Guest Post - 7 DIY Restoration Projects to Make Your Home Look New

Gorgeous interiors and home renovation projects follow us wherever we go — on magazines at the grocery store, Instagram, Pinterest and targeted ads. These beautiful houses seem out of reach for the ordinary person. However, with a bit of elbow grease, you too can spruce up your space to social media worthiness. 

Even small touches can significantly impact the look and feel of your house. These DIY restoration projects will help take your home from dated to delightful. 

Everyone’s Opinions Are Different

As a brief disclaimer, everyone has a different opinion about what makes a design look outdated or on-trend. That’s part of what makes this field of interest so fun. It’s OK if you love some of the items on this list and don’t want to redo them. You get to do whatever you like in your own home. 

DIY Projects to Update Your Home

Does anyone remember HGTV’s “Design on a Dime?” Some of the best DIY projects don’t cost much or take long, and they make a significant difference. 

1. Remove Popcorn Ceilings

One telltale sign of an outdated home is popcorn ceilings. This trend was popular from the late ‘40s even up until the ‘90s. Popcorn ceilings serve a couple of functions. First, they cover imperfections between sections of drywall, allowing for less exact mudding and sanding work. Second, they work well to minimize echo and muffle sound in a room, so they work well in high-traffic areas. 

However, they hold a lot of dust and get highly discolored over time. There’s also a decent chance your popcorn ceiling could contain asbestos. Have a professional test it before starting this DIY. If you get the all-clear, the method is straightforward but labor-intensive. The result, though, will be absolutely worth it. 

2. Swap Out Hardware and Fixtures

This project will be your ideal DIY if you can handle some shopping and a screwdriver. Shop for new switch and outlet plates and any hardware you’d like to update, like door and kitchen cabinet handles. These minor upgrades will go a long way to bringing your home up to date. You can take this even further by changing out lighting and faucets. 

3. Restore Built-Ins 

One of the perks of owning an older home with charm rather than a cookie-cutter model is they typically come with some form of built-in. This could be bookshelves in the living room or a dine-in bench and table in the kitchen. These were mainstay staples for a reason, and they’re still popular in homes today. 

However, the finishes and overall appearance may need some upgrading. Try sanding and painting wood to look lighter or brighter. For those vinyl-covered benches in your kitchen nook, the repair is a relatively simple process with the right tools and much more of a statement feature than ripping it out or replacing it. 

4. Clean up the Landscaping

The last thing you probably want is for your home to be the scary one on the block — the one kids avoid, claiming it's haunted. While it may sound extreme, your overgrown landscaping could give that effect. It’s all too easy for shrubs, trees and other growth to get out of hand, and much more challenging to get it under control again. Spend a weekend or two trimming things back and removing dead plants. The results of your labor will be stunning, so be sure to take before and after photos. 

5. Powerwash the Exterior

No matter how you try to decorate or renovate your home, nothing can overcome a grubby exterior. Once you’ve taken care of the plants invading your lawn, it’s time to take a look at the house itself, along with any paths or driveways on your lot. Rent a power washer for the weekend and go to town on your siding and walkways. Removing the dirt will wash years off the visible age of your home. 

6. Paint Doors and Trim

Adding a fresh coat of paint to the walls is an incredibly common DIY home restoration project. However, many homeowners neglect to address their doors and trim. Walls may be the main event, but if they’re accentuated by dingy trim and scuffed-up doors, the whole place will still feel in need of a facelift. 

You can paint everything in a neutral shade that coordinates with your color palette or go a bit bolder. The home interior industry is seeing a rise in colored doors, like bright yellow, deep blue and black. This trend might be what you need to make your home look new if the rest of your house is fairly neutral or you just love color. 

7. Revamp Wood Paneling

If you don’t live in a rustic hunting lodge, odds are your dark ‘70s-era wood paneling is dating your home. You can certainly bring the whole lot of it down and restore the wall underneath. However, an even easier route would be to paint over it. Try a light neutral to breathe new life into the space.  

DIY Those Dated Features 

While not everything on your dream renovation list can be DIYed, the projects on this list will help bring your home into the present. The best part is they’re relatively inexpensive changes and don’t take long to complete. In fact, with a bit of help, you could probably knock the lot out in a few weekends.

With a little cash and elbow grease, you’ll be well on your way to achieving that gorgeous magazine-cover look.

Author Bio: 

Jack Shaw is a freelance writer specializing in the men’s lifestyle niche. He enjoys hiking, reading and spending time with his dog. 

How to Improve Your Brand Through Office Design

We’ve constantly been hearing about branding, but before you tackle your office branding, first you need to know what it actually is. According to experts, the name of your business, its symbols and colors and its design all fall under the features of one’s brand, and thanks to it, buyers can differentiate your products from those other products. A brand also holds in itself a ton of company values, the culture of your community, your product personality and your internal and external integrity. And while businesses often use big budgets on marketing, communications, packaging, etc., there’s one part of branding that’s often overlooked—office braiding.

If you want to make your offices attractive and recognizable for customers, it’s crucial to add some branding to it. This move has many benefits, but it mostly serves the purpose of improving your brand visibility. So how can you boost your brand through office design?

Separate the zones

One of the first things you can do when designing your office branding is to make a difference between spaces in your office, mainly client and worker spaces. Why? Well, clients and workers have a different experiences in your company, so they need to be treated differently. For instance, it’s easy for staff to see through the client branding because they know all the business secrets and see the products every day. Therefore, they deserve different branding tactics that also send a good message and boost the connection between the brand and the staff members.

Create a carefully-curated color scheme

Colors have a huge influence on human beings, so it’s essential to create a good color scheme in your space, making sure it relates well to your brand. Using colors associated with your brand and logo on the walls is quite logical, so don’t hesitate to do so. However, if your company colors include very bold and bright shades that would be very distracting when placed on the walls, focus on the nature of your industry instead. For instance, if your industry is very stressful, it’s not smart to worsen that stress by using those reds or blacks from your logo or lettering. But let’s say you work in digital industries—plenty of digital marketing options, tech advancements and innovative materials and textures are a great solution.

Add some interesting signage

Signs are one of those things that people are programmed to notice and remember, so make sure to use them in a creative way in your office to boost your branding. With an experienced creative graphic design studio on your side, you can come up with a super fun logo or redesign your existing logo to add some more interest, to display your new offer of goods. From small signage boards to big billboard-size signs, you can go as small and subtle or as big and bold as you want, depending on the nature of your brand. These signs are guaranteed to be noticed, no matter the size of your business.

Put focus on touchpoints

Don’t think you can go crazy with branding. The key to improving your brand through interior design is subtlety—you have a very fine line to balance on. In order not to overdo it, you can focus on the areas that have the biggest impact on customers. This is naturally the reception area which should be branded clearly, so people know who you are, what you do and what you stand for right away. Do the same for the most important areas for your staff and identify the behaviors you want to encourage through branding.

Choose the right furniture

It’s possible to showcase your brand and company values through furniture as well—it’s not all about the walls. If your brand aims to evoke safety, comfort and relaxation, make sure your furniture matches this philosophy. And forget all about the traditional approach of your industry to furniture, and try to stand out in the best possible way. For instance, coworking spaces are leading the way in innovative furniture and branding through furniture with their café designs, homey designs or natural inspirations.

Display and use your products

Some brands offer abstract products that can’t really be showcased in action, but those that can should be displayed and used around the office for clients and staff to see. There’s no better way to tell the story of your brand than through your products. For instance, food-based companies can create a tasting hub or a small kitchen in their central part to demonstrate what they are all about in the best way possible.

Office branding can be one of the best ways to grow your brand and create a meaningful connection with your staff and customers. And make sure that all your branding options are flexible, meaning they can be adjusted for your future brand growth and development—this is a pro tip many forget to use. 

Guest Post - How to Modernize an Old Home

Old homes are some of the most beautiful you’ll come across. They typically have a unique architecture that reminds you of what houses looked like in decades past. Old homes tend to be more affordable and have better quality in their construction. If you’ve purchased one of these houses, you may wonder how to put your personal touches on it. Use one of these six tips for modernizing an old home.

1. Exterior

When you pull up your driveway, you and your guests will first see the home’s exterior. Old houses have a particular charm, and you can bring a modern flair by making a few changes to the outside.

First, you can look at the front door. It’s worth upgrading because you can’t miss it when you arrive. You can install a new front door or paint over the one you have now.

Another option for updating the exterior is the window shutters. If you replace or repaint the front door, do the same for your shutters to create harmony with the colors. Sometimes, a house’s shutters can look tacky in a modern lens. Updating them can be a practical way to modernize your home and give it more curb appeal.

2. Fixtures

The fixtures in your house can be a great place to start when looking for modernization for the interior. You may want to replace things like the door handles, cabinets, light switches, and more. You can make the aesthetics more modern and there are practical incentives. Old homes likely have dated electrical systems, so upgrading them will add value to your home. Newer lightswitches are less prone to fires, so updating is a good way to ensure your safety.

You can find the benefits of modernizing your kitchen by looking at your cabinets. Sometimes old houses can feel cramped, but you can mitigate that by adjusting the cabinets. You can replace them with smaller ones to create more space or expand them to construct more storage in the kitchen. Even changing the color can give a nice facelift to your kitchen and modernize your interior.

3. Paint

Speaking of colors, repainting your house is a terrific way to change your home’s feel. A simple coat of paint can bring your home into the 21st century with refreshing colors.

Start with the exterior of your home. Again, this part of your house accounts significantly for what century it looks like you live in. There are numerous choices for the color, and what you determine as the ideal choice may depend on the shape of your home, the area, the climate, and other factors.

A neutral color that looks good for a range of houses is off-white or cream. This color is warm and inviting while showing sophistication. You can still go the neutral route and pick a color that matches natural materials from the planet, such as clay or stone. Selecting one of these colors will help your house blend in with your environment. Options like these can modernize your home and give it a fresh look.

4. Kitchen

One area in your interior that could use an upgrade is the kitchen. Many old houses tend to have all-white cabinets, flooring, and appliances. White is a popular color for kitchens because it provides a calming presence. Flooring is an excellent place to start if you want to upgrade your kitchen.

There are many different options you can choose from. The floor you go with depends on your kitchen and the theme you want to show off. Some ways to modernize your flooring include:

• Tile: Your kitchen may already have tile, but you don’t have to move away from it to get a contemporary look. Porcelain and ceramic are terrific options for a kitchen. When choosing your tile, use monochromatic or conservative patterning instead of contrasting patterns.

• Hardwood: Hardwood floors are a classic choice for kitchens. They give off a warm feeling with their rich colors. Hardwood is versatile and can pair with the rest of your design plans for the house. Try to find a hardwood that can endure years of foot traffic without scratching or scuffing. Oak, hickory, and maple are strong options.

• Vinyl: Vinyl flooring may seem like an unconventional choice, but it can be a practical one for your kitchen. Most vinyl floors are waterproof, making them easy to clean. You have various options to mimic any other type of flooring, too, like hardwood, stone, and marble.

5. Lighting

If you walk into an old home, one stark difference you may see compared to contemporary houses is the lighting. Some old structures don’t have a lot of natural light coming in. Finding ways to add natural light can add a modern element to your home and save money on your utility bill.

One way to improve the natural light in the house is with windows. Replacing the current windows with energy-efficient ones can add more daylight to your home without increasing the electricity bill. Or, you could find areas in your house to add windows for more light. North-facing windows are an excellent way to allow natural light with minimal unwanted heat from the sun.

6. Artwork

Adding artwork to your house is one of the best ways to modernize a home. You may have favorite paintings, drawings, or sentimental works of art you love. Hanging them up on the walls puts a personal touch on the house.

Art is one of the most beautiful ways to express yourself, and hanging up your favorite paintings adds a contemporary feeling to the home. A piece of art on the wall creates intimacy in an old house and can add excellent contrasts to your wall colors.

Modernizing Your Old Home

Some people choose to buy an old house – one that’s older than their grandparents. These homes come with nostalgia and charm that new places have difficulty replicating. If you move into a new house, you may want to add your personal touches to make it feel more intimate. Use one of these six tips for modernizing an old home.

Author Bio: 

Jack Shaw is a lifelong writer who now specializes in the men’s lifestyle niche. His favorite topics to write about include cars, hiking and interior design.

10 Neat Features to Consider When Building Your Dream Home

Television has tons of programs about homebuyers, and if you’ve sat through one of these shows, you’ve probably seen house hunters look for homes that have been built with open floor plans, multipurpose laundry rooms, upscale master bathrooms, spacious kitchens, smart technology features, and enclosed porches that are ideal year-round.  Those who can’t afford a new home built to their specifications often opt to redesign an existing home by upgrading it with all the features they desire.  

But what if you do have the option of building your new home? Just think of all the practical features you can add that are often not found in most homes available for sale. 

For those serious about having their home built from the ground up, it’s important to consider what features you can’t live without and what features you would like to have when planning how you want your new home to look.  After all, the goal of building your own home is to make sure it has all the comforts, amenities, and luxuries you want in the ideal home. 

Now, let’s take a moment and explore some of the latest trends in custom-built homes. 

1.  Jetted Utility/Laundry Sink

The sink where you wash and prepare food is not the ideal place to soak soiled clothing. You can free up your kitchen sink by building a utility sink in your laundry room.  A utility sink is an ideal location to wash clothes that require handwashing and to soak those clothes that have hard stains. These sinks come with air jets that blast away hard stains without harming the fabric.  

2. Laundry Room with a Pet Washing Station

Instead of doing the usual shampooing, cleaning, and rinsing of your pet in your tub or out in the yard, you can now do this task in your very own washing station. Having a washing station in your laundry room (or mudroom) can take the nightmare out of washing your fur babies. You can have this novelty built into the laundry room or garage of your new home (or remodel your existing laundry room and garage). 

3.  Double Kitchen Islands/Dual Workstations 

Families that spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking, eating, and spending time together can benefit from having dual workstations. Two workstations will allow you to do more cooking in less time. So, why not have two workstations to prep and cook food when entertaining family and guests?  You can have the workstations of your dreams by equipping them with sinks, more cupboard space, trash cans, and cooktops. 

4.  Under-Cabinet Outlets 

Cluttered countertops can be a thing of the past when you install your outlets under the cabinets. Now, your kitchen appliances will have more space, and you don’t have to worry about excessive use of energy if you utilize a smart-home design. Also, these under-the-cabinet outlets can add an extra flare and personality to your kitchen’s overall style. 

5.  Outdoor Outlets 

Ever think about all the trouble your neighbors go through just to give the outside of their home that Christmas feel? If you’ve ever done it yourself, then you know how much of a hassle it is to deal with tangled extension cords just to have festive decorations on your roof and the front yard. But thanks to today’s smart technology, you can have outdoor outlets built with your new home wherever you need them! You can choose the smart home automation system that allows you to operate your lighting and outdoor appliances from your smartphone, or you can install outdoor outlets that connect to switches within the house. Finally, you can stop wrestling with tangled outdoor extension cords the next time you decorate for the holidays. 

6.  Garage/Grocery Pantry Doors 

When you get groceries, you probably head to the kitchen with them so you can load them into your pantry. But, if your garage is on the other side of the wall behind your pantry, you can take the heavy weightlifting out of unpacking groceries by turning the wall between your garage and pantry into a pantry door.  A pantry door is half the size of a regular door, and it’s ideal for doing a quick unpacking of your groceries as soon as you get out of the car.  The beauty of having a pantry door in the garage is not having to make treks to the kitchen with large cases of bottled water. 

7.  Accent/Statement Walls 

Express yourself with an accent/statement wall in your bedroom, kitchen, and bathrooms. You can have designs painted directly on the wall, create images with geometric tiles, or use specialty wallpaper. Your headboard space and entryway can be as creative as you want them to be when you are designing your own home. As long as you like the designs, the possibilities are endless!

8.  Energy-Efficient Design 

If you’re into reducing your energy bill while being friendly to the environment, then you will love the energy-efficient home design. In addition to having a nicely sealed building envelope, you can also include smart lighting (with LED lightbulbs), custom installation, and top-notch Energy Star appliances. A bonus of having a solar electric system will allow you to use solar paneling to save on your utility bills.

9.  Skylights for Stargazing 

It’s your dream home, right? So, what’s to stop you from having a brighter view in your kitchen or living room? Imagine watching the stars while snuggling up in your bed for the night.  Having big skylights in your kitchen, great rooms, and bedrooms is a great way to make your home environmentally friendly, and you will save on your utility bills, also. 

10.  Smart Home Technology

And last but not least, what better way to enjoy the comforts of a modern home than to have it equipped with smart technology? Here are some popular smart home features designed to usher your home into the future and make domestic life much easier. 

Digital Apps for Smart Homes

Your home can become the face of the future when you use digital assistant programs like Google, Alexa, and Siri to help run your home. You can use these smart apps to not only get directions while on the road but to also communicate with devices within the home to schedule timers, turn on and off entertainment systems, set the thermostat on the heating and cooling system (and even turn it off), and do so much more! Just take a look at some of the examples below. 

Smart Appliances

Nothing says welcome to the comforts of the future more than telling your coffeemaker to brew a half-pot of coffee, programming your stove to turn off the left back burner while you head to the laundry room, and adjusting the temperature on the refrigerator while sitting in the living room trying to drink half-frozen orange juice. Thanks to digital assistants like Google, Alexa, and Siri, you can even program your oven to start heating up while you’re still twenty minutes away from home.  

Smart Lighting 

A big part of energy efficiency is having the right lighting. If you install smart LED bulbs in your home, then you can use an app to prevent wasting energy in rooms that no one is occupying (or when no one is home). Smart LED bulbs come programmed with software that makes the use of your lighting cost-effective, and it can help you save on the expense of installing wall switches. A smart thermostat can also be installed to automate your heating and cooling system, which will also help to make your home energy efficient. 

Smart Security 

Domestic security systems have also received an upgrade thanks to digital technology. You can synchronize your home security system to also communicate with your appliances and secure the locks on your doors while you are taking care of business away from home.