With your home being the single most expensive thing any of us will probably ever purchase, making changes, improvements or renovations to it can be a scary proposal. What if it goes wrong? What if we make the wrong choices? This article will help you wade through the rights and wrongs with some great tips and ideas for your home improvement projects.
Renovate your home to allow for the use of more energy-efficient and natural lighting. This is an easy way to reduce your electric bill while also helping to save the environment. Compact fluorescent bulbs will last longer, use less energy, and provide a more comfortable lighting than incandescents. It is easy to replace the bulbs in your home with these.
When you are replacing the baseboards, opt for stained wood over painted for more appeal. Stained wood baseboards can help to add depth to your room and make it seem more appealing. Also, dings and scuffs are not as noticeable on stained baseboards as they are on the painted ones. A number of different stain colors are available to suit different styles of decor.
Instead of purchasing white towels for your bathroom, choose darker colors or patterns. White is a color that picks up everything and needs constant bleaching. You can choose to have your fingertip towels and washcloths to be one color and your actual bath towels to be a different color altogether. It saves a lot of trouble when washing and makes your bathroom appear a lot cleaner and put together.
Instead of wooden flooring or linoleum, use tiles in your kitchen area. Most tiles are easy to clean and more spill proof than any linoleum or wood flooring on the market. They define your kitchen space and keep that area separate from the rest of your dining room or living room.
If you want to keep the toilet bowl clean, just add bleach from time to time. Bleach does not smell good but it is a good way to avoid germs and it will keep the toilet shiny. If you use a scented bleach, it can also eliminate odors.
Carpet the bottoms of the drawers you keep your hand tools in. This will not only make the shop room a quieter place but it will help protect your valuable tools. Keep those tools rust free by spraying the carpet lightly with machine oil before you place the tools inside the drawer.
When you hire a contractor to work on a home improvement project, make sure that he is holding a current license and that he has insurance for his employees. This is important for your protection, in case you have a legal dispute about the quality of the work. In addition, if his employees are not covered by his insurance, you might be financially responsible for any injuries that an employee incurs, while he is on your premises.
A good tip for home improvement is to make sure you make smart investments in your home. Try to improve parts of your home that potential buyers would be interested in when you plan on selling your home. This will insure that you get the most out of your money.
It is a good idea to do home improvements soon after you notice there is an issue. A lot of minor repairs can easily be ignored but they can lead to bigger issues in the future. Try not to fall into this trap. A small issue can rapidly grow into a multifaceted and expensive problem. Small problems can turn into much bigger ones.
If you are trying to remove wallpaper that has been painted over or has more than one layer, you may have to use a steamer. Using a steamer will assure you do not damage the walls while removing the wallpaper. You can usually rent a steamer or buy a do-it-yourself model.
Hopefully the information that you have just read will help you realize that home improvement isn’t as scary as it can seem. There are wrong choices that can be made, but if you stick to these tips, you will have the information you need to make good choices and have a great and valuable home.