If you’re anything like me, you’re probably constantly looking for ways to make life at home more comfortable and luxurious—while, not incidentally, boosting your home’s value and without breaking the bank.
Luckily, I have found that you can indeed have it all. Dream homes are called “dream homes” for a reason, right? Homeowners are creatively making home improvements by adding new spaces within the confines of their existing homes where they can live out their dreams. While the return value of luxurious upgrades, might not be as high as more practical renovations, that doesn’t mean they’ll bust your budget.
Here are ten home improvements that can be surprisingly cost-efficient—especially when considering the return on investment. Because it’s all about celebrating life and feeling good in the life you live!
1. Every Day is a Spa Day! (Investment: $1600-$6,500)
It is surprisingly inexpensive to put a sauna in your own home. Unless you’re from Finland, where there are more saunas than cars, you may have never considered adding a sauna to your home.
A sauna will definitely add value to your home, but most important, it will add quality to your life! Your sauna is a perfect way to relax at the end of a hard day, a perfect setting for weekend socializing with friends or family and one of the best ways there is of feeling truly clean and healthy in the midst of this hectic, bustling world.
While a traditional, custom-built sauna can easily cost $25,000, Celebration Saunas sells pre-built, free-standing infrared saunas in a variety of sizes and prices that range from $1595 to $5895. A lot of the best sauna accessories come as standard too.
Here are just a few of the infrared sauna benefits that you get to enjoy while adding value to your home
- Help rid the body of toxins. Saunas are a great way to naturally expel impurities. While taking a sauna, the body sweats out harmful toxins, such as nicotine, lead and mercury.
- Soothe sore muscles. Saunas temporarily relax muscles and relieve arthritic pain.
- Reduce stress. Saunas cause your body to release endorphins, which help reduce stress and increase your energy level.
- Help to maintain healthy skin. Saunas open skin pores, relax facial tension and promote cellular growth by bringing nutrients to the epidermis.
- Improve circulation. Sauna heat brings blood closer to the skin and increases blood flow to the body’s extremities.
- Increase metabolic rate. With regular sauna use, you burn hundreds of calories per session and can increase your metabolic rate over time.
- Relieve sinus congestion. Saunas offer temporary relief from symptoms of the common cold, including sinus congestion and throat ailments.
2. Let Your Light Shine! (Investment: $1,000-$10,000)
Lighting matters a lot. Lighting can make homes look more spacious and desirable. If light fixtures are dated, bringing them into this decade should make the top of your remodeling to-do list. You’ll generally see a full return on your investment when you sell your house.
Hang an attention-grabbing light fixture, such as a chandelier in one or two locations. These eye-catching elements can improve the perceived value of your home, giving you an edge over the neighborhood competition.
Now here’s how to give your lighting a “wow” factor:
Ambiance bulbs give us different hues of white throughout the day, just like the sun, starting with a warm dim glow during sunrise. The natural sun spectrum moves to a very bright white daylight by mid-afternoon and then slowly coming back down again to sunset hues. The White Ambiance bulbs allow you to mimic this inside your home so that your lighting is giving your body what it needs in terms of stimulation during the day to keep you going strong, and of course sleeping well at night. They give you the full temperature range of lighting, optimizing the way you work and live.
3. Make Some Waves! (Investment: $24,000-$100,000)
It is fairly safe to say that in most cases an inground swimming pool will indeed add value to your home, both in terms of increasing monetary value of what your house is worth and through an increase in personal value. When you build a swimming pool, you’re actually creating a fun and relaxing space for your children, family, and friends to spend time together without ever leaving the backyard!
In terms of monetary value, an inground pool can increase a home’s value from 8-15%. Of course, current market and property values will affect this range. One rule of thumb is that you get back about 50% of your pool investment in increased home value.
4. Smarten Up! (Investment: $1,000-$15,000)
From smart thermostats to automated lighting and everything in between, there’s no question that innovative, Internet-enabled technology can make a home more fun, convenient and safe. Those smart features have broad appeal with millennials, who grew up on smartphones, so they’re used to being able to control things at their fingertips.
While setting up a home with automation may seem like a significant up-front cost, but considering about 80 percent of today’s home buyers prefer to buy a home equipped with smart technology, there’s good reason to consider this home improvement to increase the value of your home.
5. Take It Outside! (Investment: $3,650 to $38,350)
An outdoor living space is not only a great feature to enjoy while you live in your home, it increases the value of your home, and attracts buyers when you are ready to sell. A National Association of Realtors survey shows more than half of surveyed buyers would pay a premium for a home with an outdoor living space.
Outdoor living spaces go far beyond the traditional patio or decks. Outdoor kitchens are big hits, with amenities ranging from a simple grill to a cook’s station with sink, refrigerator, countertops and storage space. This particular home improvement project is not necessarily an inexpensive one, but it can add a lot of value to your home, and it is definitely the type of feature that will appeal to potential buyers and can help your home sell faster once you put it on the market.
6. All the World’s a Stage! (Investment: $2,500 to $40,000)
The investment and installation of a home theater system will immediately increase your home’s value and make you stand out amongst your competitors in a heavy real estate market. A fully furnished basement and open floor plans with large family living rooms have become popular must-have for prospective purchasers. An added home theater system to a finished basement and/or bonus room can make your home more desirable than others similar in price and space.
7. All You Need is Love… And a Bottle of Wine! (Investment: $15,000 to $62,000)
Wine is becoming the beverage of choice. Temperature-controlled, dedicated wine storage is becoming more common as the beverage gains popularity among consumers. Homeowners are looking for the convenience of having their own wines on hand, and the ability to store those wines correctly to retain their quality. Wine rooms are therefore becoming much more popular in new builds as well as home renovations. Buyers who are looking for this unique feature in an existing home are willing to pay for it.
A professional wine cellar designer and installer can work with a homeowner to renovate a previously unused or under-utilized space in a home and turn it into a modern wine cellar. Basements, off-kitchen storage rooms, mud rooms and other optional spaces can go from being wasted space to highly utilized, functional wine rooms. This can add value in the eyes of a home buyer.
Size Does Matter! (Investment: $6,500 – $45,200)
Adding more square footage to your home with a new room can be an incredibly expensive project, but it pays off in adding value to your home. Following, are the best additions to make a big impact on the value of your home.
8. In-Law Suite
These spaces go by many names, including “granny flats,” “casitas,” and the technical sounding “accessory dwelling unit,” or ADU. They can house an additional family member or provide rental income—allowing baby boomers to afford their house once they retire or helping millennials pay the mortgage. More municipalities, particularly in Western cities, are amending zoning laws to allow for ADUs.
9. Garden Office or Home Office
With more companies giving employees the option to telecommute, a home office can really add some value to a home. Make sure there is plenty of workspace, and remember to have grounded outlets.
A home office can be added by upsizing with an addition, or you can build an outhouse or garden office which is a simple structure away from the house that takes advantage of the outdoor space. A garden office will allow you to expand the space in your home without intrusive or complicated additions, while simultaneously adding value to your home. Another advantage is that it has the flexibility to become whatever you or potential buyers want it to be, whether it’s extra family space or a personal gym.
10. Conservatory
If you want to feel closer to nature, a fully glazed conservatory will merge indoors with outdoors.
I would like to point out that a conservatory is not a sunroom. Conservatories are used for horticulture, whereas sunrooms are used for recreation. The roof of a conservatory is built with transparent materials like glass, plastic, etc. whereas the roof of a sunroom is built with opaque materials.
The biggest part of your conservatory will be the glass, so explore your options carefully. While double glazing is the minimum standard permitted by building regulations, there is a whole host of glazing options available, including solar control glass and self-cleaning glass.
Ready to start living the dream? Call us today at 855-728-6248 and we’ll show you just how affordable luxury is with your home infrared sauna.
Just bought your sauna a few days ago and love love love it!!