Many people look at the option of letting a house out in order to make more money. If you can get it right, it’s a great investment because you’re earning money while your house stands there, paying off the mortgage with the rent paid by your tenants. At the end of the mortgage term, if you’ve got it just right, your tenants should have paid off your mortgage for you, leaving you with some extra cash in the meantime and a house.

However, when it comes to decorating a house for renting, especially for students, there are a few things to avoid, and a few things to make sure you do.

We say students, because students are ideal tenants. They’re not in the property all year round, allowing you access for maintenance, and you can charge them more because of the multiple occupancy.

So when decorating for students, remember that they are young, they’ll have parties, and those parties can impact your furniture. So keep your décor cheap, your carpets cheap and your furniture cheap.

Students also need their privacy, so locks on the bedroom doors would be a good idea, and as many en-suites as you can manage. You should also work on the assumption that every bedroom is worth more money to you, so if you can get an extra room out of a three-bed house, you’re more likely to let it, and for more money.

As the world is currently in the midst of a global financial crisis, many people can’t afford to move home as selling would mean losing money on their house. If you’re tired of your current home though, and you feel you need to live somewhere else, you could try taking out a loan redecorating your current abode.

This doesn’t just mean throwing up some wallpaper and getting some new carpet, there are things you can do that will add real value to your home.

Firstly, square footage means more value. It’s a simple rule of thumb. If you have the garden space you’d be well advised to consider an extension on your house, either a one storey or two storey. By adding space to your property, you’re adding value. If you take out a short-term loan, the return on investment can be huge, as long as you pay off any homeowner loans quickly.

Secondly, bedrooms mean more money. If you have a three bedroom house and a sizeable loft, converting the loft into a fourth master bedroom with an en-suite will add a considerable amount of value to your home, and give you more space to live. This can be expensive, so take a look at what loans are available if you don’t have the cash, you can get some quite good deals if you can repay the debt rapidly.

You could always opt for a new kitchen or bathroom, though these won’t add any real value to your property, they will increase its saleability though.

When your decorating a room for a child there are a few things you’ll need to take into consideration that need to be done differently from decorating any other room in your house. Decorating a child’s room isn’t more difficult, but you do have do some things differently.

Here are a few things to consider when decorating a room for a child.

Wallpaper
You’ll want to make sure that the wallpaper is wipe clean, as children have a habit of doing some impromptu decorating of their own when no one is looking. If you buy regular wallpaper it will be very difficult to clean.

Shelving
With shelving there are two important things to consider. Firstly, you don’t want a high shelf or bookcase because the child won’t be able to reach it and this will mean they’ll try (as all children do) and will end up climbing on something to get to it. Secondly, you should ensure that any bookcase or shelf is attached to the wall. When your child inevitably climbs on the bookcase, you don’t want it coming down on top of them.

These are just a few tips on decorating a room for a child to live in.

You don’t just decorate your house to make it look nicer to live in; sometimes you have to decorate it in order to sell it. This may seem strange, decorating a property that you plan on selling, but it can be necessary in order to achieve a sale. Especially in the current housing market, with sales hard to come buy and the market favouring the buyer, a well decorated and presented house can make all the difference in terms of a sale, or a failed sale.

This doesn’t mean you should spend thousands renovating your house though. If you’re decorating to sell you want to set yourself a small budget and stick to it. Identify the areas that need work, and make sure whatever changes you make, you keep in neutral. Keep your own personal tastes out of any decisions and cater your property what you believe your buyer might be looking for.

This means you should paint walls light colours, preferably white, and keep the carpets light. Tidy away clutter and anything personal, including photos. If you have pictures of your family throughout the house, a potential buyer will struggle to picture themselves in your house.

Just remember that after decorating it is vital you clean up effectively after yourself. Sometimes it is worth hiring professional cleaners. This can be done quite easily just look up upholstery cleaning London on the internet (or whatever town/city you live in) and you can find the best services in your area.

There are many things you could do yourself to improve your home, without the need to hire a professional decorator or craftsman. One of the things that is very easy to do yourself is laying a new floor.

Now, I know that sounds difficult, but it’s actually very easy. As easy in fact as applying stickers to a book (and most people have done that at some point). In most DIY shops, including B&Q, you can buy very cheap self adhesive floor tiles. These floor tiles usually come in packs of 6 and offer you the chance to lay a laminate or wood effect floor for as little as £20.

Before you lay the tiles you need to make sure that the floor is level. Remove any nails, pins, bits of paint or anything that causes the floor to appear bumpy - this step is important for Safety Flooring. Then you need to start applying your tiles, but start in the middle of the floor, not against the wall. Walls aren’t always level, and using the wall as a guide could cause your floor to be uneven.

Then you apply the tiles around the ones you have already laid, before reaching the walls and skirting, where you need to cut your tiles with a metal ruler and a sharp knife to get them to the right size to fill the sides.

Carpet cleaning can often be a sensitive subject for many. Almost every household has a stain on the carpet somewhere. Usually it is a bit of red wine or food from having friends and family around.

You may have tried to scrub it up with a bit of water and soap at the time, but it never really fully went away. Stains can be an annoyance as you might find that when you have visitors you worry if they will see it.

There are generally two methods of cleaning your carpet, do it yourself or outsource it to professional cleaners. The former is obviously much cheaper and quicker. You can do it in your own time and can choose how clean you want the carpet.

However, hiring carpet cleaners has its perks too. They will ensure that any stains are removed completely and also clean with products that will protect your carpet in the future, allowing your carpet to look newer longer. Not only that but they also clean with products and techniques that won’t damage your carpet during the process of cleaning it. Adversely, you can easily accidentally spoil the quality of your carpet or even burn it slightly if you use the wrong products or use cleaning solutions in the incorrect quantities or concentration. Another perk is finding services for carpet cleaning in London or similar large cities is much easier due to the high demand, as a result the prices tend to be more competitive too.

Ultimately it is up to you to decide, if the stain is small and faint you can probably get away with self-cleaning. But if the carpet is getting dirty all over and has significant stains, outsourcing may be the key.