In the midst of a recession and flagging housing market, which has seen average house prices slashed to the extent that home-owners can no longer afford to sell up and property developers forced to hold on to their portfolios, giving the home a makeover can seem a waste of money.
However, carrying out home improvement during a recession offers at least two significant benefits: first, materials are often cheaper in a weakened market; and second, developing the home will invariably increase its future sale price after the market has recovered.
Alas, home extensions can cost tens of thousands of pounds and even a simple home makeover will cost money, which is one thing that most people will have less of during a recession. Nevertheless, a home makeover does not necessarily need to cost the Earth. Indeed, a spring clean and a fresh paint job can achieve similar results to a complete redecoration, so there is not always a need to worry about costs in order to give the house a makeover. Thus, there is perhaps no better time than the present to undertake a belated spring clean.
Cleaning the home is also a great opportunity to breathe new life into the arrangement of furniture and decorative items. Indeed, a home makeover on a budget will comprise elements of a spring clean that serve to rid the house of clutter in addition to the rearranging of furniture to provide an entirely revamped living space. Room planning can also be made simple at virtually no cost by using scale cardboard cut-outs that include all the rooms of the home and the furniture contained within them, which can be shuffled around to see what works before the actual moving gets under way.
