Not every home has 10-foot ceilings or sits on a large enough lot to do a massive addition. Most of us watch HGTV or Discovery Plus and while spending most of the past year at home we’ve started to notice our house doesn’t look like the renovated perfectly staged ones on our television.
The COVID19 vaccine rollout is allowing us to begin reopening our country. Some of us will be out the door this summer and won’t give another thought to our tired interior spaces. Eventually, we’ll come home. Home Sweet Home will be great for a while, then we’ll start to notice those little imperfections and the lack of function in our spaces and our yards.
If you’ve been watching home improvement shows, you’ve probably noticed the budgets keep creeping up for each renovation. I get it, viewers don’t want to see the same thing done every episode and the shows’ sponsors want to make sure you see all the great (and expensive) things they have to offer.
Renovations are an investment in your home, your neighborhood, and your community. Having them done correctly is important, so unless you are a skilled tradesperson, taking a sledgehammer to your walls and googling a DIY website can be a recipe for disaster. You don’t want to damage the structural integrity of your home by removing a load-bearing wall or by cutting into the joists. You certainly don’t want to make a mistake with plumbing or electrical work – leaks, mold, mildew, floods, fires – no thank you! If your home is older, you could have lead paint or asbestos. Don’t even get me started on termites or carpenter ants…
If you don’t have a fabulous budget, can you have your dream home? If looking around your home triggers happy memories and makes you smile, it is your dream home. Creating spaces, you feel comfortable in and are proud to share with friends and family, is more important than having a picture-perfect house. I have cats and a grandson. I love when my grandson visits and I don’t want to waste half our visit worrying about my “perfect” house.
There is a compromise. Make small improvements to your home while you plan/save up for the big ones. We planned some renovations to our home, but the pandemic put them on hold. We never stopped planning and we revised/prioritized our goals. We consulted an architect to be sure what we wanted was doable and made sense for our needs.
What changes and updates did we start? These are basic and following a similar list will do wonders for your home too.
First, start at the street to check out your curb appeal. Making a list of what you must do versus what you want to do is a helpful way to stretch your budget. Get pricing for both and be honest about what projects you are willing to undertake and how much you can do yourself. Fixing your mistakes can be costly, so never try to wing it. I added $$$ beside expensive projects on my list.
Painting and landscaping during 2020 greatly improved our curb appeal. Never underestimate the value of power washing your home and updating with a fresh coat of paint and adding some colorful flowers. My son James volunteered his labor as my 2020 birthday present. The cost of paint and flowers was minimal, and the results were amazing.
I also had my trees professionally trimmed and the overgrown front shrubs removed. This was money well spent because now I don’t worry about large branches coming down on my house, our cars, or in my neighbors’ yards whenever it storms. $$$
Replacing the shrubs, weeding/mulching, and upgrading flower beds are on the summer/fall list. Doing these projects, myself will help minimize costs.
Repairing the asphalt driveway and concrete retaining wall is on the list of exterior musts. $$$
The back deck needs a little love - my son has volunteered to tackle this as my 2021 birthday present.
If you have family or friends who are handy and willing to donate labor for simple projects as a birthday or anniversary gift it can save you time, energy, and money, but be careful not to take advantage of their generosity or overestimate their skill levels. Keep it simple, select a project that can be completed in a day or a weekend. Arrange a work party, feed them, thank them, send them home happy, and be prepared to reciprocate. Don’t expect them to come back to do touch-ups and no complaining about the quality of their workmanship. If you are getting free labor, there is always a degree of risk attached. If you aren’t physically able to reciprocate when the time comes, offer to make/provide food for their work party or give them a gift card they can use for their project.
Moving inside, think about what you want to do versus what you need to do. Make sure you have adequate electrical, plumbing, and septic/sewer to handle the renovations you want to do. Sometimes your home requires expensive updates no one will ever see except your contractor, but these updates may increase energy efficiency and lower your monthly utility bills Check for rebate programs or tax credits for certain home improvements. Check local building codes to see if the renovations are allowed and if you will need a building permit.
Consider applying for a home equity line of credit to cover costs and always have a contingency fund. Hire reliable contractors and discuss how payments for materials and labor will be collected. Beware of contractors who insist on being paid for the entire project in advance. Establish a payment schedule and stick to it. Your contractor will need money for supplies and to pay laborers. Watch your contingency fund carefully.
If a big renovation is too costly, there are small things you can do to improve your space.
Declutter and repair/discard any damaged furnishings, etc.
Sell, donate, or toss any unwanted items or put them on your local “Buy Nothing” site. You can also find some nice items on “Buy Nothing” sites that only need a coat of paint or some new fabric. Stick to your plan and only take something you can use right now. Don’t fill up your garage with things you think you’ll find a use for.
Recycle, repurpose, reuse, but get rid of as much stuff as you can. If possible, work room to room. Empty the room and scrub it from top to bottom. Touch up paint or repaint while it is empty. Think about how you want to use the room before you load the furniture back in. Only bring the things back in that you need and don’t be afraid to use something from another room. It’ll feel new in the space. Move to the next room and repeat the above steps. When you’re finished get rid of what doesn’t fit in your new spaces.
If you don’t have high ceilings, raise your curtain rods to the ceiling and hang draperies/curtains that go from the ceiling to the floor. Your ceilings will look higher, and your rooms will feel larger. I went with simple ceiling to floor white grommet-style curtains throughout my house. I love how they ground each space and go with everything.
I moved a few pieces of artwork to different rooms, and the pieces seem fresh and new. Because I sew, I have tubs and bolts of fabric from old projects and projects I haven’t started. I recovered two couches, a Queen Anne chair, my dining room chairs, and a dozen accent pillows for zero dollars. I purchased some inexpensive velvet curtains in different colors and used them to cover another Queen Anne chair, a bench, a headboard, and a few accent pillows. The curtain panels come in wider widths than traditional fabric which works well for larger projects. I splurged and bought a new shower curtain, a few colorful pillow shams, and new pillow inserts to complete the refresh.
I also made notes of what I don’t like or need in the spaces that I couldn’t afford to replace or didn’t have time to refinish. It’s unbelievable how many things we keep and continue to display that don’t reflect our tastes or personalities. These items no longer have a purpose in our lives but continue to hold us hostage. They may be gifts, treasures passed down from loved ones, or status symbols we were told all successful adults must own.
Before my official home renovation begins, I’ll have to deal with the remainder of these leftover items from my past and the pasts of my family members. I’ll be excited to be free of them, and aside from a few pangs of guilt because many were gifts, I won’t miss them at all.