The trick with any improvement is to make it suit the property. The price bracket of fi xtures and fi ttings must match the price bracket of the property. If you are living in a modest, twobedroom terrace in the lower-to-middle end of the market, there is no point installing posh brand-name taps in bathrooms. Instead, use the substantially cheaper ‘look-alikes’ that are available. However, if you are doing up a luxury house at the top end of the market, then use the ‘real thing’. Buyers forking out higher sums will not expect skimping on items like this. Equally, do not overdevelop. Carrying out a major basement conversion in a small house with a petite sitting room and only a couple of bedrooms could make it bottom-heavy. A house has got to feel balanced and the rooms need to be in proportion.

–Phil