Give your home a brand new appearance in the new year with one or more of these major home improvements.
Updating your home with the best home upgrades imaginable can increase your home’s value. At the same time, you’re sprucing up out-of-date areas of your home, adding comfort and beauty to each room.
Ready to make some major home improvements this year?
The estimated total U.S. home improvement expenditure amounts to about $394 billion in 2018. If you’re planning to start, make sure to build a budget, first!
With these 10 tips, you can make home improvements that add value to your home. That way, you are spending money while making choices that will help you save in the long run.
Get ready for a major upgrade! Start your next home improvement project with these 10 tips!
1. Update the Kitchen Cabinets
Remodeling the entire kitchen is often the most expensive of major home improvements. On average, remodeling the kitchen costs $19,920.
Instead of updating your entire kitchen, however, you can make small upgrades for a big effect.
Start by taking a look at your kitchen cabinets.
Every time you open and close those cabinets, reaching for plates or snacks, you’re adding wear and tear. Over time, the paint will start to fade as well. While beautiful, even sun exposure can impact the color of your cabinets.
Don’t worry about spending thousands on new cabinets. Instead, start by sanding the doors and drawer fronts. This will neaten them up so they look almost new.
Then, stain or paint the cabinets in a light, neutral shade. Consider adding shiny new handles or knobs while you’re at it.
If your cabinets have seen better days, that’s okay! With these home improvement tips, you can update them with a new, classy look.
2. Switch Out the Kitchen Sink
A dingy sink can impact your kitchen’s design as well. Instead of trying to scrub up and make it look new, consider swapping out the entire sink. After all, you likely use your sink every day.
A new one can add value to your home and benefit your day-to-day life in the meantime.
Consider choosing a generous-sized stainless steel sink. If you want to give your kitchen a country look, consider a classic white farmhouse or apron sink instead.
Either way, make sure to choose a sturdy option. That way, you’re adding value to your home and making major home improvements that last.
3. Replace Major Appliances
While we’re still in the kitchen, take a look at your appliances. Old, outdated kitchen appliances can send your energy bill skyrocketing. Instead, consider replacing these old appliances with energy-efficient options.
Stainless steel options can make your kitchen sparkle and shine.
You don’t have to buy brand new appliances, either. Instead, see if you can find gently used, top-of-the-line options for your home. These appliances will improve your kitchen’s appearance while offering a better return on investment.
Consider replacing your stove, refrigerator, and other worn-out appliances to upgrade your kitchen.
4. Consider New Countertops
Many homebuyers are also prioritizing new countertops. Over time, scratches and scuffs can make your countertops look old and dingy. New countertops can add a modern look to your home.
Consider looking for natural stone surfaces, like granite. To save money, you can use offcuts or leftovers from stone scrap yards. Granite tile and engineered quartz are cheaper options as well.
Try mix-and-matching styles and colors for a unique look.
5. Caulk Around the Tub
Head over to the bathroom to make a few major home improvements. For example, caulking the tub will only cost you around $10. While inexpensive, this upgrade can make your bathroom look clean and new.
This is one of the best home improvements, whether you plan on selling your home right away or sticking around.
Otherwise, you’re left with a cracked, mildewy, or discolored seal. Gross! Instead, you can replace it on your own.
Before you apply new caulk, scrape off the old layer. Then, give the bathtub a deep clean. Let the area dry before re-caulking the tub with care.
The white, bright edging will make a sparkling clean tub stand out.
6. Install Wood Flooring
Like your countertops, your flooring gets scuffed up over time as well. If you have pets or children who are prone to spills and stains, carpets can get gross with time. Instead of living with outdating flooring, try hardwood.
Wood floors are long-lasting and a great way to improve your home’s value.
7. Spruce Up the Yard
Next, head outside. Curb appeal is important if you’re trying to attract homebuyers.
Seed your lawns or put down new sod. Then, make sure to keep your new lawn green with fertilizer. While you’re at it, consider adding new flowerbeds and giving your trees trim, too.
Adding more plants and improving your landscaping can help your home look vibrant.
8. Switch Up Windows, Doors, & Siding
For additional home improvements that add value to your home, consider updating your windows, doors, and siding as well.
Old windows with peeling paint or rotting frames make a bad first impression. Instead, try energy-efficient replacement windows. They’ll keep UV rays from discoloring carpets or valuables inside.
Replace the damaged siding or a color-worn door with new ones to make your home’s exterior pop!
9. Add a Deck
The best home upgrades often focus on the exterior of your home. Try adding a backyard deck or patio. You can also add a railing system for additional stability.
A wooden deck in your backyard can encourage family members (or potential homebuyers) to spend more time outside!
10. Making Your Home Fire-safe
Fire is considered an indisputable threat for every home, and devastating ordeal resulting in a lot of losses. Electrical issues, like worn-out wire, creating short-circuits, abuse of extension cords, and over-burdened outlets, need electrical repairs for fire safety.
It’s a good idea to also address electrical system issues when renovating or remodeling your home. Choose the right fixtures to decrease or eliminate the fire hazards at home and design your home to be fire-safe.
11. Wet Room Bathroom
Wet rooms high-end, sophisticated bathrooms that are designed with water-friendly materials, making it popular. The materials are sleek, safe, and user-friendly. A wet room bathroom is equipped with waterproof boarding, too.
It’s spacious and the typical installation includes a freestanding tub and a shower with a glass screen separating the bathroom sink and the toilet area. A general contractor can help you achieve a wet room bathroom for your home this year.
Here are the best benefits of having wet rooms:
- Smart Water Drainage: It’s a waterproof-designed bathroom wherein the bathroom is sealed with a waterproof membrane to prevent seepage of excess water due to spills and splashes.
- Easy to Clean and Maintain: Wet rooms have functional design, making them easy to clean and maintain.
- Space-saver: If your bathroom space has size constraints, you can remodel your bathroom into a wet room, combining the shower and bathtub into one area.
- Aesthetically Pleasing Modern Design: A wet room incorporates transparent glass that separates your toilet and shower areas. Choose modern freestanding tubs and floor-mounted tub fillers, adding elegant features in your bathroom, inviting fun spillage and splashes.
- Conveniently Accessible: Having a wet room bathroom is very accessible, both for a person with a disability and the elderly. Wet rooms don’t need a shower tray, which is why accessing the shower area is a lot easier. With independent living wet rooms, mobility is better.
12. Get the Garage in High Gear
Is your garage door looking weather-beaten? Maybe it’s broken. Either way, an old one could hurt your curb appeal.
Finish your list of major home improvements off with a new garage door to add value to your home.
