A home remodel presents an opportunity to enhance the value of the home with high-end upgrades. However, many homeowners wonder if remodeling features advertised as luxury items are worth the cost and labor. Some remodeled fixtures and styles will stand the test of time and improve the lives of people living in the home, while others become outdated as new trends emerge.
We’ve gathered a list of high-end home remodel features that are excellent investments; they elevate the lifestyle of the home while maintaining value beyond the initial trend.
Custom Cabinet Work
Custom cabinetry has a timeless charm precisely because it is customized to the distinct needs of the spaces it occupies. Recent trends in sustainable wood materials, natural wood grains and finishes, and vertical cabinet designs can help homeowners and designers achieve a more modern space without sacrificing its timeless appeal. Decades from now, natural wood cabinets with built-in shelves, inlays, and custom panelling will hold their value while enhancing the daily routines of the home’s residents along the way.
Upscaled Kitchens
The kitchen has always been the heart of the modern home, but recent trends have reasserted it as a multifunctional space for socializing, working, and recreation, making it even more important to design well. Modern upscale kitchens include not only professional appliances and islands but also integrated seating, custom cabinetry, inlays, and other millwork.
Some trending ideas in gourmet kitchens that will retain their value over time include warming drawers, hidden pantries, integrated appliances, built-in shelves, and custom lighting schemes that emphasize work areas, accentuate natural light, and lead to more usable and luxurious spaces.
Luxury Bathrooms
Another room that can be remodeled with confidence in the investment is the bathroom, especially in the master suite. Modern high-end bathrooms are more than just functional living spaces for daily routines. They’ve become spa-like, vacation-oriented luxury spaces that combine modern luxury fixtures, millwork, and design trends to create rooms that people will want to use. In the current housing economy, the right master bathroom can sell a whole house.
For example, curbless walk-in showers with tiling or natural stone and premium fixtures can turn an amenity into a centerpiece. Freestanding tubs have taken the place of shower/tub combos as symbols of bathroom luxury. Heated stone flooring, under-cabinet lighting, custom dual vanities, and natural light integration can transform bathrooms into high-end spaces.
Energy Efficiency
Energy efficiency upgrades are popular and desirable remodels that offer practical benefits, including a lower environmental footprint and higher energy cost savings, while also adding emotional value to the home through sustainable living trends. These investments, such as energy-efficient appliances, reworked HVAC systems, LED lighting, natural lighting enhancements, door and window sealing, energy-efficient glass, and more, will remain selling points for many years to come as energy prices continue to rise and homebuyers seek more environmentally conscious properties.
Architectural Features
The right architectural features can be worth the long-term investment, provided they enhance the natural appeal of the home. Layered lighting designs can be implemented to change the feel of a space, even its perceived size, using statement pendants, integrated lighting accents, and other fixtures to highlight the architecture. Other features can be incorporated from millwork and stone work, such as accent walls, integrated seating pieces, or style accents, to renew the appeal of the architecture through remodeling techniques rather than full-blown renovations.
Smart Technology
Smart technology investments can hold their value when done properly because they add luxury and functionality at the same time. The potential risk is that the smart technology becomes outdated, which is why these upgrades should be chosen selectively. Examples of smart applications that hold their value include smart temperature systems that can be set based on the residents’ habits, smart-controlled heated bathroom floors, smart sprinkler systems, and smart air and water quality controls.
Outdoor Upgrades
Luxury home remodels often include outdoor spaces to add luxury and value to other aspects of the property. Adding or remodeling a deck or patio can make the home feel larger while adding aesthetic value. Other upgrades that are worth the investment for those with the space to accommodate them include outdoor kitchens and dining areas, outdoor living rooms, integrated fire pits, built-in appliances, and pool upgrades.
Take Your Home to the Next Level with Luxury Remodels that are Worth the Effort
Not all remodels are worth the time, money, and effort. Many expensive upgrades attempt to capitalize on trends without accounting for the long-term value of the investment. Our goal at Southern Maryland Kitchen & Bath is to help homeowners contextualize their home remodels with the luxury fixtures, architecture, and materials that will make their ideas worth the investment. Rather than completely changing the home, many of these upgrades simply accentuate and revalue the home’s best structures and features.
Contact our team today and schedule a consultation to learn how our in-house team of designers and contractors can help you plan and execute the high-end remodel with the best return on investment.
