Make your living room renovations successful with these 4 upgrades

A living room is one of the most used areas in your home due to its multiple functions. You can host guests, socialize or enjoy family time. Hence, it's essential to ensure the living room is constantly revamped. Aside from adding a few details, you can renovate the room to give it a modern look and design. Below are a few affordable renovations that you can do.

Expand the living room

Traditionally most rooms were compact to conserve energy. However, that has changed in recent years and people want open floors and more space. You can remove the kitchen and dining walls to create more space. If you don't like an open kitchen, opt for a room that you can sacrifice and remove the interior wall to take over the area. Before taking down any walls though, ensure the wall doesn't bear any load and secure all permits. The renovation is hectic but can be achieved if you are motivated. Alternatively, you can use a broken plan home that maintains a sense of openness through small niches of privacy.

Work on your flooring

Redoing the floor can change the general look of your living room. If you have broken tiles or a worn-out carpet, it's time to change the floor. Although you can easily replace a rug, you can use other materials to give your floor a new look. Among the various flooring materials is an engineered oak flooring. Oak flooring can give you outstanding results, and you don't have to worry about its maintenance. Plus, most modern floor finishes are less messy since they can be installed on top of your existing floor.

Create new windows

A living room needs natural light, which comes through the windows. If your living room windows don't bring in enough light, it's time to renovate and create new ones. You can build new ones or extend existing ones to allow more light into the room. It's advantageous to make weather-tight windows to help you save up on money and energy. For that natural light, you don’t need giant windows. This is important if you have close neighbors or the view outside your home is less than enjoyable. To get away with windows in an area that doesn’t have nice views, consider short windows at the top of the wall so they aren’t within eye view but still let in the extra light.

Repaint your living room

Generally, living rooms are multipurpose; hence the color scheme has to be perfect. Don't wait until the paint on the wall starts to peel off or there are watermarks to repaint. Paint is inexpensive; hence you can even change it twice annually. Choose complementary colors that express your personality and are warm to make the living room lively.

These renovations should have a positive impact on the room and ensure its more accommodating. They don't have to be expensive since you can carry out these projects without any professional help.

Laundry Room Makeover Tips

Our surroundings influence us more than we realize, so giving your house a makeover can be a great way to make your house feel like a home. Room makeovers can be fun to do and bring new ways to maximize your space, so don't forget about the laundry room. Having a renovated laundry room can positively impact your attitude around chores and help it become more efficient.

Whether you want some budget friendly ideas or go for a full laundry room renovation, here are some tips for your laundry room makeover.

Clear the Clutter 

Start your declutter by getting rid of nonessentials, and putting everything in its place. To help you organize, get storage shelf units, so you can store your detergent and dryer sheets, as well as your dirty and clean laundry. 

Upgrade the Lighting

Having better lightning is not only helpful for your home office, but it can greatly improve the look of your laundry room. Creating a well-lit and relaxing area by adding decorative lighting, such as lanterns and fairy lights to make it more inviting.

Consider a Sink

If your plumbing allows and you have the budget, consider adding a sink to your laundry room. This will make it more convenient when cleaning heavy stains, treating fabric or just washing your hands. 

Add an useful wall art

Decorating your space with useful wall art can not only make your space more beautiful but also make your life easier. Consider hanging this laundry cheat sheet on your wall to help make laundry easier. 

If you are ready to get started on your laundry room makeover, and you are looking for even more tips, you can check out HomeAdvisor's guide on Laundry Room Makeover

Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Closet Space

Having more clothes than you know what to do with is a problem that can build up slowly over time. Sometimes, you may not realize it’s happened until it’s too late. When your closet can’t really fit anything else without bursting open, it’s time to think about how to utilize that space better. Using these tips for getting the most out of your closet space will help you be more organized and prevent your clothes from ending up all over your home.

Be Brutal With Purging

If you want more closet space, one of the best things you can do is purge all those garments you never wear anymore. A good time to do this is when you’ve moved somewhere new or are setting up your new house. You’ll have to be a little harsh with yourself. If you haven’t worn something in the past six months, you probably won’t need it in the future. Don’t hang onto clothes you “might” need one day, as these often just end up taking more space than they need to.

Utilize Vertical Space

There’s more space in most closets than is first apparent. Make sure to look all the way up and down to find all the nooks and crannies where you can put more clothes and accessories. Collapsible hanging shelves can multiply the space you have to work with. Shoe racks below hanging clothes are another great space-saving idea. Don’t feel beholden to the space you see at first glance; use everything available to you.

Reduce Bulky Hangers

A great tip for getting the most out of your closet is to reduce the amount of space you use for things that aren’t clothes. Many people keep their clothes on large, bulky hangers, and these hangers serve very little purpose. You can find smaller and thinner hangers that work just as well as the bulky ones—and they’re usually cheaper as well. You’ll be surprised at how much space you wasted on the hangers alone once you swap them out.

Create an Organizational System

If you aren’t an organized person by nature, you may have to put in a little work for this one. Grouping things together in a way that makes sense to you will almost always provide you with more space than simply throwing items into your closet without thinking about it. Not only does an organization system create more space in your closet, but it also makes dressing every day much faster and more efficient.

Selling Your Home? 4 Professionals to Help With the Process

Even if you feel you know quite a bit about selling homes, there will most likely come a point when you want to speak with a few different professionals. With a little bit of help from the pros, you can rest assured that you are going to get fair offers as quickly as possible.

General Contractor

No matter how much money and energy you have put into maintaining your home, you will probably still have at least a few upgrades and repairs that need to be carried out. A general contractor is going to have an idea of all the licenses and certifications that are needed to ensure that your home projects are completed quickly and safely. If they don’t have the proper training for a specific job, then a general contractor will be able to refer you to a third-party company.

Certified Inspector

Home inspections can be very stressful for sellers, and that is just one of the reasons why you need to work with a certified home inspector. Potential buyers will most likely want to hire their own inspectors, but you can hire one yourself before you put your home on the market if you want peace of mind. Your inspector can give you a list of any repairs or upgrades that needed to be carried out before you put your home on the market.

Real Estate Agent

A qualified real estate agent is another individual that is going to make the selling process much easier. The best realtor in your area is going to have their finger on the pulse of the local market and know exactly what needs to be done to complete the sale. Some realtors also maintain lists of motivated buyers who are ready to pay cash for beautiful and well-maintained homes.

Stager

Giving your home a quick cleaning isn’t going to be enough if you want to make as much money as possible on the sale. A stager is a professional who specializes in making homes eye-catching as well as enticing. Many stagers even have their own cleaning crews who will wrap their services into your final cost. You can also speak with your real estate agent if you want to find a qualified stager.

In addition to these few professionals, you should consider speaking with your financial advisor as well. That type of transaction can have a big impact on your finances, and you want to be sure that you don’t run into any problems down the road. All in all though, if you want to get your home on the market quickly and for as much money as possible, these are the people to talk to. They can get your home ready quickly and accurately, leaving you feeling confident in your home’s marketability.