Which Home Improvements Have the Biggest Impact on Home Value?

First impressions are critical when looking to sell a home, but it can be hard to parse the list of maintenance, repair, and renovation projects that you've been putting off and figure out which are actually going to improve the value and curb appeal of your home. Establishing a budget and prioritizing the repairs for that budget is crucial, and the savviest sellers will order these projects in terms of their cost-value ratio. Fortunately, there are a few common home improvements that reliably offer a great return on your investment. How important each of these improvements will depend on the budget and the state of your home — but here are five renovations every homeowner should consider before putting a house on the market.

Landscaping

The lawn is going to be the first thing that prospective new buyers see — and a good landscaping job can lure the stranger walking down the street into an open house or strengthen your financial position while in the midst of a negotiation. Your financial situation will determine how much you can do here, but landscaping can be as simple as spending an afternoon in the yard with a lawnmower and trimmers.

Kitchen Appliances

The kitchen is one of the two rooms that prospective buyers prioritize the most, and the appliances that are front and center in that room can leave a very strong initial impression about a home's age and value. Even if you can only really afford to replace an appliance or two, having a gleaming brand-new refrigerator front and center can help eclipse any existing flaws in your kitchen space.

Hardwood Flooring 

While housing trends may come and go, hardwood flooring will never go out of style. But that doesn't mean that they don't age. Replacing all of your floors with new hardwoods is ideal, as it creates a more seamless sense of flow to a home. However, it's easy to go overboard if you don't reign in your budget. Installing, replacing, or even just cleaning the hardwoods in your home can boost your appeal for anyone who steps inside.

Light Fixtures

Good lighting can really change the atmosphere of a room entirely, and upgrading your light fixtures is a far more economical choice than trying to tear down walls to add new windows. A brand-new chandelier can anchor an entire dining room, but it's important to make sure that there's consistency between the design and materials of your fixtures in a given room.

Paint

A new coat of paint really can breathe new life into a home, and it's an especially appealing choice because it's one of the cheapest home improvement choices you can make. But since lighting and the environment can have a major effect on how certain paints look, it may be worth your while to spend a little extra on the services of a professional painter or consultant.

Tips To Help Position Your Living Room Furniture

Arranging furniture is a difficult task. When you face an empty room, it can be difficult to fill it in a functional and attractive way. Interior designers have identified several simple, easy-to-apply principles that work effectively. Here are some great tips to help position your living room furniture.

Focus on the View

A focal point, which serves as the cornerstone of your living room design, is the starting point for an effective living room arrangement. Typically, a fireplace serves this purpose, as seen in this vibrant living room. Arrange the auxiliary seating pieces around the main seating piece, orienting it toward the focal point. You can change the space in the summer to put the vista outside the French doors front and center.

Arrangement Ideas for Living Room Chairs

If you don’t have enough room for traditional sofas and loveseats, four comfortable chairs will suffice in a tiny living room setup. Try putting an area rug down and placing an accent chair in each corner. This living room furniture arrangement offers a neat appearance that invites conversation.

Arranging a Small Living Room

Contrary to popular assumption, pushing all pieces toward the walls is not the ideal method to arrange furniture in a compact living room. This creates an awkward area in the middle and draws attention to the room’s small size. To create a more open impression, pull furniture closer to the center.

Divide a Living Room With Furniture

With furniture placement, divide a large living and dining space into different zones. Separate the conversation area from the remainder of the open concept with a sofa facing away from the dining room. To make a large room feel cozier, bring the living room furnishings closer together.

Diagonal Living Room Furniture Arrangement

Diagonally arranging living room furniture adds dimension to a boxy space and offers an inviting route into the sitting group. Establish the diagonal axis with the sofa and coffee table, then arrange extra seating along the same axis. Align the area rug with the fireplace or another focal wall to discreetly link the seating group to the room’s architecture.

With these great tips to help position your living room furniture, you can style your home effectively. If you are still having difficulties, try planning out your furniture and accessory arrangement in advance, especially if you intend to buy new pieces. To draw out your ideal floor design, utilize an online floor planner or old-fashioned graph paper. It’s the only way to know for sure if everything will fit the way you want it to.

How to Know if Your Home Needs an Air Filtration System

It is an unfortunate fact that many families are constantly exposed to airborne contaminants as soon as they step into their homes. That is why you might want to spend a little bit of time determining if your home needs a high-quality air filtration system that will eradicate a variety of toxins and allergens.

The Age of Your Home

Over time, all of the materials that your home was built with will begin to shrink and expand. That type of movement is completely natural, but it could result in quite a few openings around doors, windows, vents, and pipes. If your home is more than a decade or two old, then an air filter could be exactly what you need to remove any stray particles that get through those openings.

Signs of Lingering Health Issues

While indoor pollutants don’t cause all respiratory illnesses, ongoing exposure will increase your family’s risk of many different health problems. That includes severe seasonal allergies, asthma attacks, and even certain diseases. The occasional respiratory issue probably isn’t a big deal, but you might want to consider some type of filtration system if your family is constantly struggling with itchy eyes, sore throats, and runny noses.

Unpleasant Odors

Modern filtration systems are incredibly advanced, and they could help you deal with any lingering odors that are in your home. Many odors are caused by microscopic particles that are floating in the air, and catching those particles in a filter could have an immediate impact on any smells that are inside your home. It might be tempting to use an air freshening spray around our home, but those scents are only going to mask the unpleasant odors temporarily.

Testing Your Indoor Air Quality

Even if you haven’t noticed any of these other issues, you should still consider professional air testing. A reputable indoor air quality testing company will be able to give you a comprehensive report on what contaminants and pollutants are in your home. Once you have that report, they can then help you come up with a personalized plan for filtering out unwanted airborne particles that could be impacting your quality of life.

Adding an air filtration system to your home is a great way to improve your family’s health and overall comfort. Those systems can often be installed in one or two days, and your family will most likely notice the benefits almost immediately.

5 Reasons Why You Should Switch To Solar

Setting up solar panels may be a daunting task, but the benefits make it worth the investment whether you care about saving money, protecting the environment, or being energy independent, many good reasons to switch to solar power.

Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Our planet is suffering from environmental problems that cause climate change. According to Scientific American, 2012 was the worst year for carbon dioxide emissions since 1984. As the population grows, the need for energy and resources increases. It is why switching to renewable sources of energy is so vital. Solar power saves money on your electricity bill and reduces the carbon footprint of all of us.

Save Energy

Living in the city, most people don't have enough sunlight to run their homes without electricity or gas. It was only possible to generate solar energy during the daytime in the past. However, new technologies allow homeowners to use their solar panels at night, saving them money on electricity bills.

No Maintenance Needed

Solar panels are good for years without maintenance. Unlike traditional energy sources, such as coal or kerosene, solar systems require no fuel. They produce clean energy that you can use at any time. You don't have to worry about the cost or availability of fuel, and the panels are maintenance-free. Solar power is a clean source of electricity that can eliminate pollution and save the environment. An electrician can install solar panels, so you can start saving money and living an eco-friendly life.

No Fuel Costs

Primary energy is spent digging up coal or oil to make it into fuel. The energy is then burned to make electricity. Solar power does not require any of this. You can use the solar energy you produce with your panels to power everything in your home without pollution or fuel expense.

You Can Live Off the Grid

If you have enough sunlight, living off the grid is easy. You can use solar panels to produce all of the electricity you need from clean, renewable energy sources, lessening your dependence on fossil fuels and creating a more sustainable world.

Conclusion

In conclusion, solar power is a better and more eco-friendly alternative to fossil fuel sources. It's easy to incorporate into your home with minimal maintenance; it's an environmentally friendly way to save money on your utility bills. It will provide you with clean electricity that you can use at any time. With so many benefits, it's no wonder that we see solar power becoming a mainstream energy source in the future.