One of the unexpected things that came out of spending so much time at home during Coronavirus was realizing how many home upgrades and improvements we actually need. If you’re looking for some improvements and upgrades that you can make right now, below there are a few ideas to get you started.
Repaint
Every year in the U.S., there are over 1.57 billion gallons of paint sold. It makes sense why — repainting something is a great way to give it an entirely new feeling and appearance. If you feel that a room needs a refresh, you can repaint the walls to completely change the feeling of the room. However, walls aren’t the only thing you can repaint to refresh a room. Consider repainting these things as well:
- Cabinets. Kitchen and bathroom cabinets take up a lot of space in their respective rooms, and because of that, when you repaint them it can completely change the room. If you want a more sophisticated look, you can use a darker color, like navy. To brighten up the space, use a lighter color like cream. Make sure to speak with the salesperson you’re buying paint from to ensure that the paint will be up to the wear and tear of use that comes from being touched all the time.
- Furniture. If there’s a piece of furniture in your home that has never quite matched everything else, repainting it can make the room feel more cohesive and put together. If you’re completely redoing the color scheme in a room, repainting the furniture is also a cheaper alternative to buying all new furniture — plus, you know everything will match if you buy it all in the same color.
- Ceiling Fan Blades. If your ceiling fan feels dated or just doesn’t match anything anymore, repainting the blades can really add a new dimension to the room. Repainting them won’t impact their ability to cool a room down, but it will make them look that much better when they aren’t in motion.
- Stairs. If you have wooden stairs, repainting the front of each step can completely change the look of your staircase and whatever room it’s in.
Reorganize Your Home Office
If your home office has slowly become more cluttered and less stylish during your time working from home, a reorganization may be in order. If your home office is more basic, between 40 and 70 square feet, you’ll probably need more savvy storage solutions than if you had a complete home office of 150 or more square feet. Either way, clutter can happen easily, and the key to keeping a home office together is to make all of your storage options easily accessible. If the bins where you keep office supplies or files are high up on a shelf that’s just barely within reach, you’re more likely to leave the supplies somewhere they don’t belong.
The first step of reorganizing is to get rid of things you don’t need and evaluate what you actually have that you need to have put away. Avoid buying storage supplies before going through your things so you don’t end up buying the wrong amount of storage supplies for your office.
Replace Bathroom and Kitchen Fixtures
If your bathroom or kitchen needs a small upgrade to its appearance, you should consider switching out the fixtures. Changing the hardware on your sink, tub, or shower can add a great little detail to the room. If you’re trying out the next idea and switching out any cabinet handles, getting matching fixtures can really tie a room together.
Update Your Drawer and Cabinet Handles
You don’t need to buy new handles to update them. All you need is a can of spray paint that will grip to metal and a few minutes to unscrew the handles and paint them. This is a very quick DIY that can help bring your accent color into a room.
If you’re opting for new handles, you can look for something with a fun texture or pattern on it to add a new accent to the room. You can even choose one in a bright accent color to add a pop of color to the room.
Add a Gallery Wall
Gallery walls are a huge trend right now, and they’re a great way to show off your favorite family photos. If you want to, you can buy a set of newer, matching frames. However, you could also go for a more customized, DIY route by repainting frames that don’t match. This is a great option if you have frames laying around that you want to use. You can also check out your local thrift store where there is often a large selection of frames that have fun textures and shapes. Since you’ll be repainting them, you won’t have to worry about them matching each other. Remove the glass from the frames and paint them using regular acrylic paint or spray paint for a quicker process. Make sure that they are fully dry before fitting the glass back on.
When you’re arranging them on the wall, lay them out on brown craft paper and use an exacto knife or a pen and a pair of scissors to cut out the shape of each frame. Mark on the paper where the nail needs to be hung for each picture, and then arrange the paper on the wall to show a blueprint of what you’ll be hanging up. Then you can put the nails into the wall one at a time to hang up the frames, and before you know it you have a gorgeous gallery wall.
The home improvement market is moving into the billion-dollar space in the next seven years for a reason: people want their homes to look the best they possible can. With these DIY ideas, you’ll be able to improve your home without breaking the bank or having to hire outside services to make those improvements.
What’s your favorite home improvement DIY? Did you try any of these? Let us know in the comments!
