With more and more people racking up crazy hours at the office, family to take care of and the plethora of other commitments that seem to come with modern life, no-one has time to do anything anymore. Any space in your schedule will undoubtedly be filled by some pressing matter you’ve been putting off for weeks, months or even years.
Home improvement is one of the activities that tends to be right down at the bottom of the average homeowner’s list of priorities, with any work on the home only happening if something goes wrong.
That obviously betrays the point of home improvement; rather than repairing broken items to their previous state, any home improvement project should be designed to make your home a better place to live – which, in turn, improves its valuation on the real estate market.
Most people make the mistake of thinking that a home improvement project will take weeks to complete, a never-ending saga that’ll eat up any free time they may have. However, there is a wealth of smaller projects that will increase the value of your home and should take only a weekend to complete.
Change the appearance of your furniture
Not all home improvement involves taking power tools to your home. Changing up the appearance of your furniture is one of the easiest tasks you can carry out: it’s quick, it’s easy and, best of all, it’ll make your home look as good as new.
So, where do you start with your furniture renewal bonanza? Try these:
Upholster your dining room chairs: go down to your local fabric supplier, pick out a fashionable yet timeless material and staple it over the top of your old seats. If needs be, you could also add a new cushion to the chair and affix it using your fabric. Simple but effective.
Paint your kitchen cabinets: installing new kitchen cabinets costs a lot of money and takes up a lot of time. A much quicker solution to giving your kitchen a new lease of life is to paint your cabinets. This could be touching up imperfections or going all out and painting them in a bold colour. Either way, it’ll liven up your kitchen.
DIY vases: if you’re looking to add a bit of shabby-chic cool to your home, try using old objects for vases. Wine bottles, jam jars – whatever floats your boat! Ask your kids to decorate the vases for a fun summer holiday activity!
While these projects will only have a direct effect on the valuation of your home if you choose to leave your furniture when you sell up, the warmth and homely vibe they create are bound to pique any buyer’s interest!
Renovate your home’s entrance
The front of your home is crucial when it comes to valuing your home; it’s the first thing people will see and often the first thing a buyer will judge your home on.
Renovating the front of your home doesn’t actually take that long and can be pretty simple. Here are some quick ideas:
Paint your front door: giving your front door a new lick of paint can dramatically improve the appearance of your home. This could involve just touching up any chips and dents that naturally occur or going all out and painting the door in a bright, eye-catching colour. Be cautious if you choose the latter, as some buyers might be put off by a garish front door.
Plant some flowers: this one’s a bit more long term, as you’ll need to properly tend to and water your plants, but the actual process of planting shouldn’t take longer than an afternoon!
Clean up your driveway: the average driveway is subjected to a lot; parked cars, kids playing on it, chalk drawings – the list goes on. Painting your driveway will make it look better and add years to its life, although it is a slightly larger job. It should take you a weekend, at least.
First, you need to clean your driveway of any debris – this is best done with a pressure washer, which you should be able to hire out from a DIY store. Then, you need to apply a high quality acrylic paint using either a spray tool or a roller (again, you should be able to hire both from a DIY store).
Front garden maintenance: The front garden of any home can get messy, but it isn’t too hard to remedy. Give your garden a going over with the mower, get rid of any weeds and plant new grass on any patchy areas. On a sunny day, this can be a fun afternoon of work – you could even get the kids involved as part of their weekly chores!
Christopher Smith is writing on behalf of Excel Compressors, who supply air compressors for DIY home improvement projects.
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