8 Low-Maintenance Home Ideas

If you’re a landlord currently renting out your property, you know how much work goes into making a house feel like home. Do you ever feel you don’t have enough time to make the house look how you want it to? Let alone finding the time to get it on the market. Lucky for you, we’ve got some design tips that’ll keep the house looking great, and save yourself lots of work in the future.

1. Avoid Breakable Floors

Making the floor out of something easily breakable, such as tiles, is asking for a real trouble. Particularly if there are children involved. Don’t make your life so difficult; we say go for carpets or wood. Easy on the eyes, the feet, and most of all they’re easy for you to maintain.

A big bonus for wooden floors is that they age well, too.

2. Light Walls

We’re sure you know the lighter a wall, the lighter a room feels. It can even make some small spaces look larger. However, with pros come the cons. They also show stains and marks far too easily.

So do you want to go dark instead? If you ask us, we say go for the cream wall, but make sure to buy a few spare cans at the shop, just in case you need to do a quick paint job or simply hire a painter.

3. Washable Furniture

You’re in slightly strange circumstances when you’re the landlord of a house. You own it, but you can’t control everything that happens in it. There’s bound to be wear and tear. However, there is something you can do to keep this to a minimum. Make sure to buy furniture that doesn’t rip too easily. Leather, for instance, is far better than tweed. Leather is also definitely one to consider if you’re allowing pets into the property.

If pets are your main problem in furniture maintenance (especially cats) you can always choose a “cat-proof” sofa or couch or protect them with a dedicated washable cover. You can find some specific recommendations on cat-proof sofas and protective covers here.

If you don’t fancy the leather look, here’s another tip for you – fabrics with a pattern are less likely to show signs of wear and tear.

4. LED Lighting

For you, as a landlord of a house, it is very important to look for a smart and efficient lighting solution. It gets imperative to comprehend that LED lighting is the best thing to go with. Not only LED lights save you on power bills but also help you keep the environment clean and thus will end up being an intelligent move. Just beware of bad electricians.

For those of you, who are still doubtful of making the transition from traditional lighting sources to LED ones – have a look at these top 8 benefits of using LED lighting.

1. Environment-Friendly
2. Longer Life Span
3. Operate Fine In Extreme Conditions
4. Energy Efficient
5. Attractive & Flexible Design
6. Low Voltage Support
7. Durability
8. No Harmful Emissions.

5. Have Your Own Handyman

It doesn’t matter whether you’ve got one or several properties – there is something to be said for having your own handyman. It offers a quick fix, rather than you either have to go through the council or the online equivalent of the Yellow Pages. It keeps your tenants and you very happy. If a problem occurs all you have to do is pick up the phone, and a skilled worker will be on their way. If you’re in London or North West UK, well, we know some pretty decent handymen.

6. Granite Kitchen Tops

The kitchen is by far one of the messiest rooms in the house. It’s where food is prepared, eaten, and where all of our dirty dishes end up. In the middle of cooking, someone can place a pan down, only to realise seconds later it’s scorched the wood.

Rather than constantly have to replace wooden countertops, why not invest in a granite kitchen top? Not only does it not leave burn marks, but it’s also incredibly easy to clean. That being said, how much your tenants clean up after themselves is up to them.

7. Get a Garden

According to the Telegraph gardens can add 20% to a property’s value. Do you want to know the best thing? The more low-maintenance a garden is, the more people love it. So if your property has the potential for a garden space, even a small one, definitely consider buying a potted plant or two.

8. Show Your House Online

If you’re a landlord currently renting out your property, you know how much work goes into making a house feel like home. Whether you rent your place in a small London neighbourhood; or maybe a huge city in the U.S. like Chicago, you probably always feel like you don’t have enough time to make the rental look how you want it to? Let alone finding the time to get it on the market. Lucky for you, we’ve got some design tips that’ll keep the house looking great, and save yourself lots of work in the future.

So your house is looking great and it’s ready for people to move in. But finding the time to put a listing up, organise viewings, alongside all your other work seems far too much. Don’t worry. Online letting agents are the stuff of the future and will make your life as landlord so much easier. They offer virtual tours, advertise on property portals for you, and even give people the chance to sign contracts digitally. You can sit back and relax.