Department
House & Garden
Practical notes on making a house feel and work better — the upgrades worth paying for, planning a renovation before a builder is booked, outdoor rooms, and home technology that stays useful.
By Thomas Lovas Lokoy, Co-founder & Editor · Updated 28 September 2026
A house is judged by what you touch: the weight of a door, the light in a room at seven in the evening, the water pressure, the sheets, the step down to the terrace. None of that needs a builder to improve, and most of it costs less than people fear. The rest — the real works — goes better when it is drawn before it is quoted.
Not sure where to start? The Home Upgrade Finder asks six questions about your house and points you to the one change most likely to be worth it.
Start here
House & Garden
Luxury Home Upgrades That Feel Expensive, Without a Renovation
A handful of considered changes to light, touch points, textiles and edges read as high-end more than a full remodel does. Here is where to spend first.
6 min read · Updated 17 October 2026
Everything in House & Garden
Smart Home Technology for Large Homes: What Is Worth Wiring In
Smart-home technology earns its place in a large home when it does three jobs well: security, resilience and lighting. Most of the rest is optional.
Outdoor Living, Done Properly: A Garden and Terrace Guide
Furniture, materials, lighting and planting choices that turn a garden or balcony into the best room of the house, and the maintenance question that decides all of them.
Tools we link to
Tools and makers for the house and garden, in one place. These are affiliate links: if you buy, NorwegianSpark SA may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. They never decide what we write — how we are paid.
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Coohom
An online 2D/3D floor planner and interior-design tool with photorealistic room rendering.
Drawing a house as it is and as you want it, before an architect or builder quotes.
Partner · affiliate link
Homestyler
A browser-based home-design platform for floor plans, 3D room layouts and renders.
A second planning tool worth comparing with Coohom on catalogue and render speed.
Partner · affiliate link
SwitchBot
Small smart-home devices — switch pushers, curtain motors, locks, sensors and hubs — that retrofit without rewiring.
Making an existing house, or a let one, controllable without opening walls.
Partner · affiliate link
Best Choice Products
A US retailer of home and outdoor furniture, garden and leisure products.
Furnishing a terrace or garden quickly; not a substitute for a design house.
Partner · affiliate link
GroundLuxe
Organic-cotton bedding and sheets.
The bedroom — the room where textiles are felt every night.
Partner · affiliate link
Anthbot
Robot lawn mowers, sold through Anthbot's official EU store.
Keeping a lawn cut at a house that stands empty for weeks at a time.
Partner · affiliate link
Gardenista
Garden and patio seat cushions, made to order in Birmingham, UK.
Refitting terrace and garden seating to size rather than buying off the shelf.