There are a few situations where you feel a need to update your house. Either you’ve moved in recently and want to put your own stamp on the place, you’re about to move out and want to increase the value of your home, or you want to freshen up your home without going anywhere.
Sometimes this calls for a complete refurbishment, but that costs a great deal of time, money, and effort. Also, it’s not always necessary to completely redo a kitchen or bathroom, and you just want to update it a bit. Here are some ways to improve your home that can seemingly transform it without putting you out of pocket.
Here are some ways to improve your home that can seemingly transform it, without putting you out of pocket.
Paint or Wallpaper the Walls
After a few years, old paint or wallpaper can start to show a bit of wear and tear. This is perfectly normal but can make your home feel shabby. Also, tastes change over time, and you might want to change how things look.
Changing the walls of a room doesn’t take any longer than a dedicated weekend at most, but it can significantly affect how a room looks and feels. Lighter, cooler paint colors can make a room feel airy and light, while darker and warmer colors can turn into a cozy, autumnal wonderland. Wallpaper can also make a home feel more homely.
In fact, you don’t necessarily need to paint every wall in the room to change its appearance drastically. Many people focus on a feature wall, painting it a bright color or using a bold wallpaper print to draw the eye. Because it’s just one wall, you can be as brave as you like without overwhelming the room.
Change Up the Doors
The front door is the first thing people see when they visit your home, and it can make an impression. But front doors tend to get a lot of punishment, meaning that a once smart and colorful door can wear away. An easy fix is to replace the front food entirely, either getting a similar design or mixing it up and plumping for something completely different.
If you don’t want to replace the door outright, you can still smarten it up and add a new look to your house exterior. A lick of paint does wonders, and you can always replace the door knocker or handle to change it even more.
As well as changing up the front door, you can also consider installing french doors for your home. French doors can work as both internal and external doors. In both cases, they are great for bringing plenty of light into your home and making it look bright and spacious.
Add an Extension or Summer House
If you are looking for a little bit of extra space, you don’t necessarily have to move to a larger house. It can be cheaper and more convenient to extend the space you already have. This is only viable if you have the outside space, but it can do wonders for your living arrangements.
Building an extension to your house is a popular idea, as you can carve out a couple of extra rooms and design them exactly how you want. Even better, the construction work will focus on that property area, which makes an extension less disruptive than other building work. Whether you need an extra bedroom, a home office, or simply additional living space, an extension might be just what you’re looking for.
Otherwise, a summer house or garden room is a wonderful way to create a little home away from home, making it ideal for a private workspace or just a nice place to hide away. You can even run utilities to your garden room, allowing it to work well as an office.
Landscape the Exterior
Whether you’re installing a summer house or not, landscaping the exterior of your home can add a great deal of curb appeal. If you go for a unique look, selling your home could be far easier as it will stand out from the others.
But you might want to make your home a nicer place to live for your family, and changing up the outside space will help with that. Depending on your family’s needs, you could introduce a pond or fountain to your garden. However, young children and pets may need to be watched around water features.
Otherwise, creating different levels in your garden can make it feel really special. Certain plants are not only beautiful but are known to attract certain insects and wildlife. Not everyone wants extra visitors, but creating these friendly spaces for bees and birds can be really beneficial to the local ecology.
Replace the Flooring
In the same vein as painting or wallpapering the walls, replacing the flooring can have a huge effect on the look and feel of your home without completely redoing a room. It does tend to take more time than painting a feature wall, but it can be absolutely worth it, especially if it has been a while since your flooring has been replaced.
There are all kinds of options to go with, and they all depend on the room type and your preferences. Carpets tend to be used for bedrooms and reception rooms, as they add a cozy element to a space. A warm, fluffy carpet is especially welcome in cooler climates and winter and feels far nicer on bare feet than on any other flooring.
Kitchens and bathrooms welcome tiles, although people in warmer climates might use them more. Tiles are cool, making them wonderful in hot summers, and they’re incredibly easy to clean.
Wood flooring is another popular choice, although many homes have laminate flooring instead. Laminate can look like either wood or tile and is both easy to clean and inexpensive. However, many people prefer the natural look of wood flooring.
Adding a large rug can be a cheaper option than replacing the flooring of a whole room. Rugs make rooms feel warmer and cozier and break up rooms with large, uninterrupted floor space. They can also protect the floor from heavy furniture.