Staying can be your best investment

When we feel like something no longer fits in our home – the space is getting too small, the design isn’t working, the rooms and bathrooms no longer fit – the first thing we think is, “We need to move to another apartment.”
But with skyrocketing housing prices and limited supply, what seemed like a solution can become another problem.

More and more people are finding that renovating their current apartment is a more practical, more sustainable and more logical alternative to jumping into buying a new home. Not only economically, but for something more important: because it improves your life without giving up your home.

In Sezam Studio we accompany many families who come to our studio with a similar doubt:
Should we move or renovate? And, in many cases, when we analyze the needs well, we see that what they really want is not a new house… but a new way of living the one they already have. Let’s see why:

1. You know your neighborhood. And that is priceless.

You know where to have a good coffee, the neighbors greet your children by name. You are close to school, you have the subway nearby, or that bakery that opens early on Sundays.
Moving out means rebuilding all these ties.

Renovating your current apartment allows you to evolve without breaking with your environment. You are still in a place that suits you, but with a new space that adapts to how you want to live now.

2. You do it to your liking. Without concessions.

Buying a “ready to move into” apartment sounds good… until you realize that:

• It doesn’t have the storage you need.
• The layout doesn’t fit your routines.
• The materials don’t suit you.
• And renovating over the newly renovated… doesn’t make much sense.

When you renovate, from the beginning, everything starts from your real needs. Every decision has a reason. Distribution, materials, light, storage, style… You make it yours from minute one.

3. You save much more than you think you will

Changing your home does not only mean paying more. It also implies:

• Transfer Tax or VAT (depending on whether it is second-hand or new).
• Notary fees, registration, mortgage, agency…
• Moving, the registration of supplies, unforeseen expenses and “this does not fit here”.

In an integral reform, on the other hand, you have a planned budget and an investment that stays in the house you chose at the time for all those reasons that you still love today, not in paperwork or in other people’s pockets. And in addition, you revalue your property.

4. It is a more sustainable option

By rehabilitating your home, you avoid new construction, you take advantage of the existing structure and you can improve its energy efficiency with insulation, windows, installations and low-consumption systems.

It is a concrete way to take care of the planet and your economy in the long term. Because a more efficient house is also a house that spends less.

5. You keep your history… and you transform it.

Maybe your apartment was your first home. Or the place where you watched your children grow up. Or where you spent many important stages.

Moving sometimes implies leaving behind an emotional part that we are not always willing to let go of.
Renovating, on the other hand, is a way to reconcile past and future, to keep what is essential and renew what no longer fits. To resignify the place where you live… and make it yours again.

Attic reform with terraces where we analyze the space, natural light and orientation to obtain the best distribution in each room.

¿Do you really need more meters… or just a better layout and design?

Many times it is not about space, but about use. How it is distributed, illuminated, used. An integral reform allows to think the space with head and calmly, to adapt it to your life today, and to multiply its possibilities without needing to change residence.

Because the ideal home is not always outside. Sometimes, you already have it. It just needs to be redesigned to accompany you and serve you better.

The best decision may be in-house

Buying a new apartment may sound attractive, but it also has implications that don’t always pay off. Renovating your current home is not a second choice: it is a well thought-out first decision. A way to revalue your property, take care of your environment and create a home that suits you, without giving up your history.

At Sezam Studio, we live it every day: homes that change radically without moving from one place to another. And clients who, when they finish, tell us: “It looks like another house… but it’s still ours”.

Find out how to transform your current home with a custom-made integral reform. See projects.