Authored by-Dueholm Mahoney

Being a homeowner can be a lot of work, but it is also fun and rewarding. Average homeowners should put aside about one to three percent of their home's value every year to spend on improvements. There are some ways to reduce the costs, so consider the following money saving tips while maintaining or improving your beautiful home.

Design a renovation with an eye to creating built-in storage. For example, a broom closet can be reborn into a small pantry, or you can add floor-level shelving to a coat closest for shoes and bags. If you are renovating to sell a home, the benefit of the added storage can be the deciding factor in a buyer's decision.

Do want new kitchen appliances? Is the style of your otherwise amazing refrigerator annoying you because stainless steel is where it is at? Appliance paint is available in many colors and can give your appliances a whole new look. This can dramatically improve the style of your kitchen in just a day's time.





Determine the changes that you are going to make before you start the renovation. A concrete plan is essential if you want your project to be within your budget and completed on time. Adding new work and new goals to a project that's already underway can strain your budget and your schedule much more seriously than you might expect. Contractors will be much happier if you know what you want before construction starts.

Protect the floor in any room you are going to paint. The protection will keep wet paint from ruining your carpet and floors. Layering your floor with old newspapers is an inexpensive method to protect it. You may also use plastic sheeting or a paint cloth to protect your floor from dripping paint.

Organize your home by bottling up your yarn and other delicate craft materials. Two liter bottles like those soda come in are great for storing practically everything. Remove the label, cut a slit down the side and insert your skeins or balls of yarn! Pull the loose end through the top and replace the cap to secure it.

If https://www.brookings.edu/research/gentle-density-can-save-our-neighborhoods/ are looking to replace your flooring with hardwood, consider using bamboo. Bamboo flooring has become a popular choice among homeowners because of its many advantages. Bamboo is environmentally friendly. It is exceptionally durable, and it is naturally tolerant of changes in temperature so it is highly resistant to warping. Bamboo is one of the best choices in flooring materials today.

If you travel frequently and leave your house unattended, consider installing timer lights in your home. These lights come on according to a programmed schedule - giving the appearance that the home is occupied - even when it is not. This is an effective deterrent for would-be burglars who look for unoccupied homes when hunting for potential targets.

To create a modern focal point in your living room or study, consider installing a new stone, brick, or wood mantel for the area above your fireplace. If your fireplace already has a mantel, you can have it sanded and refinished to change its look. You could also update it by staining the brick or concrete with a rich color.

If you are looking for home improvement projects that are guaranteed to raise the value of your home, you can't go wrong with a bathroom or kitchen remodel. Builders and real estate agents estimate that perfecting these rooms is likely to earn you more than 100 percent back on your investment when you put your home up for sale.

Consider painting as the first step of a project. Painting the walls and ceiling of a room can be done far easier if you do it before having new flooring installed. No matter how well you try to protect your new floor, it will be almost impossible to avoid getting paint on it.

Is your kitchen looking a little bland? One way to make your kitchen look good again is to put in new kitchen faucets. New faucets can make your kitchen really glow. Faucets add a touch of style and elegance to your home and are relatively inexpensive, making them an affordable way to add class to your home.

When planning your kitchen, make sure your stove and your refrigerator are not right next to each other. If you set them side-by-side, they will both have to work too hard. You will waste energy and get less life from your appliances with this arrangement, and neither will perform optimally.

You should never go cheap on kitchen cabinetry. The cost of quality cabinet work can seem steep at first, but remember that your cabinets will undergo tremendous amounts of abuse and any failure will be a critical one. In government housing projects, the most high-quality interior equipment, is often the kitchen cabinetry. That is how important durability and quality construction is when it comes to cabinet work.

If you plan to renovate your whole house, start small by transforming one room or area of your home and see how it turns out. If it isn't what you were hoping for, you still have time to hire help or learn how to better plan your entire renovation.

Hunt down drafts in your house around your windows and doors, and seal them with insulation or weather-stripping to make your home more energy-efficient. On paving blocks , hold a lit candle or a stick of burning incense around the edges of your doors and windows -- with the drapes tied back away from the edges -- to easily spot drafty areas as the flame moves or the smoke wafts.

By replacing the existing gutters on one's house with copper gutters they will be doing a home improvement project that enhances the appearance of their house. It can also help the value of one's house if they are ever going to try to sell the house. Most importantly though it will make one feel better about their house.

Does your home have a deck? If so, then you need to regularly inspect its water resistance. This can be done by pouring water over it after several dry, sunny days. If the wood is soaking up a lot of water, it's time to add another layer of rain repellent. Before winter comes, seal your deck to prevent long-term damage from occurring.

No matter what your budget, there are plenty of ways to get a better-looking home. Keep these tips in mind the next time you look around your house. You should easily be able to find a do-it-yourself project that will make your home feel like new again.