There is a lot that can go wrong with home improvement projects. Remodeling or fixing up your home can make it a much nicer place to live and can raise your property value, if you do it correctly. This is a bit of advice we have put together for you to keep in mind on your next home improvement weekend.
Spend some time in your prospective neighborhood driving and walking through. You should have some idea about the kind of maintenance your new neighbors apply to their homes. If the area seems run down with overgrown yards and untidy homes, you will want to rethink moving into the area.
Painting a room is perhaps the cheapest home improvement you can carry out. A fresh coat of paint in a different shade or texture can completely transform a room for minimal cost. If your walls are not in the best condition and you don’t have time to re-plaster them before painting, consider hanging wallpaper instead, to avoid drawing attention to the damage.
Make sure you have weather stripping around all of your doors and windows. This helps you with multiple problems. It keeps air from leaking out keeping your house cooler or warmer when you’re running your A/C or heat. It can also keep little critters from finding their way in. It’s also good if you’re in an area that floods a lot, to keep water from seeping in.
To avoid costly mistakes when painting a room, make a small investment in the paint samples that many retailers offer. You can get 8 ounce sample sizes in any available color. For a small cost, you can apply paint to a big enough area to really get a feel for how the paint will look, much more accurately than with paint chips alone.
Patch the holes in your walls with toothpaste! Yes, this is definitely a temporary cover up but it works to hide an ugly hole until you can come up with the materials for a more permanent fix. Use white toothpaste and trowel it into the hole with a butter knife.
You can give your kitchen an old fashioned look by shopping for old tins. Flea markets and thrift shops are full of vintage coffee, tea and candy tins that make great little storage spaces for your items. Use them to hide your utensils, cookies, flour or sugar. Attach little handmade labels to the top labeling what each one contains.
TV entertainment stands cost quite a bit of money. A great viable alternative to those expensive stands is buying a nice dresser. You can put your TV on top and use the dresser drawers to store your DVDs and CD’s. Your remote controls and electronic manuals can also be stored in a drawer preventing it from being an eyesore.
Cutting boards are an important asset to your kitchen. A great way to prolong the life of your wooden cutting board is by heating mineral oil in a bowl of hot water and then rubbing it on the scuffed spots with a soft cloth. This should help repair your cutting board for quite a few more uses.
To add style to your walls without spending a lot of money, hang up family photos. While artwork can be costly, picture frames can be picked up on the cheap. Don’t feel like you have to pay for a professional photoshoot. Even normal photos shot with a digital camera can look very stylish when framed.
As you can see, home improvement has the potential to do a lot of good in the aesthetics of your home as well as it’s market value. Making some wise investments may really pay off in the long run and make your home more energy efficient and valuable.