6 Affordable Renovations to Increase the Value of Your Home

Home is where you relax and enjoy fun moments with loved ones, so a welcoming and pleasing atmosphere is important. Adding cost effective and attractive changes to your home will not only be easy on the eye, but also improve the value of your home. Even if you are not wanting to sell, having a sanctuary to come home to will offer a peaceful space. Moving out clutter and touching up here and there will help.

Here are the top 6 affordable renovations for a more restful and aesthetically pleasing home.

Start with the entrance approach

  • Repaint your security gates and varnish or paint your front door.
  • Add a pot with an ornamental plant or bright flowers at your entrance.
  • Add a wonderfully crafted outdoor light.  The markets are filled with clever craftsmen that make creative fixtures from recycled metal in unique shapes.
  • Clean up your pavement. Add low maintenance plants such as succulents, acanthas or even a delicious monster.  These grow without needing much care.
  • Waterproof and paint your front wall.  It is helpful to add a row of paving against the wall, and then grow your grass or plants.  This prevents that messy splash- back of earth onto your wall after the rain.
  • Solar lights at strategic points up your path look attractive and welcoming at night

Embellish Your Exterior

Beyond the outdoor area, your exterior also creates an indelible impression. Whether you are going for a more modern or traditional style, you can do wonders with your home renovations by just giving it a new color. Repaint the exteriors with a new and fresh color that catches the eye.  If you are doing it yourself, make sure to paint evenly. Sanding the old, flaking paint before repainting, although a pest to do, is extremely important for a professional finish. Chip out old window putty and replace it with new.  Remember to allow enough time to dry before painting the window frames with enamel paint.

  • Try the colour swatch on your wall before purchasing large quantities.  Paint looks different when it has dried.
  • Pre-sand all the walls and remove the cracking putty from the window frames. Replace the putty.
  • Apply masking tape to your window glass before painting the frame but remember to remove it as soon as the paint is dry.  Don’t leave it for the next weekend otherwise it becomes impossible to pull off and leaves sticky marks on your glass… adding to the time you need to perfect your home.

Revamp Your Kitchen Basics

Speaking of minor touch-ups with significant impact, coating your kitchen cabinets with a new colour is a surefire way to upgrade your kitchen. You do not need to install a new one. Instead, decide on a colour scheme and redo the cabinets. White cabinets are more versatile if you are thinking of reselling because you can bring your colour in with the small appliances, dish towels and even kitchen curtains.  Plus, in a few years, when you are bored of the contrast, you can change it.

  • First, file the scratches away with sandpaper. Be thorough and put time into this.
  • Thoroughly remove any dirt, dust, or grease.
  • If possible, detach the hinges and handles completely,  scrub the hinges and put some money into replacing the old, tired handles with modern ones.
  • Use a primer before you coat the cabinet with the perfect paint colour.
  • For a special effect, paint them with a metallic finish like gold or copper.
  • Replace the countertops with granite if you can afford it.  Caesarstone gives a wonderful finish but if your budget won’t cover this then tile the countertops with glossy tiles.

Upgrade Bathrooms

  • Vanity or vintage mirrors are a trend in modern homes. Look for these on second-hand sites, at markets, or garage sales. Mask the mirror and spray the frame with silver spray paint.
  • Clean the grout between the wall and floor tiles. There are excellent recipes on Pinterest or online.
  • An interesting revamp for a shower door is to paint the outside a steel grey or black, to give a modern ‘industrial’ look.
  • Attach woven baskets above the vanity or toilet, to display your rolled-up towels.
  • Add a particularly attractive, crystal light fitting.

Pre-owned Furniture

  • If you must replace damaged furniture, you can source cheaper items online. Many people are downsizing or emigrating and are wanting to get rid of lovely items at reasonable prices. You can be thrifty without compromising your home’s character and style.
  • Alternatively, invest in large throws for dropping over your couches and chairs.  Choose a matching, neutral colour for the throws and bring contrast in with large colourful cushions.

Brighten it Up; with Light Fittings and Fresh Paint

  • Add quality light finishes and discrete lamps to add ambience to your home.
  • If you cannot afford to repaint the whole interior of the house, go for a contrast colour on one wall. Painting with a suede finish is particularly attractive.
  • Prepare the wall thoroughly by sanding and using a primer. This wall is a feature and needs a perfect finish.
  • Replace cornices with ornamental ones.  Nowadays cornices are made out of polystyrene- like material and are not expensive. Paint them a contrasting colour to the one used on the wall.

A Piece of Art or Two

  • Even the completely inartistic of us can create an eye- catching art piece for a wall.  Techniques such as ‘paint pouring’ are do-able and the end result is remarkable. Buy as large a paint canvas as you can, or get Masonite cut and prepare the Masonite for your masterpiece, (by painting it white). YouTube has detailed lessons on pouring techniques and you will be able to turn out an eye catching abstract as the centre feature of your wall.
  • Indoor plants are equally appealing and can be used to hide the less than attractive stain on the floor, that you haven’t yet got round to addressing.

A home that is clean of clutter is immediately more attractive, both to ourselves, as well as potential buyers. Set aside a series of weekends and , with some large cardboard boxes, start in one room and separate into 3 boxes:

  • Stuff that is old and cracked.  This will be your throw away box.
  • Stuff that you like and are loath to part with and yet you do not need.  This is your ‘for next year sort- out box’.  Store this box in the garage and diarise to go through it the following year.
  • Stuff that you will never use that someone else would love.  This is your give-away box.

Work slowly through every room in the house. You will appreciate the clean and fresh result, as well as the virtuous feeling that giving stuff away engenders.

Have fun and call me if you need help with painting and replacing tiles.

Bruce

Author: Plumbworld

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