We have a treat for you today! Doug from Granite Foundation Repair is a guest writer with awesome tips to modernize your home. Take it away Doug!
Does your home feel ancient? Like a relic from the last century? Perhaps the property looks like it has been frozen somewhere in time. Maybe you have carpet everywhere or a popcorn ceiling looming over everything?
Well, the truth is this can happen to any home. The homes that look up-to-date and trendy today can become old and filled with passé furnishings tomorrow. That’s because home styles and design trends are not static. They constantly change according to the dominant customer preferences.
The only way for homeowners to keep their homes from getting trapped in the past is to keep updating it in step with the trends. But this is not always possible, as Granite Foundation Repair explains, home upgrades cost money and, in many homeowner’s minds, they are not always worth it.
The good news though is if your home is old and outdated, there are a few easy and not-so-costly ways to pull it into the twenty-first century. Most of these are simple projects that will cost you a few hundred dollars but deliver an impact that is almost as good as a twenty thousand dollar upgrade.
Here are the things you can do to modernize your home.
1. Clean, de-clutter, and create space
Modern homes are spacious and often minimalist. By simply giving the home a deep-clean and clearing out unused stuff, the ambiance of the property will begin to improve. Cleaning and de-cluttering will give you a chance to purge the home and determine what is actually useful and what is not.
In addition to cleaning and de-cluttering, more space can be created in the home. The goal when creating space is to mimic an open floor plan and this is not so hard to achieve. All it takes is to remove oversized furniture and anything that blocks out natural light. Additionally, furniture should be rearranged to aid airflow and make movement easier.
2. A new coat of paint
This is the number one thing that can make a home feel dated and it should be one of the first things to change. The objective of repainting the home is to make it feel brighter, airier, and more welcoming. Dull colors can make a home look gloomy and cluttered. Bright neutrals, on the other hand, create a feeling of space and highlight the fixtures, fittings, and furniture in the home.
When choosing the home's new colors, beware of choosing trendy colors, because they are usually fads that will soon fade away. Instead, aim for a timeless design that stays fresh throughout the years.
3. Install a new lighting system
The next step after changing the home's paint is to improve its lighting system. Rooms that are dimly lit feel smaller and they appear less inviting. Bright lights highlight the paint on the walls, as well as, window treatment and the home's décor. Moreover, light fittings serve as decorative elements in the home.
One way to update the home's lights is to discard bulky fittings that eat up space and generate heat, without delivering sufficient illumination. These may be replaced with recessed lighting. Another way to improve lighting is to substitute LED light bulbs for the incandescence of bulbs.
4. Modernize your light-switches and outlet covers
Modern light switches do more than just switch a room's lights on and off. They have loads of smart features and options that let you customize how the home's lights operate. Most of these new light switches and power outlets have tamper-proof features, USB charging points, and are designed to look like wall décor.
They are a far cry from those old switches which have just one function, easily get dirty, and are apt to crack. Even if the walls in a home are well-painted, old outlets and switches will constitute themselves into an eyesore and a blemish on the newly-painted walls.
5. Update door handles, cabinet pulls and knobs
Door handles, as well as, the knobs and pulls on cabinets attract attention. Because they pop-out above the door or cabinet surface they tend to stand out. And when they are old or worn, people are apt to notice that. As a matter of fact, people will often focus more attention on the handle, knob or pull, than on the door or cabinet.
This is because these are the components they have to hold to open the door, drawer or cabinet. When changing door handles and cabinets hardware, strive for an even design that is streamlined across the whole house. Avoid designs that are loud; they soon lose their appeal.
6. Remove carpet and install hardwoods
For many years now, carpets have been making way for hardwoods in the way that homes are designed. Using carpets in a home presents a few problems; they wear out easily and are hard to clean.
A more recent reason why people are switching away from carpets is their tendency to trap allergens, like dander, mold spores, and dust mites. The new and better alternative is to switch to hardwood flooring because they are more durable than carpets. And wood has a cool and inviting appearance that is never out of fashion.
These are only a few suggestions, but doing these steps will be more than enough to revamp the attractiveness of your home. Cheers.
