Winter renos: The 5 best projects to start now
Starting major interior renovations in the winter can be a smart strategy. Contractors are often more available, and you get all the messy, disruptive work done long before summer arrives.
Here are five of the best renovation projects to begin during the colder months, so your home is summer-ready by 2026.
Complete Kitchen Overhaul
Winter is a great time to start a full kitchen renovation. Because contractors tend to be less busy in the early months, you’re more likely to secure reasonable lead times and attention to detail. Additionally, since the work is fully indoors, weather delays are minimal.
With careful planning and execution, you could end up with a fully functional, stylish kitchen ready in time for summer entertaining, indoor-outdoor dining, and hosting family gatherings.
Basement or Loft Conversion
Large-scale renovations like a basement or loft conversion can dramatically increase your home’s usable space, whether as a new bedroom, home office, gym, or media room. Starting during the winter offers a perfect window for structural work, insulation, wiring and drywall while the weather is poor, keeping disruption contained. Come summer, you’ll have a brand-new space ready for guests or relaxed family time indoors.
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Full Window and Insulation Replacement
Upgrading your home’s windows and insulation in winter offers immediate benefits in energy efficiency. As you heat your home, contractors can easily spot cold spots or drafts while the heating is on, ensuring a thorough job.
Better insulation and double or triple-glazed windows also mean lower heating costs this winter. For many homeowners, using secured loans for home improvement makes this kind of upgrade more affordable and manageable.
Full Lighting and Wiring Upgrade
A complete overhaul of lighting and wiring can transform how your whole home feels and functions. Since electricians are often already involved in larger renovation projects, it’s efficient to bundle a full-house lighting redesign now.
The shorter winter days also mean you’ll immediately notice and appreciate improved ambient and task lighting. And by summer, your updated electrical system will be ready for garden gatherings or evening events.
Bathroom Remodel
Like a kitchen overhaul, a bathroom remodel is mostly internal work, which makes winter an ideal time to tackle it. Completing this project before summer means you avoid being without a functioning bathroom during the holidays or when you’re hosting visitors.
By the warmer months, you could enjoy a refreshed, luxurious bathroom (perhaps one with a spa-like shower or tub) serving as a peaceful, clean sanctuary after long summer days spent outside.
Starting these renovations during the winter ensures that by the time summer 2026 rolls around, your home will be transformed. Get ready for a stylish, efficient, and comfortable home ready for whatever the season brings.
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“ I’d pivoted from a successful career as a screenwriter, director and producer working in tv and film to ‘storttelling’ online fulltime, as my former job had proved completely incompatible with motherhood”
Can you tell us a bit about the stories and how you think they’ll resonate with young readers?
The Greek Myths each have a moral behind them, and I include a section at the end of each one titled Moral of the Myth to help children understand and further explore the stories, often making parallels with well-known fairy tales which came after the myths. The ancient Greeks believed 12 powerful gods lived on Mount Olympus, but that they were as flawed and complex as the human mortals they governed over. The myths tell the stories of deities and mortals who made bad decisions, for example, the money-obsessed King Midas who turned his own child to gold before repenting, or the impulsive Icarus who failed to listen to his father and flew too close to the sun.
How did your own experiences as a parent influence the writing process, and did you draw from any specific moments or challenges?
Being a parent means having experienced emotion in its most heightened form: unconditional love, searing pain, rebellious optimism, endless ennui and more. To have access to such a vast range of experiences and emotions enables me to empathise with each character and make them more human. I also think having children and being busy means not having the luxury of procrastination because as soon as the youngest is asleep, I HAVE to write!
How do you prioritise your time and responsibilities as a working mum, and what self-care practices help you stay energised and focused?
I tend to write on the days my 3 year old has childcare (2 days a week) and when she sleeps. My older sons are at school, but they have lots of sports commitments, so after school and weekends are busy. I feel like a taxi driver most of the time. I think the pandemic gave me greater balance in my work/ parenting life as I didn’t have to commute as much as before. I also became stricter when it came to the projects I took on during my pregnancy and beyond. A former therapist once said to me, ‘You are your values,’ so I always remember what matters most to me: family and friends and making work decisions from a place of knowing what I want and need in order to be a happy and present mum first. My identity at one time relied heavily on my career. It doesn’t anymore, it’s an important part of me, but not as vital as my mental and physical health and of course my kids, husband, parents and close pals. I love running and try to do yoga from home as much as possible. I also follow a low-carb diet, which helps me feel my strongest.
And lastly, do you have any tales of ‘BROOD Moments’ where work and parenthood have collided?
My middle son was asked on live TV around the age of 4 (on the BBC) if he was happy I worked from home so he could see me more, and he said, ‘No, she can be quite annoying! ’ Ha! From the mouth of babes!
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