#TuesdayTips – make your new home fall in love with you

Putting a little St Valentine-related theme to this week’s #TuesdayTips, we look at ways in which the proudest homeowner can get back some love from the home they are looking after so fastidiously.

Dress to impress

Don’t we all feel better and behave better when we’re wearing our finest attire? Especially if the outstanding garment was a gift? With a new build home offering a blank canvas, put some thought into investing in something a little special – some beautiful blinds, a striking rug, feature wallpaper or eye-catching artwork, perhaps – and bring a stylish hotspot to enhance every visit to a room – even the smallest one.

Safe as houses?

With the latest crime statistics showing significant falls in burglary since a peak in the mid-1990s, there should be no less consideration given to the potential for your property to be at risk from a crime. It will thank you for looking at more traditional security measures – high-quality locks to gates, doors and windows – and be even more grateful if you look at some of the techie options now available, such as sensors, cameras and ‘smart’ entry systems.

Don’t be mean, keep it clean!

Your new build home purchase may well have been inspired by an immaculate show home. Whichever way you decorated it when you moved in, a well-tended home can keep you, and it, feeling that little bit special. A regular going-over with brooms and mops will leave you feeling swept off your feet, too. Looked-after floors, tiles and worktops will shine on you, and the excellent level of storage found in new builds today means there are plenty of chances to keep unsightly tat out of the way. While Office of National Statistics figures suggest some couples need to reconsider who does what, good housekeeping keeps everyone feeling good.

Lookin’ for some hot stuff?

What has made any of us feel better on some of this winter’s coldest days than an enveloping hug from a loved one? An old home might not return the warmth of your love very easily, but the energy efficiency of today’s new homes means that the price to pay to keep one comfortably cosy all year round is surpisingly low, especially via the increasingly common underfloor heating that also rids a room of the inconvenient imposition of a radiator. Keep the thermostat just right so that your home can cuddle you in any corner.

Preparing for the worst

In the same way that if we value our loved ones, we may take out a life insurance policy or critical illness cover to ensure they are in a comfortable financial position if the worst happens to us, buying a new build home is equally considerate to the building as it will be covered by a new homes warranty, which means compensation and the ability to get it back to its best if any major elements let it down in the first ten years.

How does your garden grow?

These days, some people may prefer to remove most of or even all their lawn – especially, reputedly, in Brazil and Hollywood. There are also some who leave their personal recreation area rather unkempt – something more commonly seen in the 1960s and 1970s – and potentially a little embarrassing in these modern times, especially when an unexpected guest calls and wants to spend some time nestled in it. There’s no need to go to either extreme – just take a weekly look at what’s growing there and give it a little trim, mechanically or manually. Your home’s elegance can only be enhanced with a beautifully pruned patch, and you’ll spend more time within it.