As you update your home from a modest appearance to a luxurious look, you’ll want to plan out your new home upgrades so that you will know how much time and money you should budget for the completion of these projects. Before you start making new home upgrades left and right, it’s best to sit down with the best home builder available in your area and talk to him or her about how he or she may be able to help you elevate your home to its highest, most luxurious potential. Communication is key in every aspect of life, including constructing and renovating your home. Let’s go over some great ideas to get you started with your new home upgrades.
Add Luxurious Attached Structures
If you’ve always dreamed of the rays of the sun pouring into a gorgeous sunroom, now’s your chance to make that vision come true with some new home upgrades. Beyond increasing the luxury levels in your home and adding some extra breathing room for you and your loved ones to space out beyond the living room, a sunroom could be good for your health if you’re affected by a disorder such as Seasonal Affective Disorder, also known as “SAD” for short. As muhler.com explains, “A type of depression is Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD, in which your mood is affected by sunlight. People with SAD find it difficult to stay in the sunshine and often deprive themselves of Vitamin D.” The article on their website continues, “…with sunrooms, this problem won’t bug SAD-affected people at all. In a sunroom, one can stay indoors, get the vitamins and warmth, and stay happy. They won’t need to step out of home and feel anxious due to sunlight.”
Outside of folks who suffer from SAD, the extra sunshine that a sunroom brings into your home can make you feel more cheerful. It can be a great place to spend some time in the morning soaking in the sun’s rays even on blustery fall mornings. It can also be a wonderful place to spend time with nature without spending time in nature if you catch our drift. If you don’t love the bugs or dirt in the great outdoors but you do love the sun, adding a sunroom may be the perfect compromise.
Build an In-Home Gym
Many celebrities and luxury homeowners don’t need to go to the gym when they have a gym in their own home available for their use after new home upgrades. To build a gym in your home, you’ll want to consider every detail to make it a safe place to work out to the extreme if you so choose. For the flooring of your home gym, most professionals would probably recommend an epoxy floor coating because it is safer to use than luxury vinyl planks or concrete. This special coating on the floor makes it less slippery than other types of flooring. It also reinforces it to protect it against damage from heavy or large objects such as weights and gym equipment.
As you’re building an in-home gym, you may wonder how much square footage you should dedicate to this project. Thankfully, the experts at mirror.co have shared a solution to this issue by telling us that “A good size for a home gym is between 150 and 250 square feet with about 8 to 10 feet overhead. Although any space can be a home gym with the right approach, this amount of space gives you enough room for one to two cardio machines, a power rack or squat stand, weights, accessories, and storage.” You could always make your home gym larger or smaller depending on your needs. If you plan on teaching classes or working out in groups out of your in-home gym, you’ll need more space than you would if you just plan on using it to store basic gym equipment and occasionally do some stretching or light exercise.
Infuse the Space with Warmth
There’s nothing that feels cozier or more luxurious in the cooler months than sitting in front of your own fireplace in your living room with your family in the wake of new home upgrades. If your home doesn’t already have a fireplace, you might wonder if it’s possible to install one. The answer to this question is most likely “yes,” as long as your home doesn’t have any issues or structural aspects that would make it difficult or poorly advised to install a fireplace. As the home and garden experts at bhg.com share, “Be assured that adding a fireplace to an existing home is possible. You’ll just need to determine which one will work best. Get familiar with your area’s building codes to check requirements for fireplace installation, such as minimum clearances around vent pipes and limits on fireplace emissions. Fireplaces generally fall into one of three categories: gas, masonry, and zero-clearance (prefabricated or manufactured fireplaces).”
For many people, the aspect of installing a fireplace that is most daunting is the unknown costs. While costs may vary based on how complicated it is to install the fireplace and how elaborate you want the design of the fireplace to be, there are some general rules for how much a fireplace could cost if you installed one in your home. According to homeguide.com, “The average cost to build a fireplace is $2,415 with most homeowners spending $1,050 to $3,780 depending on if it’s gas, wood-burning, or electric. A new fireplace unit costs $1,600 to $2,000 on average, while installation and finishing adds $2,100, or about 25% to 50% of total cost.” Naturally, some fireplaces may be more expensive than others while some might be less expensive. On top of that, you may find that the cost of labor varies from one company to the next. Calling a few companies ahead of time to get a quote can help you get the best deal on your installation and materials for all your new home upgrades.
Maintain Your Fireplace
Once your fireplace is built, your most important new home upgrade is maintaining it. If you go with a masonry fireplace, you’ll need to call in a masonry repair company to maintain the fireplace. For this reason, we recommend finding a masonry repair company before you even install the fireplace. If there isn’t one in your area, it might be best to go with another material for your fireplace such as a pre-fabricated fireplace or one that operates on gas.
Create an Outdoor Entertaining Area
For many homeowners, having an outdoor entertaining space is one way that they elevate their home. By adding porches, decks, and pergolas to a home’s backyard, you’ll increase the square footage available to entertain and host family. You’ll also increase the curb appeal of your home if you ever decide to sell it. Many home buyers specifically seek out properties that have some sort of deck or porch so that they can have multiple spaces for family members and friends to enjoy their space. It won’t be hard to see why a deck might benefit you as the current homeowner, too. You’ll be able to host parties that incorporate the great outdoors if you have a deck as an entertaining space. When the guests leave, you can enjoy some quiet moments taking in the sunset or wake up early to sip some coffee on your deck or porch. A deck is a great thing to add to your new home upgrades list and offers a lot of space to put luxurious outdoor furniture so that your home is elevated inside and out with your interior and exterior design choices.
Landscape with Trees
For added privacy and beauty in your home’s yard and exterior, you should call in an arborist to create a plan for planting trees around your home that will not only protect your privacy but also increase the curb appeal of the property. While the types of trees that you choose to plant can vary based on your climate and what’s best for your ecosystem, there are plenty of trees for you to select if you open your mind to new possibilities. Additionally, trees provide benefits to the environment that can satisfy your itch for fulfilling philanthropic needs with your property’s design.
For those who live in the mountains of the United States’ northeastern corner, evergreen pine trees can be a whimsical choice. However, they aren’t recommended if you want to add value to your home. Some of them grow too tall and fast for them to be worth adding to your property. Folks who live in areas where palm trees are popular may want to consider planting one in their yard to bring the beachy coastal vibes to their home. If your area is prone to wildfires and other fire risks, you’ll want to avoid putting gum trees in your yard. A talented and experienced arborist can steer you in the right direction to balance aesthetics, safety, and luxury when you’re planting trees around your home.
Build an In-Ground Pool
One of the common ways that people add value and luxury to their homes is by enlisting swimming pool builders to build an in-ground pool. Although adding a pool isn’t for everyone, it can be a great way to make your home look and feel more luxurious. If you install a pool that has a luxurious look and feel, it will elevate your home. There are many steps to building an in-ground pool. The first step, which may seem obvious to you, is designing your luxury in-ground pool. For this step, we would recommend pulling in the design experts in the field who know how to design a luxury pool and who are on top of current trends in pool design. While this can be costly, it’s a worthwhile investment to avoid designing a dated pool or one that screams that you have an inexpensive lifestyle.
After you’ve designed your pool, it’s time to get the necessary permits to build and have the pool. As poolmagazine.com explains, ‘Usually, your state will require you to meet a certain criterion before you start constructing your pool. To get a construction permit, your local authorities have to conduct a thorough inspection of your property. It would be best to hire a reliable pool construction company to help you get these permits. In most instances, they are in a better position to communicate with the state authorities. Getting a pool construction permit can take about one to six weeks. The time varies depending on your state. Some states can issue a permit in less than two weeks.”
Think about Standing Out from the Crowd
Although it can be tempting to try to “keep up with the Joneses” and build a home that looks like that of celebrities such as the Kardashians, having a unique home with tasteful choices can be more appealing and luxurious than one that comes straight out of a home improvement magazine. When you’re designing your luxurious home upgrades, you should build your custom home based on your tastes rather than those of your neighbors. Fitting into the neighborhood can be important if you like to stay relevant, but it’s also important to express your personal flair and sensibilities.
Maintain Your Home
While it sounds obvious, maintaining your home will be a great new home upgrade that instantly ups the luxury. A maintained home is a classy one. What’s more, a home that has been well-maintained throughout its lifetime is a safe home for everyone!
Add New Lighting
Some types of lighting could make your home seem cheap without a new home upgrade. Fluorescent lights tend to look harsh. On the other hand, luxurious fixtures instantly elevate a space.
Since there may be some types of new home upgrades that your home builder is either uncomfortable completing on your home or deems impossible to complete on your home, you should definitely consult with not only your home builder of choice but also speak with other professionals who will be involved in your new home upgrades such as an electrician and plumber. This will save you the headache of having to postpone certain upgrades or abandon them in the middle of the project because your home’s infrastructure can’t handle them. What’s more, it’ll prevent disappointment if you simply don’t like the way they look on your home even if you liked their appearance in the pages of a popular home improvement magazine.