9 DIY projects you can do to improve the look of your home
Sooner or later after living in your home for a while do you start to look around and think ‘what could I do to make this better?’ You may not have the money to get an architect, builder or an interior decorator in, so what are you to do?
There are a few things that you can do if you happen to know your way around a hammer, saw and paintbrush to improve the over all aesthetic of your home. This can be handy if you are looking to sell your home soon, or you just want to try something different. But here are 9 home construction projects you can take on to improve the over all look of your home.
1. Install crown moulding
Crown moulding is an elegant wooden trim that can be applied where your walls meet the ceiling. This is an easy to accomplish project that adds a touch of class to your home by taking away right angles that make a room look confined and boxed in. There are many different styles, designs and sizes of crown moulding, so be sure to select the style and colour that suits your home the best.
2. Re-tile the Bathroom
After time, old bathroom tiles can start to look cracked and faded. A new tile design can help restore your bathroom to make it look brand new. You can re-tile your bathroom to make it look extremely modern, contemporary or traditional depending on your own taste. When tile shopping, make sure you bring samples back to your bathroom before buying them in bulk. You need to visualise it in your bathroom, because sometimes the vision you have in your head won’t always translate. Next you can decide if you want to not only do the floor, but the walls as well. Do your research and don’t be afraid to play with patterns. Measure the square footage of your bathroom and study different tile combinations. Once you have your measurements and vision, it’s time to see what you can create.
3. Build a Garden
Even if your house is big and beautiful on the outside, a garden adds personality and identity to your home and can make it look a lot more attractive. The fun part about building a garden is that there is no standard way to go about it. Get creative. Choose your own plants and flowers, stone edging, bedding types size and length, go nuts. As long as you try to contrast the flowers in your garden with the colour of your home you aren’t limited by anything (white flowers look good against dark coloured homes for example).
4. Repaint Inside and Out
New paint, especially lighter colours, can liven up a room. Dark paints trap light in corners of a room and can make the room appear smaller than it actually is. Old faded paint can make a home look poorly kept and run down. Applying a fresh lick of colour in the interior of a home can make it feel and look like new.
You can also freshen up the exterior of your home. If you have a pained wood exterior, like on Queenslander homes you should aim to repaint your home every 6-10 years depending on the paint and climate conditions. You can refresh the old paint or try something new, fresh paint will restore lustre to your home get rid of the old cracked exterior.
5. Install New Kitchen Cabinets
If you really want to breathe life back in to your kitchen, maybe you should think about replacing your old kitchen cabinets. Again you can choose your cabinets depending on your personal preference and style of your home. New glass and wood cabinets can add a touch of class and elegance, where as sharp brighter coloured cabinets can give your kitchen a modern feel. Sometimes even changing the handles on all your cabinets to match your appliances or sink can give it a new look. If there is one rule of kitchen renovations though, it’s this. Nothing looks sleeker than a marble counter-top. Installing new cabinets is one of the easier DIY jobs you can pick up around the house.
6. Install New Light Fixtures
Indoor lighting is sometimes overlooked as an unimportant aspect to the aesthetic of a room. The standard lamp in the corner, and light bulb in the room is all you really need right? Wrong. Often the style of lighting you choose can set the tone for the whole room. Hanging iron look fixtures over a dining table give a romantic, comfortable and elegant touch. Adding a bit of contrasting colour or pattern to a lampshade in the corner can add a nice contrast to the look of a living room. Go shopping at lighting stores and take a photo of the room you are looking to spruce up, you may be surprised.
7. Install Landscape Lighting
For those homes that have a great looking garden (or if you plan to build one), landscape lighting can bring an amazing aesthetic to your home when the sun goes down. Whether it’s just a few solar lamps in the garden, or along the footpath to your front door, or spotlights running up the walls at the front of your home, playing with shadows and lights can add a new perspective to your home you’d never seen before.
8. Replace Doors
Old chipped and paint cracked doors can detract from the look of a home’s interior. One solution is to repaint the doors, but the other option is to install new elegant looking doors. Interior doors don’t just need to be a boring rectangle utility with standard metal doorknobs. Doors come in endless designs and when paired with doorknobs that extend the accessories in a room, they can become a feature of that room.
9. Install a Deck
For those extra handy around the house handymen who are looking to roll up their sleeves and take on a big DIY job, nothing adds value, comfort and a good look to a home than a brand new deck. As long as you have sufficient yard space, a deck provides you with hosting space, a place to relax, and add to the overall floor space of your home. While installing a deck is a bit more of a difficult job, it is still completely doable if you have the time to dedicate to improving your home.
What are some DIY jobs that you have completed around the house that have added to the look, feel and value of your home? We would love to hear form you, and don’t forget to add pictures!
Contact us for Design Homes in Townsville!