Improving your home does not mean you need to spend thousands of dollars to get wildly expensive accessories. Your home can look fantastic without a golden fountain in the backyard. The problem is that many people struggle when choosing what aspects of their home to improve. This is why, today, we will talk about 8 must-have home improvements that you should have in any household.
1. Using High-Quality Paint
Choosing which paint you want to use for your room is basically setting up the foundation for everything else that you want to implement in your dream house. Using high-quality paint will save you money and time spent on manual labor down the line. The easiest way to differentiate high-quality paint from low-quality paint is by their pigments. You want to look for paint that has prime pigments in its composition. This makes the paint easier to apply, improves color retention, and greatly improves its longevity. The longevity can really be felt when you compare the quality of used paint, as lower-quality paint will require more coats to cover and you will need to reapply the coating much sooner than with paint that has prime pigments.
2. Installing Crown Molding
Crown molding is a finishing decoration that adds a certain charm to your room. There is a reason why it is regarded as one of the most frequent additions to every home improvement upgrade. It’s relatively inexpensive, it makes the room look luxurious, and (for me the most important part) it’s easy to install! However, a lot of builders will try to sell you crown molding at a way higher price. It is easy to install means that you can do it yourself without a lot of effort. So, if you opt for crown molding, make sure that you are the one actually installing them in order to avoid a massive price tag with it.
3. Implementing an Underfloor Heating System
There are countless benefits to an underfloor heating system. There is nothing like it that can offer you the almost-serene feeling of walking on the floor barefoot. Not to mention, it frees up so much space when you don’t have to keep radiators next to the walls. It is extremely energy-efficient, especially when compared to traditional radiators. Not only does it being efficient benefit the environment, but it also makes maintenance much cheaper. If you want to assess just how effective the heating will be in your home, you can do an efficiency test for your insulation that will ensure optimal performance.
Not convinced yet? Alright. Underfloor heating is not only economical, but it is also very hygienic! Simply put, the ground is a breeding ground for all kinds of bacteria and dust mites. This is because the ground has, more often than naught, high levels of moisture and humidity. If you opt for underfloor heating, then you will effectively eliminate the gathered dust mites on the ground. This is a great thing for all people, but especially those that have asthma.
4. Kitchen Quality of Life Additions
The kitchen is a top pick when we talk about home improvements. It is one of the most important rooms of the house. Not only do kitchen upgrades serve you in everyday life, but they also add a ton of extra value to a house when being sold. There are quite a few things that you can work on when upgrading your kitchen. Just to name a few:
• Countertops
Countertops are one of the first things that a person will notice when walking into your kitchen. If you have high-quality cabinets, but an old and rusty countertop, it will stick out. My tip would be to opt for a quartz countertop. NKBA has shown a trend for quartz countertops since the pandemic, due to their cleanliness and easily maintainable nature.
• Installing LED Strip Lights
LED strip lights are a popular option for modern kitchens. They light up your room without actually emitting any heat, they are really energy-efficient, and (again, my favorite) they are easy to install!
Simply put, they are great!
• Ceiling-High Cabinets
Ceiling-high cabinets have the benefit of being a lesser nuisance for upkeep. It does seem paradoxical for a larger item to be easier to maintain, but it holds well with ceiling-high cabinets. Because they are so high, they will not build up anywhere nearly as much dust as normal cabinets do.
5. Consider Bathroom Upgrades
While an underfloor heating system can be implemented in the bathroom, it is only one of the many things that you can greatly improve in your bathroom. Of course, there is no shame in getting a jacuzzi, if it’s your thing, it’s completely fine. However, this shouldn’t be in any way your top priority. For starters, you should try to improve your toilet, sink, and tub. These are the things that make or break your bathroom. If they just need some additional touches, you can pay to have their surfaces restored. However, if the damage is more significant or their age is showing a lot, it would be wise to simply buy a new one rather than pour money needlessly into restoring the model completely.
After you are done with that, there is a wide variety of bathroom accessories that you can get to make your bathroom feel like a paradise on earth. My personal preference would be to update the ventilation fan in the bathroom. The humid air and steamy mirror are always unwanted factors to deal with when exiting the shower. This is why an exhaust fan can easily clear all of these issues. If you have some money to spare, you can also get a model that has a humidity sensor that will activate the fan automatically.
6. Improving the Property Landscape
Obviously, the first thing people see when they look at your house is the front yard. This is why any improvements that include the front side of your house are a welcome addition to the overall aesthetic of your property. This is the home improvement that really gives you the most freedom to choose from. You can get anything from a refurbished fence and a beautiful rose garden to yard decorations and a deck or even use the best pool shades for your yard. You can plant trees that not only add aesthetic value to your house but also help the world immensely by staving off erosion, reducing carbon-dioxide emissions, etc. The best way to approach the situation is by observing what parts of the property need the most tending to.
7. Building a Deck
There is no better relaxation place than a yard deck. Large or small, front yard or backyard, a deck will add great value (both for you and the market value) to your home no matter which you choose. There is something really special about a wooden deck on which you can call your mates to have an old-fashioned BBQ. If you want to opt for a more eco-friendly option, you can go for a composite deck.
8. Investing in the Basement
Leaving a basement to stay as an abandoned mine will, sooner or later, backfire immensely. Once you smell a horrid stench coming from the basement, you know you have made a terrible mistake. This is why you shouldn’t wait until your house smells like a radioactive dump. Go down there and fix the place up so that you always see each corner of the room. Don’t allow a rodent infestation of any kind to start. Fix all of the pipes to maintain a steady and regulated flow of water. If you want the basement to be more than just a place to leave your old stuff and never return to again, opt for improving the insulation and laminating the floors. Of course, this should be in proportion to the quality of the rest of the rooms in your house.
That would be it for today. Hopefully, after reading this article, you have found a new inspiration for your house improvements. Best of luck!
