When you want to improve your home quickly, there’s nothing like a DIY upgrade to do the trick. Whether you want to undertake one project or many, you can turn your house from frumpy to fabulous in no time once you know what to do.
1. A Coat of Paint
Whether you refresh a room by covering tired paint with another coat of the same color or perform a total redo by changing the shade altogether, painting is an easy upgrade that pays off big time. Peruse your choices at the local hardware store and choose the shade that best expresses your vision.
2. Replace the Entryway Lamp
It doesn’t take long for the magnificent chandelier that you installed a few years ago to become dated. Since the entryway gives visitors to your home their first impression, ensure that the light fixture that greets them is new and modern instead of stuck in the past.
3. Shutter the Windows
Installing shutters on the inside of your home’s windows is an upgrade that performs double duty. Closing the shutters on sunny days will lower your cooling costs, while closing them at night will preserve your privacy. Shutters also add a cozy look that goes beyond boring curtains or drapes.
4. Refinish Kitchen Cabinets
Since most people don’t replace their kitchen cabinets regularly, it’s easy for these storage units to become out of style over time. Instead of ripping them out and replacing them with new ones, simply paint or refinish them to give your kitchen a crisp, clean look.
5. Replace Countertops
After years of abuse, it’s easy for countertops in the kitchen and bathrooms to become worn and in need of replacement. Leave the supporting cabinetry in place and choose affordable replacement countertops to completely change the look of these rooms that are among the most used in the house.
6. Upgrade Appliances
As your appliances age, they not only fade out of style, they lose efficiency as well. Opt for newer models that perform more effectively and save you money by lowering your energy costs. Instead of replacing all appliances at once, start with the oldest ones or those in need of repair and replace them one or two at a time.
7. Add Landscaping Plants
Curb appeal counts when it comes to the value of your home. View your yard with a critical eye and see where you can make improvements. If purchasing new plants for the outdoors is beyond your budget, divide your perennials and create new beds with the surplus plants.
8. Refresh the Caulking
There’s nothing more aging to a home than cracked, dingy, discolored caulking around the sinks and tubs. Get out your caulking gun, insert a tube of waterproof caulking and slowly follow the lines that are already in place to give your kitchen and bathrooms a fresh new look.
9. Replace the Thermostat
If you don’t have a programmable thermostat in your home, it’s time to get one. A quick, easy job, replacing a regular thermostat with a programmable one will save you money by letting you adjust the temperature of your home with the touch of a button.
10. Clean Decks and Walkways
Peeling paint on decks and ground in dirt and debris on walkways gives your home a shabby, unkempt appearance that implies the people who live there just don’t care. Power wash decks and walkways or scrub them clean with soapy water and a scrub brush to refresh the exterior area of your home.
As you can see, upgrading your home doesn’t have to be difficult. By choosing the projects that mean the most to you and tackling them, you’ll quickly give your house the facelift it needs and bring it forward from the pitiful past into the priceless present.