Thinking about improving your home? Before you pick up the phone to call the experts, you might want to try a few DIY renovations first.
DIY home renovations are becoming more popular than ever with the help of YouTube, Pinterest DIY, and other digital media. Manufacturers are also encouraging this practice as they pack their products with customizable features.
It’s now easier to make improvements, small or big, on your own home. More people even prefer doing it themselves rather than relying on a professional. Granted, DIY has its own advantages – it lets us save money and it enables us to get the exact results we want with our own hands.
You can spruce up your home, too, with your own hands. Take a look at some of these easy DIY house improvements to start with.
1. Paint Your Walls a New Color
One way to rejuvenate and make any room look good as new in an instant is by applying a fresh coat of paint to those old, tired-looking walls. Redo the paint job in a room, use a new color, or paint only one side to create an accent wall.
One trick is to use a masking tape to create patterns. Lay it on your wall before painting, and then remove it once the paint has dried off. With this technique, you can create cool patterns for your accent wall, which can then give your room an instant glamour boost.
2. Hang a Wallpaper
Painting the walls can be messy and time-consuming. Wallpapers are a good alternative, especially to rentals where you can’t paint the walls.
It’s easy to apply and it’s easy to remove. There’s a minimal mess, no downtime, and no commitment.
There’s a wide selection of wallpapers, too. You always have a choice whether you want a nice pattern for an accent wall or a simple colored wallpaper for the walls in your room. There are options that have textures as well.
3. Paint the Ceiling
The ceiling often doesn’t get much love but paying more attention to it can significantly improve the look and feel of a room. Instead of having an accent wall, why not create an accent ceiling instead? Upgrade it using a simple trick: paint it a bold color.
While you’re at it, keep the color of the trims white or whichever suits the room. This will create a visual bold color that can liven up a room even when you’re not looking up.
4. Apply a Backsplash
Sometimes, all that a kitchen lacks is a beautiful backsplash. You can always be as creative as you want when designing your backsplash while maintaining a clean, sleek look for the rest of the room.
Use tiles or wood for an exciting weekend home project or use stick-on materials to finish it in one night. You can use peel-and-stick tile, wallpapers, vinyl, or even laminate flooring. There are also artificial stones that are easy to attach to walls, and they’re less time-consuming to apply than the real ones.
5. Refresh Cabinets and Old Furniture
You don’t always have to revamp a room to brighten it. Sometimes, all you need to do is change the things in it. Take your old furniture and turn them into something with a few steps.
Spraying a fresh coat of paint, stripping and staining, or outright buying new cabinet doors and installing them will only take a couple of days. If the look and coat are still fresh, and you don’t want to change its look, consider updating the hardware instead.
Some new handles are affordable, and they don’t take too much of your time to install. This small detail can make for a dramatic transformation.
6. Renovate Your Bathroom
A bathroom remodeling significantly raises your home value and increases the quality of your life. If its look depresses you, it’s time for an upgrade. You don’t need a complete overhaul, though.
Simply updating the hardware can do wonders. Replace the mirror, get a new countertop, or replace the shower head. Even a simple new shower curtain can make a bathroom feel livelier and home-y.
7. Spruce Up Your Kitchen
The kitchen is the heart of any home. It’s worth all the pennies you’ll spend updating it, but you don’t need much to revamp the look of your kitchen.
In addition to installing a backsplash and upgrading the cabinets, you can take it further by replacing the faucet or dressing the kitchen up with a new light fixture. Replace the high chairs if you have a bigger budget or reuse an old furniture to make an island.
If you can’t paint, add some color to your kitchen by adding plants and flowers.
8. Repaint Your Door
Give the spotlight to your front door by painting it a fresh bold color. Doing so can boost your home’s curb appeal, and it gives off a different feel when entering your home.
Choose a color that works with the exterior of your home, and it should make your door stand out from it as well. Replace the hardware, and consider replacing your house numbers, too.
9. Paint Linoleum Floors
Linoleum flooring is cheap, which makes it a good choice for landlords and many homeowners working on a strict budget. It doesn’t need to look cheap, though.
You can easily update your floor without buying new linoleum flooring by painting it. Paint it as you would a wall; you can even use a masking tape to create stripes or other patterns as well.
However, do a thorough cleaning first and repair some holes to create an even surface. Check out the guides you can find at Homelization for some cleaning tips.
10. Make Window Trims
You would need some tools and some skills for this project, but the end result is worth all the time and effort. Windows are a huge part of a room, so they need some love, too, and they need more than a pair of cute curtains (although we suggest getting some new ones).
Get some wood to make a boring window pop, and maybe add a windowsill where you can put some plants, books, or other decorative items.
More Ideas for DIY Home Renovations
There are other easy DIY home renovations you can do yourself over the weekend, such as making an outdoor bench using some pallet wood or making some new decorative pillows.
If you need more ideas, head on over to our blog and discover more house projects and cleaning tips. Check out our guide about adding a storage section to a room.
