A few years ago, my wife and I bought a house. The seller’s market was just heating up and people just stopped prepping their homes for showings – they knew someone would buy it no matter how it looked. And you know what? They were right. We not only overlooked the cleanliness of the home we bought, but also the frozen in the 1990s look that it sported.
We’d remodeled a home before so we weren’t scared. Or at least that is what we told ourselves!
Over the last few years, we have determined some of the updates with the larges ease to impact ratio. Take a look below.
Paint, paint, and more paint
The house we bought looked like a time capsule from 1996, complete with a thick layer of dust over everything. The walls were the most noticeable, and most depressing part of the house – every wall was either dark or light brown. They made the 10-foot ceilings look anything but impressive. Adding a fresh layer of paint is an excellent way to give your home a modern look.
We didn’t make it a full day in the house before my wife had colors picked out for the entire interior of the house. We spent the next 3 weeks painting every night after work.
Painting with light, neutral colors can completely change the look of a dull, drab house. The walls will look larger, the ceilings taller, and you’ll perceive the house in a different light.
Everyone has different taste, and some of you may like dark walls, but I challenge you to give it a shot! Not only is a little change welcomed from time to time, but it’s a lot easier than buying a new house.
Get rid of the brass
The second most noticeable thing about my new time capsule was the outdated and dirty brass light fixtures. Every room had one, or in some cases two. We made a list of the ones that had to go and got to searching for ones that fit our style.
There are tons of options out there – you can get them on the internet or from your favorite home improvement store. There are even custom light fixture stores out there! Before you order them though, take a look to see if they are UL certified. You don’t have to buy products with UL certification, but when it comes to light fixtures, I like to have that extra layer of assurance that they are safe to operate in my home.
Ditch the carpet
I know some people prefer carpets – I understand this, but if you’re looking for that modern look, explore some alternatives. There are so many options in so many different styles that you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you did not at least consider replacing the carpets with something different. My mind was made up for me because the carpets in the house were at least 20 years old – they had to go.
Some floor covering options to consider are hardwoods, engineered hardwoods, luxury vinyl plank, laminate, and even tile. Each has its own benefits to offer can really modernize an outdated home.
Replace Switches and Receptacles
Have you ever been in a house that looked amazing at first – updated countertops, new floors, beautiful lighting – but then you look at a wall and the switches and switch covers are a weird shade of yellow? Many plastics turn yellow over time – UV rays from the sun damage them as well as the oxygen in the air.
You can get rid of the yellow switches, or any other damaged, dirty distressed ones in your home and give it a new crisp, modern look. Switch and receptacle covers come in different sizes as well – you can get larger ones to hide existing blemishes. Replacing the switches and receptacles will also give you a chance to install new modern ones with USB charging ports built in.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of things to do to update a home. Have some ideas of your own you’d like to share? Send them our way, we’d love to hear!