Small Home Renovations You Can Do

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It’s every homeowner’s responsibility to maintain the good condition of their home. However, starting a home-improvement project isn’t the easiest thing to do. It can cost a lot of time, money, and effort, which you may not have at the moment.

Still, some work is necessary to slow down or counter the decline of your home. That said, here are several small home renovations you can do to maintain and enhance your home.

Change Your Locks

If you’re moving into a new place, the first thing you should do to secure your home is to change your door locks. You can’t be certain about who else has keys to the house other than the previous owner. It’s a quick and easy job that doesn’t require many tools to do. Simply buy new locks that fit your door, and install according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

It’s vital to change your locks as soon as you notice wear and tear or you’ve noticed scratches on your doorknob. Those scratches may be a sign that someone tried to break into your house. You should also replace your locks if someone in the house lost their keys or if one of the dwellers has recently moved out.

Instead of the traditional locks, you upgrade to keyless ones that can be opened through a passcode or biometric data. This way, you won’t have to worry about calling the authorities or finding effective lockpicking tools to get into your house if you lose or misplace your keys.

Freshen Up Your Entrance

Your entrance is the first thing people notice about your house. A bright and welcoming entrance gives off the impression that the inside is well cared for and that the dwellers are friendly and harmonious.

If you want a quick fix to improve the look of your house, then you should freshen up your entrance. After years of exposure to the elements, your front door may be showing signs of wear and tear. You don’t have to replace it unless it’s unsalvageable. All your old door needs are a thorough cleaning and a new paint job.

Choose a cheery, eye-catching color, like yellow, red, or turquoise, to completely transform the look of your entrance. Then you can decorate your entrance with potted plants or flowers and possibly add some fancy sconce on each side of the front door.

Repaint Your Walls

The color of your walls can dull over time even with constant cleaning. When that happens, the best thing you can do is to give your walls a new paint job. Colors can dictate the vibe of a place.

For example, soft- or light-colored walls reflect light well, so the room looks brighter and bigger. On the other hand, dark colors absorb light, making the room look smaller and feel more intimate.

It’s not just the color you choose that matters. The sheen of the paint should also be chosen according to what’s more suitable for a certain room. There are five paint finishes you can choose from: high gloss, semigloss, satin, eggshell, and matte.

In the kitchen, where there is more heat, humidity, and mess, you should use a high-gloss or semigloss paint as both finishes are durable and easy to clean, and they also have high coverage. Matte, or flat, is perfect for an adult’s bedroom, where there isn’t much traffic or mess.

Learn more about choosing the right sheen for the rooms in your house through this helpful guide to paint finishes.

Update Your Flooring

If you have damaged tiles, dull wooden floors, or dirty carpets, it’s high time that you change or update them. Damaged or broken tiles are safety hazards while dirty carpets hide an unimaginable amount of gross things (e.g., germs, bacteria, insects, and mold). Dull wooden floors are just plain shabby.

To change the tiles on your floor, you should remove the old tiles first before laying the new ones. When choosing the tiles, you need to consider the tile size, room size, color, grout, texture, and patterns to achieve the feel and look you want.

You don’t have to replace the carpets on your floor if they get dirty. Sometimes, a good, thorough cleaning with shampoo and vacuuming can restore the look of your carpet. However, after a few years or so, your carpets will start fraying and aging. When that time comes, no amount of cleaning will restore them. The only thing you can do is replace them.

Wooden floors can be polished to restore their old shine. All you need is to thoroughly clean your wooden floors before applying wood polish on it, and you’re done!

Update Your Windows

It’s amazing what a difference new curtain fixtures can make to a room! Curtains or drapes can seem too heavy and old-fashioned, plus they block out a lot of light, even when pulled back. You could switch them out for bottom up blinds, giving your rooms a more modern, light feel.

Give Your Cabinets a Face-Lift

Old and shabby cabinets make a room look dull and dreary. Give your old cabinets a makeover with a new paint job and a shiny set of handlers. You don’t have to repaint your cabinets if you like the old color.

Like wooden floors, wooden cabinets can be restored through cleaning and applying new polish. But if there are any damages, you need to fix them before you polish your cabinets.

If you’re planning to give your cabinets a new paint job, you should choose colors that will complement the general feel of your house. Remember that dark colors will make them look smaller.

While you’re updating your cabinets, you may as well check the hinges and support to make sure that they’re all intact and working properly.

Add Lighting Fixtures

Good indoors lighting is necessary not just for seeing clearly but also for creating a pleasant atmosphere in the house. That said, you should replace burned-out bulbs in your house and add more lighting fixtures especially in the living room, the kitchen, and the bathroom.

The living room is the area where the family spends the most time in and welcomes their guests. It needs to be brightly lit to give a feeling of cleanliness, safety, and comfort. The kitchen needs good lighting for you to see clearly the ingredients, the food, and what you’re doing when you’re making food. Additionally, good lighting makes the food look more appetizing.

For your bathroom, you absolutely need good lighting so you can perform your hygiene and grooming routine with ease. You won’t know if you’ve laid your foundation too thick if your bathroom is dark.

Letting in more natural light also helps your home look clean, fresh, and airy. In the day, you should tuck in your curtains using decorative tiebacks or holdbacks and let the sunshine in.

Switch to a New Toilet

If you’re still using a toilet that’s older than you, you may way to consider switching to a new one to save water and money. Normally, installing a toilet is a job that’s best left to professional, but with an upflush toilet like the water-efficient SaniPlus, even amateur home improvers can install a new toilet.

A water-efficient toilet may cost a bit more than a standard one, but it’s more cost-effective in the long. Plus, efficient fixtures are built to last long, so you’re guaranteed to get the bang for the buck.

Final Thoughts

You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars to do some maintenance work around your house. There are small things you can DIY to keep your home looking fresh and new. From changing your looks to adding new lighting fixtures, these minor home renovation jobs can contribute much to slowing the aging of your home.

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