Friday, June 1, 2012

Improve The Look Of Your Home With These Tips

By Steve David


If you've researched home improvement, you know how daunting it can be to take on a big project. Luckily, this collection of tips is here to help you! After reading this article, you will be more prepared to start transforming your house in to the home of your dreams.

One way to save money and energy is to buy a programmable thermostat if you don't already have one. A programmable thermostat will allow you to specify what temperature you want your house to be at any given time or day throughout the week, even when you are away from home.

Face it - not everyone needs ten cabinets for their dishes. If your small kitchen is in need of some extra space, consider removing the top row of cabinets. This frees up the wall space for artwork or decorative wall covering and gives you more room to be creative with your cooking surfaces.

If you are improving a home that you plan to live in for the rest of your life, then always get the best materials you can afford. While 10 years may sound like a long time, ask yourself if you really want to be doing this project again down the road, and opt for materials with a lifetime warranty instead.

Have a large bulletin board in your kitchen or living room, where you can write reminders for yourself of things you need to do or bills you need to pay. Emergency phone numbers, contacts, brochures, postcards and notes to yourself, look better arranged on a bulletin board and won't clutter your refrigerator or other appliances.

When painting trim in your home, choose a semi-gloss or high-gloss paint, especially in areas that see a lot of traffic. People naturally touch door frames and trims, and glossy paints are much easier to wipe clean than flat paints. As a bonus, using high-gloss trim paints will provide some contrast to flatter wall colors.

Before investing in plants for the inside of your home, take a few minutes to do your homework. Many popular houseplants are actually toxic to animals and people. Rather than selecting a plant solely on the basis of its appearance, consider whether or not young children or pets will be within reach of the plants' leaves or flowers.

Interior paint finishes come in a number of textures. For ordinary homeowners there is no reason to select a texture rougher than "eggshell" or "orange peel." In years gone by much rougher textures (like "popcorn") were used for walls and ceilings in order to provide visual interest and dampen sound. These textures proved easy to damage and hard to clean, and so fell out of common use.

If you have decided to work on a new medium to large size project, first ensure that you have all of the steps written down. After this, you will want to examine exactly what kinds of materials and tools you will need. If you are missing anything, be sure to purchase it before starting.

Most of the home improvements that you need done can be done on your own. Hiring a contractor is important if it is an extensive job that takes professional experience. Certain drywall jobs, simple plumbing repairs and interior painting can be done without professional experience. You can save a lot of money by simply doing the repairs yourself.

Adding a new room to your house can recoup from fifty to eighty percent of it's cost in increased home value, so it's definitely worth the expenditure. Consider adding a bedroom if your house only has one or two, or a conservatory off your kitchen so you can enjoy your morning coffee in leisure.

Choose area rugs instead of wall-to-wall carpeting. Area rugs can be moved and replaced easily, allow you to upgrade and adjust the style of your home anytime you like. In addition, area rugs can be cleaned quickly when they are stained; sometimes they can even be put in the washing machine.

Before making a major investment in landscaping materials and plants, check with your local garden center. Most lawn and garden companies are more than willing to discuss preliminary landscape design and strategy for little to no cost. This ensures that you select plants that are compatible with your maintenance expectations, soil type, and amount of sun and shade.

Make sure that you install a window or proper ventilation in your bathroom. Humidity from showering with hot water creates the perfect place for mold to cultivate. Even if you keep repainting your bathroom walls, it still won't sufficiently kill off the mold. Instead, do something that will prevent it from growing at all. Install a window or ventilation, to dehumidify your space.

Take advantage of today's technological advancements to pre-plan your home improvement projects. Many home improvement stores, paint manufacturers, and other companies have tools on their websites that let you visualize color combinations, flooring, wall coverings, or other updates in your own space. All you have to do is upload a photo.

When committing to a home improvement project, be sure to do a lot of research in regards to property values. There are actually many things that you can do to your home that are cheap and can greatly increase your property value. With that being true, the opposite is as well, so do your research so that you can prevent spending money and ultimately, end up lowering your property value.

A great home improvement tip is to check out Youtube whenever you encounter a problem that's needs fixing. There are thousands of helpful videos on Youtube that will show you how to fix problems at home. This can be a great way to keep cash in your pocket.

Not only does full-scale remodeling cost a lot of money, it is often not necessary. With the information provided in this article, we hope you feel confident that you have the skills necessary to make a dramatic change in the look of your home with only a few basic modifications. Have fun planning your next project!




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