Without regular maintenance, your home’s physical state can deteriorate over time. Changing weather conditions, fluctuating temperatures, humidity, pollution, and human-made factors can all contribute to its decline.
While it’s almost impossible to stop the deterioration of some parts, you can do many things to slow down the process and counter the effects. Check out these quick home-improvement projects to help keep your house looking and feeling brand-new.
Freshen Up Your Entrance
The entrance is the first thing most people see when they enter your property. When people notice your clean, well-kept entryway, they get the impression that the inside is just as visually pleasing.
First, spruce up your home entrance by giving it a deep cleaning. Use a gentle cleanser that won’t damage your wooden deck. Replace the withered wreath or browning potted plants, and clean the furniture (if you have any). Throw in a quirky welcome mat for fun.
Next, paint your front door and porch. Consult the color wheel to find a color that will complement your outer walls, or choose a bright, eye-catching color for a more significant impact.
Upgrade Your Locks
Many homeowners don’t think about changing their door locks, but doing this small change can improve your home security. Like everything else, door locks can stop working correctly with constant use. Don’t wait until that happens. Replace your locks when you notice signs of wear and tear, like severe tarnishing and rust on the surface.
You should also change your locks immediately if you move into a new place, experience a break-in, lose your keys, or someone moves out. Nowadays, you can upgrade to better, more secure locks that don’t need keys to open. There are electronic locks, which require a pin to unlock, and smart locks, which can be opened using a registered smart device.
No one wants to lose their home keys or forget their access code, but it happens anyway. In case it happens to you, be prepared with your own set of lockpicking tools so you can enter your home without calling the police or fire department. The tools can also be helpful if you forget your keys inside the car. Be sure to inform your neighbors about what you’re doing if you don’t want them to call the police on you.
Brighten Up Your Walls
You’d be surprised how changing the color of your walls can brighten up your place. To make a room look more substantial and breathable, choose pale or light colors for your walls. Pale colors reflect light, making a room look more spacious and airy. On the other hand, dark colors absorb light and make a room look smaller.
Don’t neglect to prep the wall before repainting. It’s better to clean it first and smoothen the surface for an even application. Choose a finish that suits your purpose and designs. Glossy paint is perfect for rooms where many activities and messes happen since glossy walls are easier to clean.
But the downside is that a glossy finish can’t hide bumps and imperfections on the surface very well if you want a finish that will make your wall look smoother, choose matte or flat paint.
Install Water-Efficient Faucets
Standard faucets use about 2.2 gallons of water per minute, usually more than you need for rinsing your hands or washing dishes. On the other side, water-efficient faucets only use 0.5 gallons per minute. Switching your old taps with low-flow ones doesn’t take much time or money, but you can reap the benefits for years.
While you’re at it, why not replace your showerhead too? You can save more water and money by switching to a low-flow showerhead. If you’re still using an old toilet, you should know that there are new water-efficient toilets that can save between 55 and 77 percent more water for a year. You hit two birds with one stone by choosing water-efficient fixtures—conserving water and reducing your water bills.
Switch To Energy-Saving Lights
Another quick home improvement you can do is change your standard incandescent light bulbs to energy-saving LED lamps. Old light bulbs use a lot more energy than LED lamps do.
For example, an LED lamp with 650 to 850 lumens uses only 18 watts, while a standard incandescent bulb with the same lumens uses 60 watts. The LED light, with an average lifespan of 25,000 hours, also lasts significantly longer than the incandescent bulb, which has a meager 1,200-hour lifespan.
Although LED lamps cost more than incandescent bulbs, the long-term savings are well worth the initial price. With fewer energy-saving light bulbs, you can confidently add more lighting to your house and brighten the place without fearing your electric bills.
Redecorate Your Home
Switching up your home decoration can completely transform your interior. Getting rid of your old, shabby decor pieces can instantly freshen up your place. Add in new pieces, and you can change the vibe of a room.
But before you start redecorating, you should create a plan or sketch of how your home interior looks. You can use it as a guide to help you choose which decor pieces to buy and save time during the redecorating process.
If you’re unsure about what you want, you can find many home decoration ideas on home-improvement blogs and Pinterest. If everything fails, you can never go wrong with decor essentials like mirrors, inexpensive decorative vases, framed pictures, and live plants.
Final Words
Stopping the process of degeneration is impossible. Sooner or later, the structure and materials of your house will deteriorate, but you can do many things to counter the process.
Regular maintenance and small home-improvement projects are the keys to protecting your home from the effects of time and usage. Even minor cosmetic upgrades, like repainting your walls or changing your interior design, can help keep your place in good condition.
