When you love your home but can’t help feeling that its best days are behind it, you’re left with two simple options – place in on the market with a heavy heart or make the necessary refurbishments to give it a new lease of life.
But when your budget is limited, you’ll have to carefully prioritize where to spend your cash in order to achieve maximum aesthetic impact.
So pause for a few minutes before you bankrupt yourself by buying an overpriced Jeff Koons balloon dog statue or swapping every piece of furniture for artisan beanbags – and consider these three architectural features that enhance your home ambience.
Orangery
An orangery is essentially a larger and more solid version of a conservatory. And since orangeries have their roots in the renaissance gardens of Italy, their elegant design means they’re suited to traditional homes.
So if you like the idea of a conservatory but believe it’s too contemporary for your country pile, its more generously proportioned cousin could be the very dab.
Tip:review the luxury orangeries provided by Westbury Garden Rooms for inspiration.
Fascias and soffits
The roofline is an oft-neglected are of the home exterior and replacing it can have a surprisingly transformative effect on improving its attractiveness and protecting the building’s overall structural integrity and durability.
Fascia boards face outwards from the roof tiles and soffits fit neatly underneath them.They’re typically made from wood and often show signs of decay but investing in tough plastic replacements and switching up the colour could be just what the house doctor ordered.
Tip: match your new fascias and soffits with classic cast iron guttering from Gutter Supplies.
Front doors
First impressions last when people visit your property – and when they arrive at a shabby portal that looks like it’s made from plywood and is surrounded by dirt and detritus, they might feel so depressed about what awaits them inside that they spin around, walk back down the garden path, jump back in their car and head for the hills.
However, faced with a solid part-glazed Victorian front door painted in energizing yellow or glamorous red, they’ll feel genuinely excited about their impending soiree.
Tip:top off your terrific new door with a classy customised mat from Kleen-Tex.
So there you have it – a hattrick of architectural features that can transform your humdrum home into the type of veritable pleasure dome that would make Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s quill quiver with delight.
Pick the single suggestion that suits your needs and budget best or throw caution to the wind and implement all three – either way, you won’t regret it!
So ends our list, but have we missed your favourite architectural features? Let us know in the comments – we would love to hear from you!
