The Best Home Improvement Tips for 2020

Are you thinking of giving your home an upgrade now the New Year is here? It shouldn’t matter whether your home is a well-loved fixer-upper, an impressive condo, or a stylish newly-built home. Owning your own house means you can change what you want, whenever you want to.

Homeownership may mean maintenance and repairs on a regular basis, but that doesn’t mean you can’t upgrade your home while also fixing your pipes!

Luckily, our team over at Home by NP has plenty of ideas that you can try to help keep your home renovations stylish, but still within your budget. Even if you don’t plan on a complete renovation of your home, you might discover a few ideas that can help give your home a new lease of life. A few small changes around the house can make a huge difference in the enjoyment you get from your home.

1. Plan Your Renovations In Advance

When you decide you want to renovate, having a schedule is incredibly important. You need to plan your remodels in advance so you can book in with a contractor, gather all the materials you might need, and ensure you have the time to go through with it. You really don’t want to leave everything until the last minute and find you’ve got a vacation booked for the same time your bathroom is getting remodeled!

Many contractors have busy/low seasons – if you need the work done during a certain time of year, it’s a good idea to book in well in advance of your preferred time. Some renovation companies run specials during their quiet periods – you might be able to snag a reduced rate during a low season.

You should also try to choose your designs and materials, and fully plan out the time it will take to complete the project. Have everything fully scoped out so you can avoid making unnecessary changes midway through a project – it’ll save you a big headache later.

Try to allow for a 15-20% buffer to your financial budget – even the best plans sometimes don’t work out, and having a buffer is essential if you hit an unexpected problem.

2. Deal With Your Clutter

A clean workspace makes a project so much smoother! Before work starts, make sure your home is clutter-free. It’s surprising how quickly clutter builds up in your home over the years.

The start of a new year is the perfect time for a good declutter, and it will help you stay organized during your home renovation.

Follow these golden rules to help achieve a clutter-free home:

Put aside anything you haven’t touched or used in over a year and consider whether they are:
- Of practical value (keep)
- Of real sentimental value (keep)
- Neither (donate, recycle or dump)
Make use of the space you have. For example, If you have extra cups, instead of cluttering your cabinet, try hanging them on a rack. Don’t overfill your cupboards with utensils if you can find somewhere else to store them.
Keep any appliances where you’ll need them. For example, don’t leave your vacuum cleaner near your bathroom when you need it to clean the carpets downstairs.

3. Don’t Want A Full Remodel? Change Your Look With A Paint Job!

So if you’re looking for something simple to spruce up your house, consider trying a new color out.

A fresh new coat of paint, especially during the new year, can really give a room a new lease of life. It’ll give your home a completely new feel – and won’t take up a huge amount of your time like a full renovation can do.

The Benefits Of Repainting:

When painting your walls, you will need to prepare them first, which means they’ll have to be cleaned thoroughly. This will reduce the amount of moisture damage that occurs on your walls. Less moisture damage means there will be less of a chance for mold or other fungi growing on your walls. Some molds can be hazardous to your health (and pretty expensive to remove).
Your walls will, without a doubt, develop stains over time, particularly in high traffic areas like the kitchen. Adding a fresh coat of paint will cover up any stains that have appeared already.
Painting your walls will make them appear a lot more cheerful and make you feel a lot better about your home.

4. Select the Best Contractor

Finding the right contractor for your home renovation is just as important as finding the right doctor for your health. You don’t want to be paying high prices for low quality work. This will only lead to additional costs later on down the line that could have been avoided if you had taken the time to find the right contractor for your job.

Having to remodel a room all over again after paying for a job to be done is completely ridiculous and disheartening. You can avoid scenarios like this and hire a professional team to help you design and implement your renovation perfectly. This ensures there will be no costly mistakes, and the renovation will be a perfect fit for your home.