Decorating A Buy To Let For Animals and Children
If you have purchased a property for renting out or redecorating an existing property, the décor needs to not only reflect your target market, but also protect your investment for the future. If you have brought a home and thinking of renting out to families and pet owners there are specific décor designs to also consider.
Flooring
Pets, especially cats and dogs will malt and the job of hoovering for the tenant and for the home owner after the tenancy has ceased can be tedious. Laminate flooring is easy to clean with muddy paws being wiped away rather than cleaning and scrubbing carpet. It is also more cost effective than real wood flooring.
Wood and laminate can expand as the temperature within a home rises. This can cause the floor to lift and leave gaps from the flooring. It is important to remove any skirting board from previous flooring before laying your laminate otherwise you will have to cut and fit the laminate to the skirting board, this will cause problems if you have to change the skirting later. Ensure you also use beading to finish off the look and keep hairs from setting between the flooring and skirting board.
The kitchen also needs suitable flooring to not only accommodate the heavy foot traffic, but also the fact that pets claws can affect certain flooring. The option of ceramic floor tiles are ideal, as these can withstand heavy foot traffic aswell as pets claws, whereas vinyl flooring can lead to scratches and therefore ruined.
Cat Flaps and Doors
If you have brought a property with a cat flap it might a good idea to leave it there. If you intend to use the property afterwards for pets make sure the cat flap can be locked from the inside. Not all tenants will have a cat and make request the addition of a cat flap. This is something that can be resolved with the tenant though.
Kitchen Cupboards
When installing a kitchen for a rented property, make sure the doors are easy to keep clean. Avoid cupboard doors with grooves and exquisite detail as small children can get messy and when it comes to eating or playing, those grooves are a great place for food to get stuck.
Ensure that you correctly fit plinths to the kitchen cupboards. This will ensure that food, spillages and pet hairs are not going to end up at the back of the kitchen cupboard units and will attract vermin. A waterproof strip on the edge of the plinth will prevent any water spillages from seeping into the plinth itself.
Jacey has brought her first home and is also redecorating an existing house for renting. Her experiences with buying a home and getting into DIY projects is what started the idea for her DIYHomeAdvice blog. She is a keen DIY enthusiast and likes to share top tips on decorating both a new home and existing one for renting.
