You should put as much care and consideration into a rental property that you put into your primary home. Though it may feel like Out of Sight, Out of Mind, maintaining and even improving your rental property has 3 significant benefits. It saves money over time on repairs, it attracts better tenants and keeps them renting longer, and it increases the value of your investment.
Owners generate income in one of two ways: rental income and capital gains. Completing a long-lasting project can help you achieve both financial goals. The question is not whether you should improve the value of your rental home. Instead, the question is what should you do to accomplish your goal.
One area of a home that often gets overlooked is the bathroom. The team of property managers at Utopia Management offer up these five tips on how to enhance the appearance and functionality of a bathroom.
Stay Neutral
No, we are not talking about staying neutral when it comes to what should be done to the bathroom. A neutral bathroom design is about going with white as the primary color on the walls. White plays well off both natural and artificial light, as well as lightens the ambiance in a room that most people look at more for functionality than aesthetic purposes.
A bathroom painted all-white produces the optical illusion of creating more space. White is a timeless color that complements virtually every type of bathroom design. You can go with a bold color theme around the vanity or a lighter colored design for the floor, and white works well with both design options.
Expand the Storage Space
No other room presents more of a storage problem than a bathroom. Its typically smaller size and lack of areas to store stuff make storing grooming products a huge hassle. The answer to the storage woes is expanding the space that is devoted to storage.
Start with Vertical Cabinets
Horizontal bathroom cabinets are part of the reason why space is at a premium. You can snugly fit a vertical cabinet in a tight horizontal space and keep your toiletries within arm’s reach of the bathtub. Vertical cabinets also offer more of a symmetrical look than horizontal cabinets.
Drawers Under a Cabinet
Storing the small stuff can be frustrating in a bathroom. Items fall from the vanity and land literally in the toilet. Adding drawers to cabinets generates more storage space, especially for knick-knacks such as combs and unused toothbrushes.
Attach Hooks
As an affordable way to add more space, hooks allow your tenants to hang towels, toiletry kits, and other items that come with attachments. You can find hooks in every size and shape to match the design and configuration of the bathroom.
Make the Vanity Ground Zero for Design
When you walk into a bathroom, what is the first thing that you see? Most of us first notice the sink and the storage area that surrounds it. A vanity is considered the “face” of a bathroom, and you want to make this face shine.
Since we have decided to go with a mostly white look on the walls, adding a vanity that differs in appearance can make a bathroom pop in appearance. Of course, you want to ensure that you do more than add an attractive addition to a bathroom. Storage space is as important as the design of the sink.
Install an Affordable and Low-Maintenance Countertop
You can add a countertop to a bathroom and not drain the home improvement budget for the year. The key is to buy a countertop that is constructed with an affordable material.
Laminate
As the most affordable option, laminate offers a wide variety of colors that pair well with white walls, as well as a decorative vanity. The low-maintenance material possesses a non-porous surface that is easy to clean. Some types of laminates look like stone, which enhances the appearance of a bathroom.
Solid Surface
Solid surface is the trade name for manufactured countertop material. Highly functional because the material resists the damage caused by strong impacts, laminate can also shine in the design department. You have a wide variety of colors and patterns to choose from that complement the other design elements of a bathroom.
Quartz
At the higher end of affordability, we have the granite-mimicking stone called quartz. More rugged than granite, you can find quartz that even looks better than the popular countertop material. Quartz is highly resistant to moisture damage, which prevents bacteria from developing in a high-moisture area like a bathroom.
Let There Be Light
We have decided to paint the walls white. Now, the time has come to bring more light into the bathroom to capitalize on the white background. Placing one or more large vanity windows on a wall can reflect both natural and artificial sunlight. Replace shades with silver-tipped bulbs to increase illumination as well. If you have money in your budget and the bathroom faces directly into the sunlight for most or part of a day, then you should consider installing a window.
Improving the look and functionality of the most overlooked room in a home can help you attract tenants and enjoy an increase in property value.
