You can add your personal touch and make the area functional for you and your family by renovating your home. Consider what would make your life simpler and what you really want. You might want to add a conservatory, expand your family kitchen/dining area, or add another room to the loft. Here are some ideas to help you love where you live again while still adding value.

The most common technique to increase value is to add a room. A bedroom will bring in the most money, but it may also result in a more peaceful life for everyone living in the same house. This might be a loft conversion or an addition to your current structure.

Making the transition to wooden floors could be an easy way to give your house a clean, modern appeal.

Or how about a garden makeover with new decking or patio for a designated seating area and fences or trees for privacy?

Carpets are often forgotten as part of our cleaning routines, but how often should we have our carpets cleaned? Carpets are a haven for dust mites and can be a breeding ground for bacteria. If you have children or pets, keeping the carpets clean is essential. If you have allergies, keeping the carpets clean will help to keep your allergies under control.

The best way to maintain the health of your carpet is to have it professionally cleaned at least once a year. A professional cleaner will use a cleaning system that uses hot water extraction and steam cleaning to thoroughly deep-clean your carpeting, rugs and upholstery. The hot water extraction method will capture dirt and grime. In contrast, the steam cleaning method will penetrate deep into the carpet fibres loosening embedded soil and other contaminants.

The last step is to extract the dirty water from your carpet with powerful vacuums, leaving it looking new again!

Red wine can be tricky to deal with, and time is of the essence when it comes to removing it from your carpet. Here is a step by step guide to removing the stain quickly and effectively.

Using a clean white cloth, blot up as much of the red wine as you can right away. Alternate parts of the cloth to always blot using a new spot.

Pour a small amount of cool water onto the red wine stain and continue blotting. The water dilutes the red wine, making it easier to blot up. Do not pour too much water, and switch out the blotting cloth for a dry one as you work.

Mix a paste with a three-to-one ratio of baking soda to water. Apply the paste directly to the carpet stain and wait for it to dry completely before vacuuming up the dried paste.

If any stain remains, apply a carpet stain remover according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Typically, the process is to wait until the cleaning product dries and then vacuum.

Carpets made from wool are very durable and stain-resistant. The fibres have a waxed surface meaning they naturally repel dirt, meaning most stains can easily be removed using water only. Spray a mist of water onto the stain and use a white cloth starting from the edge of the stain, working inwards.

For example, if you have a mud stain, sometimes it is best to let it dry, and then it should easily vacuum out.

You could also try brushing the carpet for particularly stubborn stains. You do not want to scrub as this can damage the fibres.

If you happen to have a stain that won’t come out by using plain water, then there are specially designed wool carpet stain removers or a white vinegar and water solution.