If a change is as good as a holiday, small cost DIY projects are as good as a new room, especially if you are preparing to sell your home. It surprising how some simple materials, a lick of paint and some elbow grease can transform a basic room to opulence.
If you want to add value to your home and get a modern look without the hassle and expense of knocking down your bathroom and refitting your kitchen, here are five DIY projects that are perfect for sprucing your home before you put it on the market. Block out a few weekends or take a week off work and you’ll love the results in your home, and on your sale figures.
1. Frame your windows
If you have plain windows this DIY project is essential. To give the room interior some style and depth add your own decorative window frame. This has an additional benefit of drawing attention to the view and light outside, emphasising the natural light and a feeling of space. Lounge rooms and guest rooms especially benefit from a boxed window. They are also really effective if the house is already empty of furniture, helping to reduce the starkness and draw positive attention.
While a window frame looks complicated it is actually just wood panels that are neatly aligned on top of each other. As a DIY project the only hard part is making sure you measure your window space accurately. Once that is done, your hardware dealer can take care of the rest of the materials, cutting them to size and helping you choose your arrangement. You can even get pre-painted wood (usually white) that can save you the trouble of painting them when they are secured. You can choose to have additional layers to get a really outstanding finish. Once you have your wooden pieces you simply need to fix them in place around your window. The transformation is elegant and instantly adds a feeling of a luxury and complexity.
If you already have boxed windows you can further add value and draw attention to the natural light in the room with the addition of colourful drapes or new blinds. Plastic and aluminium blinds look cheap and unattractive, invest in plantation or wood shutters to create a feeling of value that will be rewarded in your sale figures.
2. Recolour your walls
It is amazing how much dirt builds up over time on walls and how damaging the sun can be to paint colours. The layers of dirt creep on almost invisibly. It’s not until you give your walls a solid scrubbing or a fresh coat of paint that you realise just how much the particles of dust and wear of time have depleted your interior. A fresh coat of paint goes a lot further than a good clean. While a clean freshens the walls it can further fade the colour and brightness and reveal, rather than cover, little knocks, chips, scratches and cracks.
If you need some colour inspiration your paint supply store will have plenty of dazzling options. New technologies not only provide a span of accurate colour samples but also computerised displays that let you virtually paint a room and see the effects. If you want to match the paint colour to what you already have then take a decent sized sample of paint for a computerised match.
Be sure to get advice from your supplier on the right painting equipment for your job. You will cut out unnecessary time and expense but purchasing the right brushes, rollers, protecting tape and drop sheets.
If you are really on a budget and want to save on costs, then your number one priority is the entrance hallway, first room off the hallway (the one that gets the most sun) and the kitchen. It’s a fantastic way to brighten a room, instantly achieve a smooth flawless look and create a clean, welcoming entrance.
3. Replace handles and knobs
You might not feel up to repainting your entire kitchen, especially if you are low on time or money. There is a handy way around this. Paint your kitchen cupboard draws and doors and get new cupboard handles. Choose a fresh and vibrant colour that emphasises the atmosphere of your kitchen, here you can be more daring than with walls, that might be off-putting if the shade is are too strong or unique. A modern colour and fresh handles will give even the oldest kitchen a contemporary touch.
The best way to do complete this DIY kitchen task is to take your project outside. Remove the doors from the kitchen, unscrew handles and give everything a really good scrub to remove any grease, dirt and grime. If you skip the clean the paint will not be smooth or even and will be prone to peeling and fading.
When it comes to new handles there are plenty of great options to choose from to allow you to add a personal touch and impacting statement. If your local hardware store doesn’t have the range you want shop online, you can usually find a bargain and they are typically easy to post.
4. Something to look up to
If you liked the fresh detail a window frame gives then a crown moulding is right up your ally. Crown moulding is the same concept as a window box, only for the space between your wall and ceiling. It’s stylish, adds depth and complexity and also emphasis the colour of your walls because the crown is typically a contrast colour (white). Just like window framing the design is deceptively simple, simply strips of wood stacked together. Crown moulding is even simpler to purchase because you can choose from a range of prepared moulds and painted crowns that are fixed as one piece and cut to measure (if you don’t have the tools at home to cut them yourself at home). Just be spot on with your measurements, triple check and get a second option before you cut or order your pieces. Enquire at your hardware shop and see just how incredibly low the prices of ceiling crowns are. Pieces are attached to the top of your wall with a nail gun.
Other great look up options are moulded centrepieces around your lights, ceiling fans and stencilled art.
5. New tiles
Tile patterns date quickly. Even the standard black and white can look tired with time. A tile upgrade in your bathroom really goes a long way to giving your house a modern look and increasing its value at sale. It’s worth shopping around for tiles on sale or getting to a discount tile warehouse. Go ready to buy because discount stoke moves fast and there are no rain-cheques. Cheap tiles are readily available for small DIY projects because tiles date so quickly there is a constant wave of new stock coming into main stores. Old stock and left over stoke from large projects (like hotels, malls and chains stores) are constantly being pushed out the back and into discount warehouses. Great prices are on store stock only and numbers are limited. The great news is brand new, modern design tiles can be collected, cash and carry for incredible prices.
Your local hardware store will be most likely run DIY workshops that cover tiling, if not, (or as well as this) study a few high-quality step by step instructional videos on YouTube (there are plenty to choose from).
The only major difficulty with this DIY bathroom project is time. You need to set aside some tile committed blocks on your calendar to keep your project moving effectively. This is one of those fated tasks that pause for long periods of time between taking tiles off and putting tiles on. There is no need for this delay. Have everything you need on hand before you get started and be prepared to do some solid work get this project completed swiftly.
Commitment is the only real tool you need for this one.
While you’re shopping around for tiles check out other bargains and see if you can pick up quality taps, towel rails, lights or shower heads. Make sure you know your budget before you do this, the tiles are most important, however if your fittings are especially old, hard to clean or damaged it’s worth bringing in something sparkly and new.
If you have never had a DIY project before you will love these easy to achieve challenges. Putting the final touches on your home really elevates a feeling of confidence and success as well as saving costs on installation from a third party. These handy tips are designed to bring the most value to your home through stylish modern looks and sophistication.
Peta Stewart
