Top Ways to Spruce up Your Home
by Carla Hill
Is your den feeling dreary? Does your kitchen have too much kitsch? Take a moment to read these tips for sprucing up your home.
From time to time, or decade to decade, your home may start to look a little dingy, cluttered, or out-of-date. Have no fear! There are a few simple, inexpensive ways to update rooms for your own enjoyment or to impress buyers!
First, declutter and reorganize. It’s amazing how much “stuff” we can accumulate over time. It’s time to ask yourself what you really need. Plus, there are some great charities that would love your “stuff”. The Goodwill, Salvation Army, and many local churches accept donations all year round.
A good way to get started on a massive decluttering is to remove everything from a room. It may seem extreme, but this way only a few select items return to the room. Designate another room, such as your garage, as the staging area. As you go through room to room this will probably start to fill up. That’s okay. It’s liberating to simplify your life!
As you go about putting things back into rooms, consider picking an overall theme for your home. Do you have a traditional aesthetic? Do you have a more modern sensibility? It helps for a home to have cohesion. Pick a style or age of furniture, patterns, and color and stick with them.
Another great sprucer is painting. Paint, depending on the brand, can be pretty cheap! Plus, there are thousands of colors. Choose neutral palettes to give small spaces big appeal. Choose reds and warm tones to invoke intimacy and conversation. Use bright, bold colors to inspire creativity.
Paint has a great way of erasing dirt and grime, which builds up over time no matter how clean and careful you are! If you have children, you probably have tiny little Picassos on areas of your walls or baseboards. Paint can breathe new life into tired walls.
Plus, today’s market offers great zero-voc options in the paint aisle. These paints don’t harbor the same toxic fumes that traditional paints do. They are safe to use in children’s rooms and throughout the whole house. Traditional paints can leach fumes into the air for years to come, while zero-vocs are eco-friendly.
Finally, a slightly more time intensive project is replacing flooring. Carpet gets old and can harbor mold and grime after a decade of use. Linoleum doesn’t carry it’s same shine after 20 years of traffic. Is it time for an upgrade? Hardwood floors are beautiful and last a lifetime. You could choose to opt for a more affordable option in wood laminate. You get the same beautiful look, but at a budget-friendly price. Plus, laminate is easy to install yourself.
Just a few simple fixes can mean a world of difference in your home. You can go from 1995 to current day in just a weekend! It might take a little sweat and tears, but you’ll get there and you’ll love your updated home!
Published: November 24, 2011
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