How to Save Trees, Fences and Planting Protecting your garden during a renovation in the Netherlands rarely gets the attention the house does. Yet a major renovation seldom stays within the walls. Scaffolding needs ground space. Materials arrive by van.…

Dutch VAT looks simple from a distance. The standard rate is 21%. The reduced rate is 9%. Renovation work sits in between. Some work on older homes qualifies for the reduced rate. Other work, even inside the same room and…

Patio renovation in the Netherlands demands more than aesthetic choices. In a country where rain is a year-round fact and frost arrives without warning, the materials you choose and how you handle drainage will determine whether your patio lasts or…

There’s a moment every Amsterdam canal house owner recognises. You climb the steep, narrow stairs to the top floor, duck under a beam positioned for someone considerably shorter, and reach the attic. The space is there – raw, dusty, full…

The Dutch net-metering scheme is on its way out. For hundreds of thousands of solar panel owners, that changes the maths. Does investing in a home battery finally make sense, or is it still too early? For years, Dutch homeowners…

The Dutch government’s ISDE subsidy (Investeringssubsidie Duurzame Energie en Energiebesparing) pays homeowners back for installing insulation, heat pumps, solar boilers, and heat network connections. The scheme has run since 2016 and is managed by RVO (Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland). It…

Your kitchen’s been ripped out, the bathroom is a shell, and there’s dust on everything you own. At some point during a major renovation, most Dutch homeowners reach the same conclusion: we can’t live here. So what do you do…

Building on last year’s Practical Guide to Renovating Your Dutch Home (published May 2025), where we covered the basics of planning and budgeting, this 2026 edition focuses on the strategic advantages of a total renovation in today’s ultra-tight market. With…

Space is arguably the most precious commodity in the Netherlands. If you are lucky enough to own a home with a ground floor extension, you have probably spent a quiet Sunday morning gazing out of a first floor window, looking…

Picture a glossy magazine spread of a contemporary kitchen. The countertops are vast expanses of uninterrupted marble or sleek concrete. There is perhaps a single bowl of organic lemons resting next to a sculptural ceramic vase. It is serene, immaculate,…