Your home is often the single biggest investment you will make in your life. The trick is to find a balance between maximising the return on your investment and your monthly budget. There are a lot of things which can be done to increase the value of your home without breaking the bank. With some research and hard work, you can DIY your way to a more valuable home. Some of these ideas are perfect to do just before you sell your home to squeeze some extra value out of a potential buyer.
What You Can Do To Increase Your Home’s Value
Install Wood Or Laminate Flooring
Installing hardwood wood or laminate flooring is an easy and inexpensive way to increase the value of your home. Wood adds an element of luxury and warmth to your living spaces and bedrooms.
Install A Closet To Add A Bedroom
An additional bedroom instantly adds significant value to your home. By law a bedroom has to have a window and a closet. Simply add a closet to your den or office to add another bedroom.
Add Some Feature Lighting
Lighting can be made into an effective decorative feature. Large chandeliers are expensive however installing one or two in key rooms in your house creates the perception of expensive lighting. Down lights and mood lights installed in the right places also assist in subtly highlighting your homes features.
Install Crown Molding
Crown molding provides an elegant transition between the colour of the walls and the white ceiling. It is really easy to install your own crown molding as it is made from polystyrene and can be stuck up with glue or builders acrylic.
Paint Your Kitchen Cabinets
Your kitchen contributes significantly to your homes value and is usually the first room people notice when looking at your home. A coat of paint on your cabinets makes them look more modern and creates the impression that the kitchen has recently been re-done.
Give Your Bathrooms A Makeover
Adding some colour in the form of new blinds or curtains, towels, a rug and some decor can go a long way towards making your bathroom look more modern without costing a fortune. Cleaning and polishing the taps and fittings also make them look new and improve the appearance of the bathroom.
If you are feeling really adventurous, you could try tiling over the existing bathroom tiles to give the floor or wall a modern update. It is really easy to do and eliminates the mess associated with chipping away all of the old tiles.
Upgrade Your Front Door
Your front door is the first feature of your home people are introduced to when they arrive. Upscale your door and entrance area by adding decor or re-furbishing your door. Adding pine trim can transform your door from old to new and make it look like an expensive moulded door.
Install Baseboards
Like crown moulding, baseboards instantly add a colour contrast and elegance to your walls and provide a transition between the colour of the walls and the flooring. As an alternative, for tiled floors, consider adding quarter width tiles around the edge of the room instead of baseboards.
Do you have any tips and tricks for increasing your homes value? We have written a few more ideas for weekend projects which are sure to increase your home’s value, be sure to check them out.