope. Ask how much it cost them. Then, based on your renovation to-do list, request a quote from your local general contracting company. In addition to labour and permits, don’t forget to discuss how material purchases will be handled as well. You may also want to compare quotes and references of other general contractors to get a better range of what’s out there.

3) Review your financial situation

Do you have enough in your savings to cover the estimated costs as well as an extra cushion for contingencies? If not, how much do you need to make up the difference? Once you know how much more you need, it’s time to decide whether you want to reach that figure through financing or saving up for it.

Financing, for instance, includes options like home equity line of credits (HELOCs) or loans from the bank. Before locking yourself into a new financing plan though, always make sure that your income level now and in the foreseeable future can handle repaying the debt plus interest. That means the loan repayments won’t impact your major house and food expenses, while still leaving room enough for contributions to your savings.

If you’re not comfortable with financing, then saving up is the best way to go. It may sound tedious, but you’ll actually get there a lot faster than you think with a good system in place. First, figure out how much you’re able to squirrel away every month after your non-negotiable expenses are taken out of your paychecks. Then divide how much you more you need for renovations by the monthly amount you’re able to save. That will give you the number of months you need to save up for the renovation.

With that goal set, you just have to make sure you stay diligent in your monthly savings. The most reliable way is arranging automatic monthly transfers to an account set aside for the renovation. Sometimes, that may also mean cutting back on some of your entertainment expenses. It’s worth it though in the end because you know you’re saving up for a good cause!

4) Keep a budget-tracking process in place

Pre-set reminders for yourself to regularly check up on how much of your budget is spent as the renovation progresses. You can make it as advanced as a spreadsheet tracking all the invoices as they come in. Or it can be as simple as touching base regularly with your contractor to get cost updates.

Tracking your budget for the whole project duration helps you minimize any surprises when the renovation is completed. It also lets you predict if the project will go over-budget. If that’s the case, that’s when you have to take a hard look at which nice-to-have features should be removed from the to-do list.

With the budget side of things now taken care of, keep the momentum going by preparing your house for the big remodel!