6 Ways to Update Your Home if You Can't do a Big Renovation

Small Renovations with Big Impact

Major home remodeling projects come with major price tags and majorly disrupt your life. But you don’t have to tear your house down to the studs to make an impact.

Enter the mini-renovation.

Smaller renovations are easier to budget, can be done on a tighter time frame, and are usually less nerve-wracking. And even small projects have the potential to take a good home and make it great.

Consider these glow-ups for small improvements with big impacts.

#6 Enlist everyone’s favorite: Paint

Paint is easy enough to tackle yourself, but even if you enlist professional help, you’re still not paying much out of pocket.

You’re going to need to take down all of your art and move all your furniture out of the way, so take the opportunity to rethink how you use whatever room you’re repainting. Often, simply rearranging furniture and updating artwork can give stale rooms a new lease on life.

The magic of paint extends to your exterior as well. A fresh coat of exterior paint on your siding can make your home stand out from the neighbors and increase curb appeal (with an ROI of 107%). It’s a surprisingly affordable re-do.

#5 Install a patio

Building a deck or screened-in porch will cost you some coin, but pouring a patio pad is an affordable and practical option. Consider going with pavers, brick, stone, or concrete.

Take the opportunity to spruce up your landscaping, buy a few new pieces of outdoor furniture or a new grill, and install a patio door off of the kitchen. Projects that increase your home’s functional space tend to have the highest return on investment, and with a new patio you’ve got a whole new outdoor room.

#4 Give your kitchen a facelift

Kitchens may sell homes, but kitchen renovations are expensive. To avoid a hefty price tag (and probably a few months of washing dishes in your bathroom), it’s smart to step back and look at your kitchen with fresh eyes.

If you can pinpoint exactly what makes your kitchen look dated, you can choose the mini-remodel project that is right for you. Say you have a dated backsplash—get that redone! Those orangey wood cabinets could get refaced with a more timeless white cabinet. Upgrade your cabinet hardware while you’re at it. Cash in on the big box store’s yearly appliance sale and install a new suite of appliances.

Plus, mid-range kitchen remodels have a higher ROI than fancier ones. It pays to pick your battles.

#3 Update your flooring

Wall-to-wall carpeting always seems to come with an expiration date—even if you enforce a strict no-shoes policy. You can shampoo those carpets and baby them as much as you want, but they’ll eventually look dingy.

Upgrade once and upgrade well by installing classic hardwood floors. While laminates get better every year, if you are considering selling down the line, buyers love hardwood floors. They’re easy to take care of, gorgeous, and will never go out of style.

#2 Rethink your home’s lighting

Small outdated lighting fixtures make a home look small and…well, outdated.

You don’t have to have advanced DIY skills for this one. If you know where your home’s breakers are and can commit to watching a few online tutorials, you can swap out your outdated overhead light. Install a dimmer while you are at it for more pizzazz.

Lighting fixtures are the jewelry of the room. Time for some new jewelry.

#1 Upgrade your windows

While lighting fixtures are fun to upgrade, it’s natural lighting that makes a home feel rich and spacious. If you can’t afford to knock out a wall, let in the light and add a window.

Installing bigger windows will open up your views, make your home seem larger, and even improve your mood. Home window replacement is an easy job to break into smaller steps. If you can’t afford to replace all your windows at once, it’s simple to address those drafty downstairs windows first, and the next year take on the upstairs. If you’re looking for a big curb appeal boost, do the front of your home first.

Reach out to Window Nation today and for an affordable home upgrade with major impact.