Have you looked around your house recently and starting making a mental list of improvements you need to make? If so, you know you’re not the only one in the family doing so. If home is truly where the heart is, such situations could make one heartsick. Should you start considering which wall to tear down or which wing of the house is ripe for an addition? There is no need to go to such lengths. Start out with one of these smart moves which will allow you to ease into your home improvement master plan.
1. Get anything damaged out of the way first. It will be eyesores like cracked tiles, crooked chairs and awkwardly leaning tables which deserve your attention first. Anyone walking around the house who catches one of these things will tend to think your home is being neglected. Get out your home repair toolbox and get to work one weekend so there is nothing to feel guilty about. With just a small effort, things will start looking up.
2. Start replacing windows. Window replacement is nothing to jump into unless you are prepared, as it is one of the tough DIY jobs out there. Nonetheless, poorly insulated, old windows are the enemy of energy efficiency and could be costing you more every month in utility bills than you ought to be paying. Try to go room to room with this job if you are working out how to pay for it. Obviously, the front of the house is the spot to start.
3. Go after the kitchen counters. Your kitchen counters will confront you every day of the week, several times a day, when they fall into poor condition. You simply can’t get around them, whether going to get a drink or prepping a meal. Correcting the problem is not all that difficult, as there are innumerable options in counters. If you want to take the big step and go to granite, that option is always there. Inexpensive options abound as well, so check out everything improvement stores are showcasing.
4. Attack the cabinets next. Maybe even more than the counters, kitchen cabinets can make the room seem neglected and look run down. Refacing is one of the repair jobs which does a lot with not all that much effort. With a new veneer on the cabinets, new pulls and knobs, it will be hard for a casual observer to tell whether or not you had new cabinets in or not. Don’t feel guilty about fooling them on this count.
5. See how it all looks with a fresh coat of paint. Even after you make a number of repairs both big and small, you could feel the urge to keep going. Don’t keep tinkering until you put on a fresh coat of paint. It could be the move which keeps you focused on the big picture, or simply the one that puts the finishing touch on Phase One. Either way, you’ll know where you stand once you take care of this step.