There can be a lot of reasons homeowners might decide it’s time to take on a redesign project on their property. Maybe they live in an older home and want to add some modern touches, their family has grown and they need a bit more space, or they simply want to freshen it up a bit and get it ready for resale.
Regardless of the reasons you may have for doing some property updates, it’s important to make sure you not only have the right skills for the job, but you’re also ensuring you get the best returns on your investment.
Below, we’ll cover a wide range of strategies you can apply to your next property update that can help you get the most value without breaking your budget.
Implementing Purposeful Designs
It doesn’t matter what part of the home you’re trying to focus on; the most successful renovation projects all start and end with a clearly outlined plan. This isn’t just about knowing what changes go where, but also the overall purpose of the update and what you’re trying to achieve long-term.
To make sure you’re implementing purposeful designs, it’s essential to first ask some essential questions. For example, think about:
- Which areas of the home are looking tired or in need of repairs?
- What are the first things you notice when you walk into a room?
- What type of mood are you trying to set?
- Is there a specific function you’re trying to achieve for certain spaces in the home?
All of these preliminary questions will help you create a list of relevant updates you want to make and help you focus your design efforts on solving actual problems.
Smart Cosmetic Updates
While it may be tempting to make larger upgrades in any outdated areas of your home, you’d be surprised at how smarter cosmetic improvements can help you make bigger changes with less budget expenses.
One of the most effective ways to achieve this is by adding a new coat of paint to all the rooms in your home. This strategy will instantly brighten up the home and give you the freedom to add more personality to each room. In addition to this, by upgrading your lighting features or swapping out bulbs to warmer color temperatures, you can completely transform the look and feel of a space, even with very few changes being made.
Using Quality Materials and Textures
Making your home look higher value is more about the type of materials and textures you use – not just those with the highest price tag. The good news is, there are various ways you can introduce high-quality choices without having to sacrifice your budget.
For example, an impactful way to increase the appeal of more areas of your home is simply by changing out older hardware on furniture and cabinets. Adding these subtle, but impactful upgrades to your kitchen and bathroom fixtures helps to give these rooms a more modernized look.
Another good strategy to use is to layer in different fabrics throughout your living areas. This helps to make these spaces feel warmer and relaxing for yourself and potential buyers.
Redesigning for Style and Comfort
There are many different ways to evaluate a home’s real value. While appraisers may want to tell you exactly how much you can expect to get based on market demands, property location, or the overall size of the home, value is also gained from how the home improves your day-to-day life.
Thoughtful design concepts come into play when achieving this, allowing you to turn an unused space into a cozy nook or an outdated home office into a home library. Whatever you choose to update in your home, make sure you’re not just thinking about the value it will bring to someone else. It’s also critical that you’re designing for your own style and comfort as well.
Utilizing The Space You Have Wisely
Whenever you have a smaller space to work with and you’re trying to add more tangible value to it, you want to try to utilize all the space you have to work with wisely. It’s important that you’re not just filling a room to fill it. This can lead to spaces feeling cramped and not overly functional. Instead, here are a few best practices you can apply:
- Choose Multi-Use Furniture: Try to find furniture pieces that serve more than one purpose. This might be an ottoman that has a hidden storage compartment or an expandable dining table that can accommodate more people when having guests in the home.
- Don’t Forget About Vertical Space: Sometimes it can be easy to forget about the vertical space you have in each of your rooms. There are many ways to leverage wall space to get more functionality from a space, including installing floating shelves or having ladder-style storage solutions.
- Try to Make Spaces Feel More Open: Whenever possible, you want to try to focus on creating a feeling of openness in your design spaces. This gives you more flexibility on how to use each space. Choosing lighter paint colors, installing mirrors strategically, or choosing furniture that lifts off the ground to create space underneath are all effective ways to achieve this goal.
Applying Helpful Home Staging Strategies
When it comes time to list your home for sale, there are many different home improvement strategies you can follow to give yourself the best chance of closing a deal. However, one of the most effective ways to showcase the value of your home is by staging it effectively.
When staging a property, you want to focus on removing as much clutter as possible. Having less crowded spaces feels more welcoming for visitors touring the property and makes it easier for them to picture where their furniture will go.
Another tip is to use a neutral base of colors like soft grays or creams. Taking this approach helps you add a certain amount of personality to the home without overwhelming it with loud colors or highly niche design aesthetics.
Adding More Value for Less
Getting the most value out of your home renovations doesn’t necessarily mean you need to have an extensive budget. By following some of these basic, but impactful strategies when updating your home, you’ll create a satisfying living space, making it more functional and appealing to yourself and potential buyers down the road.
Written by Rebecca Denis