Building or owning your own house can be a very fulfilling experience. But like everything else in this universe, our home also requires periodic maintenance and improvements. Maintaining a home and improving it in certain ways over a period of time can help you increase the value of your home. But if you ignore the maintenance, then the home is going to depreciate faster than you can imagine.
Home improvement and maintenance sounds like a complicated thing to do. But trust me; there are simple yet effective ways to improve and maintain your sweet home. If you have bought or build a new home of your own and you are wondering about how to improve and maintain the house in cost-effective manner, then I have got you covered.
Today I am sharing a few of the best and easy to implement home improvement and maintenance tips and ideas that’ll not only help you to maintain your home, but also help you to give your home a very sophisticated look. So, if you are looking for easy to apply and cost-effective home improvement tips and maintenance ideas, then here’s the post worth checking and referring to.
See, home improvement can be done in several ways. This is because preferences and liking vary from individual to individual, so what may seem great in your eyes may not be the same for another person. But, there are some general home improvement and maintenance ideas which is going to suit most of us. After all, it is your home and what you prefer is of primary importance. But if you want to increase the value of your home in others eyes as well, then it is better to play a little safe. But, if you do not care about what others are judging, then I would recommend you to listen to your heart and improve the look of your home the way you want to.
Home improvement and maintenance: here’s how to get it right
When it comes to home improvement and maintenance, long term thinking makes a lot of sense. Whether you are painting your house, or replacing the curtains, or making minor alterations, if you think about the long term implication, you will get the best results.
Home is your private property and you have every right to design and maintain it the way you want. But apart from a few fundamental things, we all have different kind of lifestyle and functional needs. Obviously, our home maintenance budget is also different and hence, there is no one fit all formula for home improvement and maintenance.
But then as I said, there are a few fundamental things which are common to every home and hence it will apply to nearly every home. Listed below are a few of the best and easy to apply home improvement tips and ideas worth knowing. But don’t take my words for it, rather choose the tricks that suits your needs and you will be good to go.
Regular inspection
Now, you must be thinking as to why I mentioned about inspecting your home when I was supposed to talk about how to improve and maintain your home? Well, the reason I mentioned is because it is not necessary that every home maintenance task will be a minor or cosmetic one. I mean if there are certain holes and cracks or other damages in your home which needs immediate repairing, that also forms a part of the home improvement. So, before getting involved in new home improvement ideas, try to do the repairing and maintenance wherever it is needed.
Sometimes small problems if go unnoticed or left unrepaired may take up the shape of a huge problem later. So it is seriously important that you do proper inspection of your home, and find out any hidden issue and defects, and get it repaired and fixed first.
You can do the home inspection on your own, but if there is anything serious, you can also take the help of professional contractors, for they are the expert and can suggest various ways and options to get it fixed.
The next important home improvement and maintenance tips have to be the cleanliness. It’s very important to keep your home properly cleaned. No matter how well decorated your home is, if your home is untidy and dirty, it is never going to look good and last longer. You need to take thorough care about the cleanliness of your home if you want your home to look good and last longer.
To make it easy, don’t ever assume that keeping it clean is your responsibility. In fact, cleanliness is for everyone and each of the family member should be mindful of where and how to dump garbage and how to keep the entire house cleaned, all the time. Make sure that every family member is equally concerned about cleanliness and they all cooperate with each other so that the work load is divided.
However, take note that it is not just the interior of your home that needs to be cleaned but also equal care must be taken for the exterior part of your home. After all, the entrance and the exterior of your home is the first thing that comes to the notice of people who visit your home or pass by it.
Here’s a detailed home cleaning schedule that can help you to keep your home clean and tidy, easily.
Declutter your home
Besides keeping your home clean, you must ensure that your home is not overstuffed with different items. This is because, if it is the case with your home, then your home is going to be very suffocating and the rooms will look smaller than their original size. So, it is important that you get rid of the items that are not useful for you, and keep the only items which you intend to use. If there are items which are not used properly, then it’s better to store it at its right place.
Your home is a place where you live peacefully. It is not a place where you can stack whatever you want to, because then it will turn no better than a storage place or a garbage disposal unit. So, please keep your home spacious and airy so that the interior looks very fresh and clean.
Paint your home
Painting is one of the important home maintenance tasks and I recommend you to not ignore to paint your home. Painting your home is not so expensive, but at the same time it is instrumental in changing the whole look of the home. However, while choosing colors, it is best if you go by the neutral colors as it appeals to a greater number of people. But, that does not mean you cannot go by the vibrant colors. If you want, you can definitely choose bright colors. Just keep in mind the purpose of that particular space.
Like, for example, bedrooms are supposed to be very comfortable and soothing and so if you choose too bright colors, it will not match with the purpose of the room. Instead, if you choose soothing colors, then your bedroom will be more relaxing and soothing. On the other hand, in portions of your home where there is more traffic and the light color may catch a lot of dirt easily, you may go for bright colors.
In case you are not sure about which color to choose to paint your home, then you may like to check this post on how to choose right paint colors for your home as that will clear out your doubts and will give you a good idea regarding what colors to choose for improving the look of your home.
Maintenance of kitchen
Kitchen is the heart of the home and so when it comes to home improvement and maintenance, we certainly cannot give it a miss. There can be several kitchen improvement ideas but, in most cases, they are a little pricey. If you got the budget, then you can definitely search for innovative kitchen modification ideas and give it a try. But, if you want to keep it simple yet make it a little different, then you can make small changes here and there in your kitchen.
Kitchen counter tops and other areas of the kitchen get wet very often and hence make sure that there are no cracks in the join and there is no leakage anywhere. Leakage in kitchen faucets or cracks in walls could lead to bigger issues and hence you should often inspect and get these issues sorted.
If you want to refresh the look and feel in your kitchen, then painting can be the easiest and best way to get it right. Change the paint color every year or so. Preferably go for an oil paint because kitchen walls catch a lot of stains and so if you have oil paints, you can easily clean it.
You can also replace garbage bin if required. You can make some changes in the arrangement of your kitchen utensils and appliances. This will surprisingly enhance the overall look and feel of the kitchen. Lastly, if needed you may buy some additional kitchen appliances which will also contribute in bringing out slight changes in the look of the kitchen and can also increase your efficiency.
Bathrooms maintenance
If your bathroom is quite old, then you can definitely think of making some changes in it to upgrade the way it looks. Besides keeping it clean, organized and leakage proof, you may think of marble or granite countertops. And, yes, do not miss out to keep a proper mirror in the bathroom along with arranging enough even lightning there.
After that, you can upgrade the bath area by installing a shower with stone surround lighting. Then, you may consider wall mounted lights as that keeps the bathroom very bright. Also, you can never ignore keeping good air fresheners there. I mean that is a must.
Now, if you want to go few steps ahead, then I would recommend installing water-saving faucets and shower-heads as well to save water. Another easy energy saver is definitely a two-button dual flush toilet. These use only a fraction of water in comparison to the regular toilets.
When talking about saving, it is worth mentioning the importance of saving energy. The thing is that when you decide to renovate your house, you should use appliances that are energy efficient be it a vacuum cleaner, washing machine, or radiator. In fact, you can be eco-friendly and save a lot of money at the same time. There are so many brands offering energy-efficient appliances. For example, you can purchase a vacuum cleaner from SharkRotator, a washing machine from Siemens, radiators from BestElectricRadiaots, etc. Also, It is important to mention that the US Department of Energy estimates a typical household can save up to 25% on utility bills with energy efficiency measures, which amount to 2,200 USD annually.
Entrance of the house
Entrance of your house can make or break the overall impression on your guests and hence you must keep it up to date. The entrance of the house must be maintained and beautifully decorated. You can design it the way you like, but make sure that it must be at par with the design of the entire house.
You can get some ideas to decorate your entrance from the net or may take the help of a professional interior decorator. Just try to keep it simple and elegant. Too much clumsiness or too much of decorative items at the entrance of any home generally gives a feeling of the inside of the house being shabby, so take note of that while decorating and improving the entrance of your house.
Flooring
Home improvement and maintenance will remain incomplete if you are not putting any effort to improve the flooring of your home. You do not have to spend lots of money on flooring, but even simple flooring upgrades like using designer tiles, repairing damaged floor boards, using a good area rug or changing your carpet etc. can help in giving your home a whole new and surprisingly great look.
However, you must keep in mind that your flooring must complement the overall design of your entire home. Here’s a detailed post on how to choose the best flooring for your home, that I recommend you to check.
Correct lighting
One of the easiest and innovative home improvement tips and ideas that you can use to improve the overall look and feel of your sweet home is by using correct lighting. Proper lighting creates a lot of difference in the way your interior space looks. However, not all spaces require the same kind of lighting or the same brightness. So, the first suggestion that I would like to give you is to use light control dimmers on the switches. This not just adds a lot of drama but is energy efficient as well.
In case of bathrooms, I feel that warm lights are the best, so you may go for wall-mounted up lights instead of the overheated bulbs. For the dark corners, you may use the LED under-cabinets lighting.
However, natural lights are the best and so you must take efforts to keep your rooms naturally bright and airy. For that keeping your windows open a little longer is the first thing that you must do as that will enable the outside light and air to come inside. For more ideas on how to naturally light up your home, you can refer to my post on it.
Balcony
I personally believe that each home must have a balcony as that kind of brings your home closer to nature. And, if the surrounding of your home is beautiful, then having a balcony makes even more sense. Trust me; balconies increase the beauty of both the interior and exterior of a home. Also, many of us have the habit of staring at the outer space especially the night sky and so if you have a balcony, this purpose will also get served.
Well, I am not asking you to have a big balcony, even if there is space for two people to stand there, I feel that is enough. Now, you can enhance the look of the balcony with some hanging flowers or potted plants etc. You may keep few chairs and cushions there so that you can spend some time sitting there whenever you feel like. The more beautiful your balcony is the more beautiful will be the view of your exterior home.
Walls
Besides painting them with the right colors, you must also try to have proper wall decor as your walls contribute a lot in making your interior space look beautiful. It is best if you could keep your wall decor simple yet sophisticated. The reason I mentioned it is I have seen homes where the walls are too overcrowded with wall hangings, photos, calendars etc. I mean too much items on the wall does not look nice, instead it gives a clumsy look to the entire room. Therefore, keep minimal but beautiful items on your walls as that will make the walls prettier.
And if you are open to experiments, then you can make your rooms prettier by decorating one side of the wall with innovative wall art designs like floral patterns, wooden wall designs etc. I mean if you search the net, you will get thousands of designs. Just choose the one that you think best suits you.
Use right curtains
Curtains enhance the beauty of the interior space and so, you can never ignore its importance. But, buying the right kind of curtains is important as if you choose the wrong ones; it may dampen the whole beauty of your room. Basically, you need to choose curtains that will go with the entire look of the room. The length, size, fabric, color, curtain rods, accessories all are important and so you must choose carefully.
Well, the older your home gets, the smaller your closet looks. In other words, your collection of clothing increases and, most of the times you run short of storage spaces. And, that is just the beginning of your whole home turning into a storage space. So, before the condition worsens, you may consider increasing the size of your closet for more convenience. In fact, you can decide to have separate closet for each family member as well if you have got space to do that.
Decorate with antique
If you want to make your home unique from the rest, then you may consider decorating with antique decorative elements. This is because if you have a rare and antique collection of items, it will automatically improve the value of your home. Obviously, rare items are found rarely and so you need to dedicate time searching for them. Moreover, it will not happen overnight, you will need years to make your own antique collection but once you have it, it will definitely act as treasures and make your home look beautiful.
Home garden
Gardening is a good to have passion, and if you like gardening, then nothing like that. If you got some space in front of your home, you can definitely maintain a beautiful home garden. Home garden can improve the whole look of your home. If you plant colorful trees in the garden, then the surrounding atmosphere of your home will look very bright and colorful. Also, the lingering aroma of the flowers will be very refreshing. Moreover, having plants in your garden will also help reduce the noise, pollution and also keep your home cool during the scorching summer days.
However, if you do not have space in front of your home, then you may try keeping house plants at home as that will increase the beauty of your inner space as well as keep the indoor air purified. You may also keep plants in small tubs in your patio or on both sides of the entrance door to increase the beauty of the exterior home.
But, yes, if you are keeping plants in your home or maintaining a garden, then make sure you do the cleaning properly. I mean if your yard is untidy, your home will look very shabby, so please maintain it. Here’s a detailed post on how to maintain garden at home that you may like to check.
Over to you: how do you maintain your home?
Your home needs to be taken care of time to time in order to keep it in good shape. Whether it is fixing the damages to incorporating small changes, you need to maintain your home properly. However, if your home is old enough and you want to give it a new look then you may like to try some of the surprisingly easy to implement home improvement ideas that we have discussed above.
Of course, there is no end to home improvement ideas but the hacks that we have discussed above can easily help you to improve and maintain your home.
However, the condition of each home can easily vary and hence while maintaining or renovating your home, you should always think of the long term implications. Like, for example if your home does not require a particular change because that is already in good shape, then you can easily skip it. So, my suggestion will be to properly inspect your home first and then make any improvement or changes.
I hope my home improvement tips and ideas will be of great help for you. In case you know any other cost-effective way of maintaining and improving a home, then feel free to share that with us.
And, please share me the feedbacks and also share your favorite hacks and ideas for home improvements and maintenance. I will also like to hear about your favorite home improvement and maintenance tips.
See, home improvement can be done in several ways. This is because preferences and liking vary from individual to individual, so what may seem great in your eyes may not be the same for another person. But, there are some general home improvement and maintenance ideas which is going to suit most of us. After all, it is your home and what you prefer is of primary importance. But if you want to increase the value of your home in others eyes as well, then it is better to play a little safe. But, if you do not care about what others are judging, then I would recommend you to listen to your heart and improve the look of your home the way you want to.
