6 Home Upgrade Ideas On A Budget

Posted On Saturday, 17 April 2021 22:27

According to Nerd Wallet, approximately 65 % of American homeowners believe the value of their home will keep on developing over the next ten years. That may sound hopeful, considering that a handful of factors that make out what a house is worth, like the popularity of that market and its location, are out of your control.

If, about 70% of U. S. homeowners, believe their house is their biggest asset, taking good care of it should perhaps be a key priority. The good news is, making smart improvements and keeping up with repairs are both proven methods to increase home value over time. 

Whether you want to get top dollar when you sell or build equity, use the following tips to raise the value of your home.

6 Home Upgrade Ideas On A Budget

Refresh Your Rooms With Paint

Open Door stated that one of the most cost-effective and easiest ways to increase value of your home if you are planning to list it on the market is by investing in high-quality, eco-friendly paint to refreshen your home with a colored bath it probably needs. Opt for warm neutral colors when painting the interior. Experts suggest using tans, beiges, grays, golds, and “greige”–a blend of beige and gray. Don’t use white as experts described it as too stark. 

Pastel or lighter colors are said to make small rooms look larger while darker or warmer colors can make a large room appear smaller. It is also advised to prioritize painting your bathrooms, kitchen, foyer, and entryways. Observing how artificial and natural light plays on the color can help you narrow down which shade to choose for these areas. But paint holds more than just shades. Various sheens and finishes can influence how easy a wall is to clean, how the paint color pops, and other factors. Thus, professionals recommend sticking to eggshell or flat sheens, semi-glosses, and satins. Finally, when it comes to the exterior of the house, it is advised to follow the 60-30-10 percentage rule:60% is the body of the house, like brick or stucco, 30 % is the trim and garage doors. The final 10% is the shutters and front, with just a pop of color. 

Replace Light Fixtures

Another way to boost your home value is by installing LED lighting. VONN reports that by switching to LED lights, you can save about five percent of your overall energy expenses. On top of that, LED lighting is also eco-friendly and extremely cost-effective. Besides replacing light fixtures, WTOP News suggests considering switching overhead lights in your bathroom with wall-mounted lights to add value and warmth to your bathroom. For the kitchen, many designers often divide kitchen lighting into three categories: general lighting (for overall illumination), accent lighting (for illuminating glass-front cabinets or setting a mood), and task lighting (for detailed tasks). 

Most people also enhance their houses to let natural light in. Natural lighting makes your home look airy and dry. Open window blinds, shades, and curtains to let in as much natural light as possible. It’s also a nice bonus if your home has skylights. If not, a less-expensive option is investing in sun tubes. If the lighting is part of a comprehensive landscaping plan, exterior lighting can enhance the value of your home and curb appeal. Consumer Affairs suggests considering lumens, wattage, motion sensor, price, and solar options are some things you’ll need to consider when selecting outdoor lighting. When the right fixtures are in place, it is also recommended to adding high-quality bulbs to maximize lighting efficiency and dimmer switches for flexibility.

Add Wood Accents To Furniture

Marina One Residences was dubbed as the space to rejuvenate because of its finest architecture that reflects the beauty of nature. Homeowners can also create a rejuvenating space in their home on their own too–by simply adding wood accents to their furniture. As New in Homes, puts it, “wood offers a natural feeling of warmth. Using wood in your home decor is not only a renewable and sustainable choice, but it is also an effective way to bring comfort to any room.”

With regards to choosing the right wood, The Hindu explained that the basic rule of color works with wood: Dark woods swallow up a small space while lighter woods create the feeling of a bigger, more open, and brighter space. Hence, it’s suggested to utilize a mix to create a range of interest points. But don’t forget to contrast them right. The texture, color, strength, grain quality, and beauty of furniture also depend on the kind of wood used. While various softwoods are available, hardwoods are favored for their durability. Some of the suggested types of wood include mahogany, teak, walnut, and rosewood. Once you got the proper wood that matches your home, you can start adding them to your furniture to create a nice effect.

Add New Caulk Or Weather Stripping To Windows

As part of their Energy Star program, EPA claims that adding insulation and sealing air leaks around your home can make the house energy-efficient and more comfortable while preventing carbon pollution. Caulking around windows and installing weather stripping on doors are simple jobs while adding insulation and sealing leaks in your attic might be a bigger job.

A visual inspection to check for any signs of air leaks can be useful. The Department of Energy, as cited by Ygrene, poses conducting a more-in-depth DIY checkup that can help spot harder-to-see air leaks. This process can identify gaps around the door frames and windows, in addition to other segments of the homes. You can also opt to contact a professional whole-house energy audit. Although this service is more expensive than the do-it-yourself inspection, a professional can also indicate other energy efficiency enhancements that could lead to greater savings on cooling and heating bills. While knowing how much money you can save from a properly sealed home depends on the climate, the current state of your doors and windows including your home’s level of insulation, this process can undoubtedly cost less to cool and heat than a drafty house. Weatherstripping and sealing around doors and windows, coupled with proper insulation can result in monthly energy savings while improving indoor air quality and comfort.

Set Up A Wire Closet Organizer

Wire shelving, according to Harkraft, utilizes metals including stainless steel devices that can be mobile or be fastened to walls and can be multi-shelved. This produces the maximum amount of storage space with less footprint. Other benefits of setting up a wire closet designer include keeping you organized, supply open concept designs, it’s economical, easy to assemble, and functional. 

But one ultimate thing it can offer, as mentioned by Good Works Furniture, is it can help you to relax. It will get you out of stressful situations such as looking for a specific item when you are in a hurry and in dire need. This is because you would know where you kept your things and everything will be in the right place where you left it, therefore, providing you with peace of mind.

Build Shelves In The Garage

Apart from installing a wire closet organizer in your home, you can also build your own garage shelves that Popular Mechanics claims can be built from scrap 2 x4s plywood that is inexpensive and are as strong as any costly ones you’d buy from the store.

To construct your own DIY Floating Garage Shelves, Storables shared in their article the following process in three easy steps:

1. Material Selection: When selecting your material, you have to decide your wood type first–softwood, plywood, and hardwood. Hardwood may be the costliest of the three, but it is the strongest as well. Then you need to gather all the required tools you will use in hanging the wood on the wall: carpenter’s pencil, screwdriver, tape measure, chalk line, square, and hand saw.
2. Measurement and Plan: Start from the top–the distance between the ceiling and the first shelf. The distance could be more or less, 12 inches, just make sure to give an even space. The space between the shelves can be 12-15 inches. The measurement is only determined by you and the objects to be shelved. Finally, give a large distance between the floor and the last shelf. The breadth and width of the wood shelf are also your choice but don’t let it be wider than 9m, or it’s no longer a floating shelf. After measuring, use the pencil to mark the wall based on the measurements with the support of a chalk line.
3. Construction: First, cut and divide the woods based on the measurement using the handsaw. Second, to instill the ledgers for the shelves, place a 2x4 against the marked area on the wall and hold it against the wall with a deck screw at the two ends. Third, cut a 2x4 into 5 little pieces and screw each and every stud into the wall. Lastly, screw in your hardwood where you can place your treasured items afterward.

Final Thoughts

While these ideas are some of the more practical and economical ways of upsurging your home value, it’s also important to never sacrifice the quality of the materials you’ll be using in your home upgrades. As much as possible, find materials with superb quality and reasonable prices. Moreover, you need to keep a close eye on your measurements. Be as precise and accurate as you can in measuring how you want things to be. One final thing, remember that safety always comes first. Even with just carrying furniture pieces, accidents can happen. It would not hurt to practice additional caution when enhancing your home while increasing its value at the same time.

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