Home Renovation: Practical Ideas to Spruce Up Your Home

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When we’re planning the interior design of our home, we start with what we want. The style and color scheme come first. We browse through magazines, websites, and social media for the elements of an industrial style or a Victorian-style home. We decide on color schemes by looking at a paint catalog from Life Specialty Coatings. The possibilities are limitless when it comes to deciding on what we want to find in the design of our homes. But that doesn’t mean that we fulfill everything that we want. Unfortunately, we tend to hesitate and pull back a bit. We make sure that we don’t innovate and be playful too much with the design. This is so that we could maintain a sense of elegance and tradition in our home. But the truth is that we should hesitate. If we envision quirky design elements at home, then we should embrace that. This is what these three individuals did in their own homes. Living Room: Multi-story Bookshelves and a Rock Climbing Wall For those of us who are proclaimed bibliophiles, having a home that looks very much like a major library is the ultimate dream. However, we hesitate because it’s not exactly ideal to have a bookshelf that covers an entire wall that spans more than one story. But that’s exactly what Olivia Song did in her townhouse in Cobble Hill, New York City. Because the multiple floors of her home overlook the living room, she took advantage of the expansive wall and filled it up with books. She didn’t stop there, though. She also installed a rock climbing wall right there in the living room. She has two young boys and they, unsurprisingly, are enjoying this home feature. By living in the heart of New York City, it means that the family doesn’t have much outdoor space for play. It’s not at all like living in the country. So Song improvised by installing a playground feature inside her home. More often than not, the living room is often the most unused room. Families lounge in the entertainment room because the living room is for guests. But with Song’s creativity, she made sure that the living room is something that everyone in the family enjoys very much. Kitchen and Bathroom: Offbeat Patterns and Prints When we decide on what our wall and other furniture would look like, we just decide on the colors. Perhaps we would look through various textures and patterns to add a little bit of excitement to them. But we rarely decide on something that’s completely unique and out there. This is because repainting or replacing the wallpapers of our home is a very costly affair. So we want to get this truly right. Unfortunately, because of this, we tend to play it safe and settle with elegant but conservative walls and furniture. But Gigi Hadid proves people wrong by pushing the boundaries of the design of her home. Many have marveled at her apartment in New York City. But her kitchen left such an impression on us. It’s because her cabinets are designed with dried pasta. Behind the tinted glass of her cabinets are various shapes of pasta. Hadid’s playfulness also doesn’t stop there. Another noteworthy part of her home is a wall in her bathroom. The expanse of it is covered with prints of various covers of The New Yorker. This publication is well-known for its imaginative artwork. So the covers make up a great art display for the room. Kids’ Bedroom: a Jungle Gym For the bedroom of our children, we tend to get more creative. We want their rooms to always evoke joy and encourage play. In a way, these rooms would help make their childhood happier and more memorable. But, even if we want these things, we don’t always go all out. But that’s not what Hilary Duff did in her massive home in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. For the bedroom of her young son, Luca, she decided to install an actual jungle gym. The bedroom is not at all just a place where her son could sleep. He could enjoy a slide, take a nap on a hammock, climb up the wall, and many other fun activities. Through this, Duff makes sure that her son really does have a fun childhood in their family home. When it comes to the design of our home, we all know what we want, what we envision. But, really, the problem is finding the courage to actually fulfill them. By knowing that some people didn’t hold back in how they want their homes to be, we could find inspiration and the courage to be just as quirky and innovative.

Home renovation can be a lot of fun for a lot of people. If you enjoy DIY projects and your home feels a bit dull to you, then a home renovation would be the perfect way to appeal to your interests while transforming your home. There are many affordable ideas you can use to give your home a new look.

It is important to know what you can do alone and what should be contracted out. Painting walls and cabinets is entirely within your skill area. Any serious repair work must be entrusted to a contracting firm. If the repairs aren’t too serious you could save some money by hiring a professional who has qualified a CSCS centre. You will get the same quality of work without the red tape and delays associated with large companies.

Plumbing and HVAC are also two areas that you must avoid getting involved in. Changing out a fixture is fine, but any repairs or re-routing of pipes must be done by a licensed professional. Problems with a plumbing system can go wrong in a big way and cause costly damage. HVAC repairs may seem simple, but they can be fairly dangerous.

There are in high voltage conditions, a wrong move can expose you to dangerous chemical refrigerants, and you are unlikely to have the needed tools and equipment. Focus on doing the easy jobs and hire someone trained to handle the hard stuff for you, it’s their job, and you’ll be glad for the lack of stress.

Paint

Paint can easily refresh the feel of your home. If your current colours are light and pastel, consider trying something bold to change the atmosphere. Many people are beginning to paint an accent wall in a very bold colour or pattern so that it stands out. The rest of the walls can be in a complementary but lighter colour so that the accent wall stands out even more.

Cabinets

kid friendly home nursery room

Painting cabinets is a popular way to begin renovating the kitchen. It can give the kitchen an updated feel and motivate you to keep going with the other changes. Pay attention to doing proper surface prep before painting. These cabinets will often be in high heat situations and are around food. So it is best to make sure that they will not encounter any problems by ensuring you do a detailed job painting them.

Faux Backsplash

Faux shiplap back-splash is an adhesive sticker that you can cut to size and paste on the walls between and around your kitchen cabinets. This is much cheaper than painting and does not even take time to cure or dry. Some online shops that sell these back-splashes will even let you customize the design so you can ask for something that will perfectly suit your cabinets and countertops.

Window Trim and Glass Stickers

You can paint the window trim a different colour from the wall to make it stand out. Light colours contrast best with dark walls and curtains. Dark colours work best for light walls and patterned curtains.

Glass stickers are cheap and can be easily found online or at craft stores. You need to take care to paste them evenly onto the window for a delightful stained-glass effect. These are especially attractive on windows that primarily face the sun and help to reduce glare in a very aesthetically pleasing manner.

Bathroom Tiles

tile shopping

Replacing bathroom tiles can be expensive and time-consuming work. Some people are achieving great success by painting the tiles instead. Make sure you find a good guide on preparing the tiles for the painting and seal them after. Then, choose a design, pick out a stencil and a paint colour of your choosing. Depending on the size of your bathroom and the design you choose, you could start and finish the job in one weekend.

Chalkboard Paint

Keeping children distracted can be a full-time job in itself. A great way to keep them away from the devices and keep them occupied is to paint one wall with chalkboard paint. This is not strictly a renovation, but the effect of the wall is such that it does add to the decor of your home.

You can use the wall to write down grocery lists, make notes of chores that need doing, and leave reminders for your spouse and children. The children will have the pleasure of a large space they can draw on without worrying about getting in trouble or making a mess.

There are so many ways to refresh your home and transform the way it looks. You can change out lampshades, apply wainscoting, and even convert an old cabinet door into a wall hanging.

Even when your desire for change seems like an expensive fix, there are other ways to approach it. Linoleum is a great way to cover up the floors for a fraction of the price it would take to install new flooring. Stencils can transform the look of your fireplace grate without needing to involve expensive ironwork technicians.

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We believe that every house has the potential to become a dream home. Our mission is to provide homeowners, renovation enthusiasts, house flippers, and those in the rental business with a wealth of inspiration, expert tips, and practical advice.

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