5 Ways to Significantly Improve Your Home (& Life) When Renovating
If you’re planning to update your home, think beyond just enhancing its look—view this renovation as a chance to boost your overall well-being as well. You might be surprised at how much a well-renovated project can improve your health and happiness. Here are five ideas to incorporate into your project that can lift your mood (hello, sunshine!), reduce stress (goodbye, clutter!), and enhance your overall sense of joy.
1. Focus on Your Physical Comfort – This is the not-so-glamorous side of renovating; when your money goes towards improvements you can’t see. But, I can guarantee you’ll feel the difference if you take these steps:
Find the air leaks inside your home and seal them up. Common leaky areas are around windows, doors, attic-access hatches, & electrical outlets and switch plates. Early in our marriage, my husband and I lived in an apartment that was very drafty. We could hold a lit candle next to our bedroom windows and they were so leaky it would put out the flame! (Do better, landlords!) That air infiltration made for an uncomfortable room!
Upgrade the insulation in your walls, attics, and sometimes your floors in certain situations (like if you have living space over a garage, for example). In Kansas, code requires R-10 for basements, crawlspaces, and slabs, R-20 for exterior walls, and R-49 for the attic. Code recommendations are bare minimum, so aim for much higher.
If you’re planning for a gut-job type of renovation where you’ll have access to the exterior studs and you can stand to lose a few inches in the interior rooms, furr-out the studs for a deeper insulation cavity.
If you want to check what your current attic insulation game is amounting to, check the depth. To achieve R-49, you’d need at least 18 inches of blown-in fiberglass to reach that. Is there 18 inches of fluffy stuff up there right now?
Upgrade your windows. The higher the energy-efficiency rating, the better to reduce heat loss. Opt for at least double pane, if not triple if your budget allows. No one should be replacing windows with single pane anymore!
Choose energy-efficient appliances to save on electricity and water. Look for the Energy Star label.
2. Improve Indoor Air Quality – Again, you can’t really see this type of improvement, but your body will thank you for the fresh air…money well-spent in my opinion.
Consider adding an Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) to your home. An ERV is part of your home’s mechanical system, continually bringing in fresh outdoor air, while expelling stale indoor air. ERV’s reduce indoor pollutants, allergens, and excess moisture. These are especially important in homes that are sealed up tight (as they should be). I’d put one of these in if I were building or renovating a home for my family.
Use low-VOC paints. Faster drying, low-odor, and environmentally friendly low-VOC paints are the best way to go. We know that high levels of volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) contribute to indoor air pollution and can cause health issues. Low-VOC paints are especially important for sensitive groups: children, pregnant women, and people with allergies, asthma, or respiratory conditions.
Here’s a controversial one….swap your gas range out for an electric cooktop. I know, I know, everyone wants a gas range, BUT, we now know that gas ranges contribute to some (not-so-insignificant) environmental, health, and safety issues.
They release pollutants in your home (sometimes even when they’re off, folks) such as carbon monoxide and formaldehyde, which can exacerbate conditions like asthma, and contribute to adverse health effects after prolonged exposure.
They come with the risk of gas leaks and are inherently dangerous in households with young children and pets because of the open flame.
Gas ranges operate via fossil fuels that release carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas), which ultimately contributes to climate change (which we don’t want).
All in all, while gas ranges have been used for a very long time, carry a sense of tradition for some families, and are popular among chefs, it would be wise to consider an alternative based on what we know.
Induction cooktops offer advantages in efficiency, safety, and ease of cleaning, and are a great alternative to gas ranges.
3. Maximize Natural Light – Having plentiful access to sunlight within your home certainly influences your mood in a positive way. The sun has a way of making rooms more inviting. I have a very specific memory of my great-grandmother’s living room; she lived in Oklahoma, and we would visit every so often in the summer when I was growing up. She had a big, east-facing window that lit up her living room in the mornings with the warmest, most inviting light I had ever seen; I would just sit on the floor soaking it up. That window, and the ample sunlight that made its way through, ended up creating a positive core memory for me. Even now, when I walk into a room that’s full of sunlight, it seems so much more positive and happier than the darker spaces where the sun is limited. I know I’m not the only one who feels this way, science says so. Access to sunlight matters, y’all (my Okie heritage is coming out now…which reminds me of the time I adopted an Oklahoman dialect as my primary voice when visiting family down there as a kid…it was strange (and fun), but I digress). Here are some ways to make those core memories:
Add more windows or enlarge the ones you currently have. South-facing is the best for all-day-long benefits.
Remove interior walls (not the load-bearing ones without an engineer, please) to let the light flow through your spaces more freely.
Add skylights or light tubes to interior rooms that don’t have exterior walls or the ability to have a window.
4. Enhance Functionality with Storage – There are almost always opportunities to include smart storage solutions in new construction, and that includes renovations. Here’s where you can find them:
Utilize dead-spaces (which are much more evident in floor-plan view) for extra storage or shelving to visually reduce clutter and provide a more organized feel to your home. Under the stairs is a good place to start.
Use multi-functional furniture, like ottomans or a dining banquette, that act primarily as a seat but double as storage and can neatly hide away those less-used items.
Add built-ins where it makes sense. You can’t go wrong with extra closets, shelving, etc. Plus, built-ins usually add desired architectural interest to a home.
5. Upgrade to Modern, Sustainable Materials – Not only will these new materials make your space look nice, but they’ll also contribute to environmental sustainability and longevity. A couple things I’d consider:
Number 1: GET RID OF (and don’t install) VINYL FLOORING. It’s toxic, and often “lovingly” referred to as LVT or LVP: luxury vinyl tile or luxury vinyl plank, respectively. I totally get how budget-friendly it is, but before I manage to finish that thought, I immediately think about how bringing that toxicity into my home isn’t worth saving a few hundred bucks. I personally believe that if I’m going to be spending money to update my spaces, I should be adding a line-item for quality flooring. If it’s not in the budget, maybe I should wait to redo the floors until it is. If vinyl is the flooring option you’ve budgeted for, I’d consider reallocating money from other categories to this area early on, so you don’t end up settling for vinyl as your desire to make important decisions wanes the further you get in the construction process.
Choose natural materials wherever possible. Wood, tile, wool carpets, natural linens, etc. I have another blog post about this very thing…CLICK HERE to read it.
Look for recycled or repurposed materials too, for anything from flooring to countertops to cabinetry.
Again, use those low-VOC paints for the reasons we discussed above.
There you have it— a list of 5 focus areas to consider when doing a renovation to your home. Not only will they enhance the look of your spaces, but they’ll also provide a sense of relief that comes from knowing you have capitalized on the opportunity to improve your well-being, and the well-being of those who live with you. I wish you the best of luck on your next project, friends! Reach out if you’d like help from this architect :)
—Tara
