More home improvement ideas

"You don't have to spend a fortune on your home to make it look like a million dollar home"

Tired of your current home? Do you know what's bugging you? What would you like to change and improve? Over the last few article we have discussed numerous simple ideas to improve your home Simple home improvement tips. These ideas included How to make your home feel bigger, creating more storage Simple Ways to Improve Your House Part 1 - Creating More Space and 7 Creative Storage Ideas for Your Home and ​Creating more space in your home with extra storage. We also discussed Improving your garden adds value and enjoyment to your home. 

In this article we delve into more simple and inexpensive ways that you can improve the enjoyment of your home and the value of your house. Indeed you do not have to spend a fortune on your home to make it look like a million dollar home with some of these tricks.
​#homeimprovement #homeimprovementtips #homerenovation #homereno

Change lights and brighten up your house and even save money

"New lights can make a room lighter and brighter"

​New lights can make a room lighter and brighter, change the look of the room (often making it more modern and newer) and reduce your power bill. Older lights are often less efficient than new lights. In addition, getting rid of dark coverings and shades on lights makes lights brighter, possibly meaning that fewer lights are required.

New lights don’t have to cost a fortune. Sure, they need a licensed electrician to install. An outlay of a couple of thousand dollars can give all the rooms in your house a new look. Choosing lights for your new home
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If you add lights which are combined with a ceiling fan you can add additional cooling at a nominal extra cost. Ceiling fans come in a multitude of designs and colours which can add to the style of the house at a modest additional cost. Fitting fans with a remote control doesn’t require additional electrical wiring, only maybe a few extra timber supports in the ceiling.

Repaint and give your home a new look

"Repainting walls can instantly give your house a new look"

Repainting walls can instantly give your house a new look, especially if you select colours which are light and bright. Stay away from dark colours and stick to shades of white or pastel colours – you can always add splashes of vivid or dark accent colours to trims like window and door frames, doors, gutters, metalwork, etc, for impact. Always choose a good quality paint that will wear well and is easily cleanable. You probably don’t want to be repainting walls in your house every couple of years because they’re looking dirty or blotchy. Make sure that the paint you use is suitable for where it will be applied. Some paints are only suitable for internal use, some paint can be more easily wiped clean and other paints shouldn’t be used in wet areas. Surfaces should be properly cleaned and prepared before they’re painted.

Even some old roofs can be reinvigorated with a new coat of paint. But always check that the paint is suitable for the roof covering material, that the roof is sound and it is cleaned and dried properly before the paint is applied, and preferably get an expert to apply it – you don’t want to be falling off the roof!
For more painting ideas read 20 Front Door Colors to Improve your Home and Add Value. 

Skirtings finishing your house

"Selecting a skirting that matches your home's style and décor can give an added luxurious feel at a small cost."

Older houses usually had skirtings to neaten the edge where the walls meet the floors. Skirtings also protect walls from bumps and bashes when brooms and vacuum cleaners are used. Nowadays, many builders leave skirtings off in an attempt to save money, or they use a cheap small skirting. There’re numerous shapes and size of skirtings and selecting one that adds to the architectural design and décor of the room can immediately give the room a more luxurious feel at a small additional cost. The skirtings are available in different types of wood and even PVC.
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Just a note, it’s good practice to give the back and underside of timber skirtings a coat of paint or varnish before installing to protect the skirting from water ingress.
Normally in bathrooms use a tile skirting, or if the walls are tiled then no skirting should be necessary. Wood skirtings are never a good idea in wet areas, especially skirtings of composite wood that will swell and deform when wet.

Install new cornices – a small trim makes a difference

"Adding a new cornice can make your rooms feel more luxurious for a relatively small cost and they are easy to install."

​Where the ceiling meets the walls it’s good practice to install a cornice (moulding) which provides a neat edge and hides any difference of movement between the ceiling and the walls. The convention is to use a cove cornice, but there’s a variety of different shapes and sizes of cornice which could match the architectural style of your house. Adding a new cornice can make your rooms feel more luxurious for a relatively small cost and they are easy to install. 

Coordinate your home improvement ideas and colours

Improving your home does not have to come at an enormous expense. These ideas are all simple and economical, yet they can add value to your home. Importantly they don't have to be done all at once. However, it is important to understand what you are trying to achieve. Then ensure you coordinate your ideas and colours so that you have a coordinated finished style - a style that matches the house's architecture and your furniture choices. Equally important is to get the order of the activities right. You might want to leave painting to be one of the last tasks, so that any patches created by moving and installing new lights are painted over.

Remember sometimes less is more - so you might avoid intricate and detailed colour schemes, lights, or cornices and ceiling features.

​In our next article we consider a few more renovation ideas which shouldn't break the bank.

​This is an extract from the author's book  'An Introduction to Building and Renovating Houses: Volume 2 - Finding Your Ideal Property and Designing Your Dream Home' 
​© 2022 This article is not to be reproduced for commercial purposes without written permission from the author.

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"Great for those that DIY. Very helpful in home renovations!" said a Reader on Amazon.com

Want to learn more about designing, renovating and building houses?

​Paul Netscher has written 2 easy to read books 'An Introduction to Building and Renovating Houses - Volumes 1 and 2'. An Introduction to Building and Renovating Houses Volume 1 deals with Hiring Contractors, Managing Construction and Finishing Your Home.  and Designing your ideal home Volume 2 deals with Finding Your Ideal Property and Designing Your Dream Home. 
​("Great for those that DIY. Very helpful in home renovations!" said a Reader on Amazon.com 5*****)
These books are available from Amazon and other online bookstores in paper and ebook.

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