Rental Home Renovations
I believe the secret to any successful home renovation is to know your limits.
Most probably at some point, when you have been moving from one place to the other very often, you really don’t feel like investing a lot of time into making changes in your place anymore. Any project, even simple ones, can feel too time-consuming and not worth it.
The good news is most of the times you really don’t need a complete makeover to feel a difference in your new rented apartment or home, nor a whole team of pros together with a huge investment to make some big impact in an old place. All you need is one weekend and the help of your family and or a couple of friends. If you have the right approach, you could actually transform the occasion into a very fun game!
So, here I will be sharing with you a few of my favorite “do yourself renos” that do not require a lot of effort, can give you a sense of accomplishment and make you very quickly feel at home in your new place!
Change cabinets and door knobs
Old and outdated hardware are some of those items that probably you don’t actually see but make a huge difference in any room. Unscrew existing pulls on cabinets and drawers (most cabinets or door hardware are easily swapped out with a screwdriver and an afternoon) and store them in a safe place, then go for square brushed models for a modern look or add more character with antique doorknobs throughout your home.
If the place is begging for an update and you don’t know exactly what to do, hardware might be all it takes.
Switch the switch plates
As time goes by outlet covers start looking discolored – if not yellowish – and really dirty. This is one small detail that can make any place look neglected.
To swap the switches you don’t need to be an electrician, all you need to do is to make sure to turn off the electricity before start changing the covers. Besides giving a fresh look to the walls you could go for smart switches that have USP ports that are quite convenient.
Get a new toilet paper holder and toilet seat
It does not need to be fancy but an attractive toilet paper holder, together with a brand new/nice toilet seat will make any bathroom a hundred times better!
Bring some light to the dark corners
Plug-in sconces are a great solution for any corner of your house or apartment that needs some light. There’s not even hardwiring or electrician required. All you need is to choose the model/style you better like and make sure you have a power outlet close by. You will be bringing light and a great piece of décor to your room.
Hide ugly cords and cables
Unfortunately we still need to deal with a lot of cords and cables from our TVs and other electronic devices and they do make our places look messy and disorganized.
A very simple and cheap way to change the look of any entertainment center is to use a baseboard Cord Channel.
You can obviously install yourself and also hide the cords to a wall mounted TV or behind a TV stand using a wall Attachment.
Change your bulbs for smart bulbs
Smart bulbs use the same sockets as regular bulbs but they do more than simply light a room like basic ones.
First of all they are LED which means that they will consume much less energy. I mean 90% less than standard incandescent lights.
But they are called smart for other reasons:
They can dim without you having to install dimmer switches in your home. They can change colors, which means you can warm up – with golden yellow tones – or cool down – with light blue tones – the feel of the room depending on what you are planning to do. They can help you sleep better: The C Sleep emits several color temperatures that are designed to help regulate natural melatonin production in the body.
Small but very effective home renovations can be complete with a spare afternoon and a few extra bucks. And I can assure you that some of your home’s main pain points can be drastically reduced.
All you need to do is change the way you think about the whole process, and all of a sudden renovations will become much less stressful.
You might also like this previous article: Sustainability: Where do I start?
