5 home renovation ideas for 2025
As 2024 comes to an end, many people are coming up with New Year’s resolutions for 2025 so they can make improvements in different areas of their lives.
And what better place to start than with home improvements?
Our homes are where we live, relax, socialise, and often work, too. They should be as functional and comfortable as possible, with visually pleasing interior design – but if your home could do with a bit of a makeover, then January is the best time to begin.
Whether big or small, making changes in early 2025 to ensure your living spaces meet your changing needs will set the stage for a happier lifestyle and a more successful year.
Maybe you’re already thinking about ways to upgrade your home in the new year, but you’re not sure what you can do apart from redecorate every room. Fortunately, this blog is here to offer some inspiration for how to improve your residence with on-trend renovations.
Keep reading to discover the best ideas to breathe new life into your home in 2025 – and find out when you should hire a structural engineer to help you renovate your house.
1) Switch to a ‘broken-plan’ layout
Open-plan layouts took the lead for a long time, before the interior design industry saw some pushback in favour of having separate areas to fulfil different needs. Now, the biggest trend is ‘broken-plan’ – a combination of the advantages that come with each style.
The small cluttered rooms of Victorian-era houses are widely disliked, but the studio-style floorplan of having almost everything in the same large space is also ineffective for modern life.
Instead, many homeowners are finding the best balance for their needs by creating partitioned open spaces. For example, instead of removing the wall entirely, leaving a partial wall between the lounge and kitchen can improve connectivity while maintaining distinct areas.
If you’re removing part of a load-bearing wall, or building a partial wall that alters the load distribution of the building structure, then you’ll need a structural engineer to advise you.
2) Make your windows bigger for brighter rooms
If your windows are small or the glass doesn’t provide sufficient insulation, this can make your interiors feel dark, cold, and miserable. If you want your space to feel bright and airy during the day and cosy and comfortable in the evening, you could replace your windows.
This might involve replacing the current windows with new glass, changing the frames as well, or expanding window openings to add larger windows with double glazing or triple glazing.
Though updating all your windows is a higher upfront expense, this is a great opportunity to improve the building’s energy efficiency and will help to reduce your bills in the long term.
Again, if you’re making alterations to walls that will affect their load-bearing capabilities, then you’ll need to consult a structural engineer to help you design the structural changes, so the construction work can proceed safely and the new windows can be installed successfully.
3) Remodel your bathroom into a home spa
If you’re only looking to upgrade one room, then remodelling the bathroom is the go-to choice for a trendy home in 2025. The latest bathroom interior buzz is all about turning your ensuite or main bathroom into a home spa – creating your very own wellness sanctuary.
Whether you would prefer a large tub to soak in, a spacious walk-in shower, or a wet room with rainfall shower heads, the goal is to create a luxurious space where you can fully unwind. With a spa bathroom at home, you’ll never need to leave to enjoy a relaxing retreat.
Features like vanity units with counter-top basins and shower benches for a sauna vibe can elevate an ordinary bathroom, as can increasing the amount of natural light in the room.
This could involve creating a larger window or skylight, as above – or if this isn’t possible, you can focus on simply upgrading your bathroom suite with help from an expert plumber!
4) Add a bespoke multi-functional extension
To support the broken-plan style of living with multiple smaller spaces that serve different functions, home extensions are more popular than ever. Compact extensions can add valuable interior space without taking away too much of your garden.
Rather than simply building a conservatory as a spare sitting room for the summer months, why not add a small extension that you can use year-round for practical purposes?
For example, as many people now work remotely at least some of the time, an extension that doubles as both a home office and a gym or hobby room can be very useful.
If you have a young family, a bespoke domestic extension is a fantastic investment when it comes to keeping the rest of your home tidy, as the space can become a designated playroom or games room. However you use it, you must seek advice from structural engineers first.
5) Invest in an outdoor living space
Another growing trend in recent years is ‘indoor-outdoor living’ – blurring the boundaries between the two to help you feel closer to nature and reduce your stress levels.
Making your existing windows larger or building an extension with large windows can be a big part of this, as it brings in more sunlight and reduces the barriers between you and your view of the landscape outside – which should hopefully include plenty of greenery.
Alternatively, you could build an ‘outdoor room’ in your garden, such as a covered deck or a pergola. This space could be used as an outdoor kitchen with a grill and al fresco dining furniture, or an outdoor lounge with weatherproof furnishings and a fire pit to keep cosy.
If these construction plans involve installing foundations or load-bearing beams for a roof structure, then a structural engineer can help with safe planning. You might also want to seek architectural services to ensure you achieve the most practical and aesthetic design.
Do you need a structural engineer for home renovations?
Whenever you make internal structural changes to your property or add an external structure, it’s important to hire the relevant professionals to draw up the plans for your builder to follow (and get planning permission from the local authorities, if needed).
So, if you’re hoping to make any of the changes mentioned above in 2025, it’s likely that you’ll need help with structural engineering in Manchester from experienced professionals like the team here at RD Engineering – operating across the region from our head office in Wigan.
To discuss internal wall removals, window modifications, chimney removals, building extensions, or any other structural renovations you might have in mind, call us on 01257 445 010. You can also email any questions about our services to info@rd-engineering.co.uk and we’ll be in touch with more information as soon as possible.
Happy New Year from the RD Engineering family to yours – we look forward to helping you improve your home in 2025!