I'm an interior expert – 6 easy tweaks you can do to add thousands to your home value | The Sun

IF you're fortunate enough to have been able to get a foot on the property ladder and want to sell, you may be wondering what you can do to boost the value of your property.

But while it can be expensive and time consuming to make substantial renovations, there are plenty of little jobs you can do to increase your home's worth by thousands.

Here, interior expert Elaine Penhaul shares her top DIY tips guaranteed to add value to your home, and impress prospective buyers with little to no effort or money required…

A lick of paint

One of the cheapest and easiest tasks you can do if you're considering selling your property, is to give it a lick of fresh paint.

This can be applied to everything from walls, doors and skirting boards, and can be particularly effective in rooms like the kitchen and bathroom.

Elaine says: "Refreshing a kitchen with a lick of paint is a fairly easy and low-cost way to add significant value to your home.

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"By freshening up old and traditional doors with a more modern and country style paint that is much brighter you can really optimise a space.

If the DIY was to be carried out by the occupier then, on average, painting a room, old tiles or even exterior windows and doors could cost as little as £20.

"The return, however, could be significantly higher."

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Also, pay attention to small details, as these can add a feeling of luxury without having to blow your bank balance.

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For example, buying new handles for your kitchen cupboards can instantly give the room a lift if it feels a bit outdated.

Elaine says: "Replacing old taps and doorknobs can be surprisingly transformative to existing kitchen hardware too.

"While basic and low-cost, clean shapes and lines that complement the fittings will be less invasive on the buyer’s mind.

"This will enable them to better imagine how they can use the space, rather than focussing on potentially dated fixtures and fittings that are not to their taste."

Island inspo

A striking kitchen island can also be the centrepiece of a house – and is often a sign of wealth and status – but it doesn't have to cost the world.

Elaine says: "An island provides versatility that suits busy lifestyles – nowadays an island it can be the deciding factor on a purchase if the buyers do not want to absorb the time and cost of installing one.

"IKEA do moveable kitchen islands and trolleys for less than £200.

"If you want to make these cheaper alternatives to a static island look more expensive, simply add marble chopping boards and tiling onto the lower surfaces to give it a unique look."

First impressions

Before a prospective buyer even sets foot inside your home, you need to ensure they are impressed with the outside too.

Elaine says: "Rather than spending a fortune on refitting new windows frames or doors, try spraying your existing ones with a lick of paint to give them a new lease of life, and possibly add up to £10,000 to your house value.

"Classic colours work well for a front door.

"Dark navy and greens are always inviting and we already know that research by Sellhousefast.uk suggests painting your front door blue can in fact increase your house value by up to £4,000.

"If your door also has a frosted or glazed window, the warm lighting seeping through into your hallway can be enhanced by painting the back of the door same colour as your interior, expanding the length of the room inside."

Repurpose a redundant room

Not many of us have too much room, but some spaces like conservatories, garages and attic spaces often accidentally become redundant spaces and are unused as they're too cold in the winter and too warm in the summer.

Transforming these types of rooms can realise the potential to buyers that that they can serve a purpose year-round, and some rooms can even be multi-purpose.

Elaine says: "Without paying out a huge amount on an extension or needing to source planning permission, these spaces can be easily converted into usable spaces.

"If you have a spare room you can transform into an office, invest in a sofa bed – you will be able to host any guests that want to stay over as well as being able to hold the odd meeting in there.

"Garages are also more commonly not being used in their intended way, and often get used as a replacement to the garden shed – housing all manner of gardening tools, DIY tools and household clutter. 

"By turning it into something unusual like a cinema room, you can add a luxury experience to your home that often feels out of bounds to homeowners.

"This can simply be done by adding a bean bags, a projector and a drop down screen – relatively low cost in comparison to the value it can add!

"This simple renovation could add up to 20 per cent to the value of your home if it was to gain you greater living space."

Add panelling

Touching on the architectural features of a home is often the way in which you can make a room look more expensive.

Elaine says: "Interior wall panelling is often associated with luxurious and historic buildings.

"Panelling adds an immediate value to your space as it creates depth and interest when looking at plain and square spaces.

"For less than £100, accounting for a tin of paint and treatment, you can create a desirable feature wall that gives off an expensive look and feel. 

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"DIY vertical slat panelling is a popular and easy-to-fit way to add depth to your walls – whether in whole or sections.

"If you want to go for a polished, painted look then make sure you paint the panels before fixing them – you can create a 3D effect by painting the wall a different colour to the wood."

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