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Homeownership is such a mixed bag sometimes. With all its undeniable benefits—more security, a sense of being rooted in a community, a significant asset that will hopefully be appreciated over time—it can also be overwhelming when it’s overdue for a bit of a makeover.
Keeping your home well-maintained and looking fresh doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. And if you’re even a little bit DIY-minded, you can tackle many smaller projects to improve your home’s looks, comfort, and functionality.
Consider the following five DIY home renovation upgrades to help update your home this spring.
1. Give Your Entranceway a Makeover
It doesn’t take much time, money, or skill to upgrade your home’s entranceway, but if you refresh this area, you’ll enjoy maximum impact from your efforts! Concentrate on the front porch or stoop, the front door, and the space inside the doorway.
Start by decluttering the area, then consider painting the front door a bold new color. Spruce up the room with new planters and potted plants. Consider adding some storage to corral shoes, slippers, keys, and other items. Keep it minimal, though, to maintain a lighter, streamlined aesthetic.
2. Upgrade Your Lighting Fixtures
Walk through your home and take a long, close look at your lighting fixtures. Your lamps, sconces, recessed lights, and ceiling lights might cast a shadow on your home’s decor—figuratively speaking or even literally.
You can swap out new fixtures for existing ones on a DIY basis with some basic electrical skills and the right tools. However, if you’re at all squeamish about this, consider hiring an electrician to do this work. You’ll want to hire a pro if you’re putting a fixture where one does not exist.
3. Create a Dramatic Focus Wall
Consider brightening up a single wall in your home with colorful wallpaper or paint.
Patterned wallpaper can be overwhelming if you consider applying it to all four walls in a single room. That’s a lot of paper, a lot of time, and a lot of headaches if you’re not very skilled and experienced with wallpaper. It can also be challenging to get a busy pattern appropriately aligned. But on a single wall, the prospect becomes much more manageable.
If you’re not crazy about wallpaper, you can also use paint. When applied to all four walls, dark and bright tones that can overwhelm a room can merely provide a much-needed pop of color and visual interest on a single wall.
4. Refresh Your Kitchen Backsplash
Kitchen renovation projects can provide a powerful lift to your home’s looks and functionality. However, these can be some of the most expensive and complex remodeling tasks you can undertake, making them less than ideal for quick DIY upgrades.
One exception: the backsplash. With the right tools and sufficient time, replacing your backsplash can be a great DIY project for your next weekend. Ensure the wall supporting the backsplash tiles is in good repair (no soft spots, drainage issues, etc.).
It might be tempting to get super-creative with your backsplash, but you may want to choose a single color for the new tiles, especially if you’re working with a constrained space or a small kitchen. It’ll also help keep the look clean and elevated.
5. Update Your Home’s Hardware
Hardware might not spring to mind when it comes to giving your home a quick refresh. There’s not much to it, after all, and as far as high-impact home renovations, upgraded hardware doesn’t typically make most folks’ top-five lists. Yet a deliberate, intentional switch from heavy, tarnished faux-brass handles to something colorful like a turquoise-hued ceramic version or bright, outsized brass pulls.
Doorknobs, kitchen and bathroom faucets, dressers, and other furniture hardware can all be swapped out for something more dramatic and visually impactful. The cost is generally relatively low, while the skill and experience level required to swap these out is beginner-friendly with the right tools and a good video tutorial or two.
Give Your Home a DIY Spring Makeover
These aren’t the only DIY projects you can take on this spring to help modernize your home’s style. Look for upgrades that you can complete comfortably on the weekend and for which you can find adequate resources. You’ll also want to ensure you have the right tools for the job before getting started.
And if you’re planning to sell your home, consider talking to a real estate agent in your area before prioritizing your projects, as some upgrades have a more significant impact on prospective buyers and home value than others.
