A Guide to Timeless House Renovation in West London

Renovating your home is exciting, offering the chance to refresh its look, improve comfort and preserve its character. But success depends on careful planning. From choosing a style that lasts to upgrading key systems like plumbing and electrics, every decision shapes how your home will feel and function for years to come.

In this guide, we’ll explore the essentials of a timeless renovation in West London.

How to plan your renovation

Decide your purpose

Knowing your exact purpose for a home renovation is important before work can proceed. Are you looking to boost the comfort of your home, raise its value, or make general repairs to its structure and electrics?

Settling on your purpose will help you decide on room layouts, priority jobs, budget allocation, and where to start work. It will also give you a strong focus throughout the renovation, affirming the decisions you make along the way.

Identify a style

Planning your renovation will be a lot easier if you have a preconceived idea of what you want everything to look like. You’ll be faced with countless design decisions throughout the process too, which will be easier to make if you have a distinct focus.

By cementing your intended style, you won’t be distracted by current fashions, and soon-to-be-past fads. This will help you to keep your home looking timeless for decades to come.

Research, research, research

Research isn’t just vital for gaining inspiration. It is also important for preventing costly mistakes, such as choosing materials that require constant maintenance, or aren’t durable.

You’ll also be able to learn from the mistakes and regrets of others, by scanning forums and social media posts. While this may not impact your renovation on a large scale, it can prevent minor problems, such as not installing enough plug sockets.

Get help

The chances are, you won’t be able to complete the renovation all by yourself. Enlisting the help of an interior designer or architect will guide you in the right direction and let you know what’s possible and what’s not.

Electricians and builders will also provide you with useful advice on the structural aspect of the renovation.

Be ruthless

As previously mentioned, there’ll be a lot of decisions and outside advice coming your way throughout the renovation. These could revolve around layout designs, furniture options, or decorating advice. If you have a true gut feeling about how you want your home to look, stick to it. This will reduce any chances of regret in the future.

Expect the unexpected

You may have the entire renovation planned out in your head, with precise timelines and a strong budget. However, things rarely go exactly to script, especially if you’re renovating an older home.

Always be prepared for the unexpected, whether it be structural issues, hidden mould or outdated electrical systems.

What to think about when planning a timeless home renovation

Functionality

While you’ll of course want to capture the ideal aesthetic for your home, improving its functionality is something you’ll thank yourself for in the future. This involves curating the space to suit your lifestyle needs. Consider the placement of immovable furniture such as countertops.

Is your proposed kitchen island going to be obstructive when removing things from the oven? Will it be easy to transition from inside to outside? When you’re renovating a home, the canvas will be blank, affording you the option to restructure your layout to be as comfortable as possible.

Premium, timeless furnishing and design

Of course, everyone has to work within some sort of budget when renovating their home. However, when choosing your furnishings, it’s worth allocating a decent portion of your budget on getting the best in class.

High-quality decor and furnishings as well as neutral-coloured walls will stand the test of time. This will help you avoid having to redecorate and replace furniture sooner than you’d hoped.

Incorporating tasteful flooring options, such as hardwood, can add bags of character to a property, increasing its ‘homeliness’.

Preservation

You may want an entire refresh of your home’s interior, but it’s important to hold onto its architectural character. Keeping hold of Georgian or Victorian design elements will preserve the life within your home’s walls. If you can, give older features of your home the touch up they deserve to help prolong their lifespan.

Don’t let this stop you from throwing out your shaggy carpets and replastering your popcorn ceilings, however.

Simplicity

When it comes to timelessness, simplicity should be a given. Overly ornate designs quickly lose their intrigue, and can become too much of a distraction. This links back to wall colours too, with neutral walls offering a much more timeless quality than patterned wallpaper, for example.

Up-to-date systems

Electrics and plumbing are two things that will always need updating eventually. Electrics in particular have come a very long way in a short time, and will likely continue to evolve in the decade to come.

That’s why you should always opt for the most up-to-date option when replacing your old electrical system. Let’s dive a little deeper into the electrical side of your timeless home renovation.

The type of electrical work needed for a home renovation

During a home renovation, there are a handful of electrical procedures that take place. They include:

• Full rewiring: With the walls likely already open, a full rewiring is a common process during a home renovation. It allows you to replace your outdated aluminium wires with modern copper alternatives.

• Fuse board upgrade: Upgrading your fuse board is vital for modernising a home. It will allow you to integrate all your desired technology without experiencing blown fuses.

• Socket installation: A lot of renovation projects involve socket installation. This gives you freedom of placement for plug sockets to help you create the ideal living space.

• Smart system installation: Electrical upgrades during renovations include incorporating smart systems, such as lighting, thermostats and USB charging ports.

Reasons to upgrade your electrics when renovating your home

There are plenty of reasons as to why upgrading your electrics should be a major consideration during home renovation. It could be a case of wanting to modernise, customise your setup exactly the way you want it, or to improve general safety.

Safety upgrades

If you’ve moved into an older property, or it’s been a while since you’ve had any electrical work done, your electrics may have fallen behind. Old or faulty electrics can derail an entire renovation if you spot the signs too late.

Here are some signs that you need an electrical update:

• Frequent fuse tripping: If you’re constantly experiencing tripped fuses, your electrics may be out of date. This will involve regular power outages in certain areas of your home.

• Sparks: One of the easiest signs to look out for is sparks coming from the electrics. This is likely a sign of an outdated system in need of replacement.

• Flickering lights: If the lights in your home are flickering even after you’ve changed the bulb, it’s likely a sign of loose wiring.

• Burning smell: It should go without saying that if you frequently smell burning from your electrics, you’re in need of an update. This should be carried out immediately to avoid fire.

Increasing the safety of your electrical system won’t only prevent hazards, it will also keep you up to date with modern regulations. This is especially important if you’re planning to rent out your home, as you’ll be subject to stringent legal requirements.

Modernising your electrics

A key reason for many modern home renovations is simply to keep up with the times. Electrics have changed drastically since the turn of the century, with the pace of modernisation accelerating further over the last decade. Electricity usage has reached a high point, calling for the replacement of fuse boards to prevent power surges.

People want to integrate smart technology into their homes, allowing them to control lights/heating remotely, set up home security systems, and more. Older electrical systems simply don’t have the capacity to accommodate these devices.

Old electrical systems will also need to be upgraded to accommodate renewable energy into your home, a popular choice for home renovations. The integration of solar panels and solar batteries into a home will often require a modern electrical system.

If you don’t upgrade your electrics and have a solar system installed, you’ll run into efficiency, capacity and reliability issues.

By modernising your home’s electrical system, you’ll prepare it for the future, rather than having its eventual breakdown looming over you in the coming years.

Personalising your electrics

When renovating your home, you’ll no doubt want to create the living space you’ve always dreamed of. This could include the placement of plug sockets within an arm's reach of seating positions, allowing you to be near your phone while it’s charging.

Changing the placement of plug sockets will also allow you to make much-needed layout adjustments. For example, you could move the TV to the centre of the room to create a better viewing angle for the entire family.

Whether it's for personal or practical reasons, personalising your electrics can make your home a much more comfortable place.

Things to consider when upgrading your electrics during a renovation

The electrical system is your home’s backbone. It powers daily chores, helps you to relax in the evening, and keeps everything ticking over nicely. Therefore, it should be treated with the same gravitas as the rest of the renovation.

Planning

Your home’s electrical system should never be an afterthought and should be a major factor in the renovation planning process. You should consider the electrical capacity you need, and the capacity you’ll need in the future. For example, you’ll need greater capacity if you’re planning to start a family while living in the home.

Budgeting

Rewiring and electrical work can often be expensive. However, when you consider the safety, efficiency and convenience of having the work done, it’s a worthwhile investment. In short, you should leave plenty of room in your renovation budget for electrical work.

Professional advice

You should never take half measures when you’re planning to upgrade your home’s electrical system during a renovation. Always opt for a qualified, trusted electrician. You’re not just paying for labour, you’re paying for great-quality advice, high-end installation and long-lasting results.

Trust SparkPro Electrical for your home renovation

When you're renovating your home, you don’t want to be worrying about trying to find a reliable, hassle-free electrician. Thankfully, with SparkPro Electrical, you don’t have to. We have over 15 years of experience in carrying out domestic electrical work around Hammersmith and West London.

Whether you need a full rewiring, socket installation, fuse board replacement, or all of the above, we have you covered. Our experts will come up with a bespoke plan to help you create your ideal living space.

Get in touch with us today for more information on how we can help you create your dream West London home.