Monday, September 17, 2012

Innovative Ways To Improve Your Home



Many home-improvement jobs can be done without a professional.  Homeowners are able to achieve much more than they believe they can on their own when it comes to improving the look and feel of your home.  Often times a big change can happen on a small budget.  Using home design books and tips from the internet will help you get a supply list together for any project that can be done around your home for a big impact to be had.  Below is a list of home improvements to look into that make a big impact on a budget.

The bedroom is a great starter place for home improvements.  Building a new bed frame or re-doing the current one always adds new life to the bedroom.  Something else that adds a big impact is a change in color and bedding.  Adding texture to the walls or using depth with alternating colors is often a statement in the bedroom.  By adding a mirror above a dresser you can add a lot of character as well.  Whether you need help hanging a mirror or refinishing a bed the internet will be a good source for ideas and directions.

Another way to change up a room’s character is with the addition of custom window treatments.  I would leave designing the blinds and shades to the experts and look into installing the window treatments on your own to save on money.  Consider the statement and function of your current window treatments; what do they say about the space?  Custom window treatments give a room character while possession a function within your home. 

An example I will give is in my daughter’s recent bedroom renovation.  She wanted layers of windowtreatments. We knew she needed a dark room to fall asleep in but also that room darkening shades are not stylish for a pre-teen room.  In order to mix both her needs and her wants we looked online and found a company that sells cellular shades that are single celled and offer a blackout effect when used.  They also disappear into themselves during the day.  We installed them with the sheer layering of curtains and valance every pre-teen dreams of and at night the bonus is she can sleep.  

Speaking of home improvements where children are involved and do it you self project; consider them when it comes to your project. Kids love to help and it is often a hassle to keep them occupied while you are busy improving the home. Consider involving them in a project that they can complete with minimal supervision.  Make them the supervisor of their project and have them take ownership and responsibility for seeing it through. 

 For my daughter she was in charge of building two frames with plywood backer.  We pre-measured and cut the items for her. She was in charge of painting and putting them together as well as hanging them.  One is used as a chalkboard and the other as a cork board.  Something simple to work on that kept her out of hair while we painted, redid her bed frame and installed new window treatments. 

A simple home improvement project that will help in homes where pipes are in crawl spaces or under sinks with little insulation is by adding pipe insulation. This is simple, cheap and effective in preventing pipes freezing gin the winter and sweating in the summer.  Both which can cause damage to the structures around the pipes over time if not dealt with.  

Many home improvement projects can be done by home owners willing to put in the seat equity to get the results desired.  Bigger home improvement projects such as new roofs and barrier free improvements might be where I would call in the professionals but for the minor household improvements most homeowners can handle them easily on their own.

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