Many home improvement projects take a lot of planning involving several professionals while taking a considerable amount of time and money to accomplish. There are however many ways to improve on the looks and feel of your home without major renovations or costly options. Most of these projects are low cost and short time involved from start to finish and if the homeowner is not proficient in doing it themselves, a local handyman can accomplish most of the tasks in a day, costing just a small labor charge, especially if the homeowner supplies the materials needed for the project.
One of the quickest and yet simple to plan and accomplish projects is to refresh a room with a new coat of paint, now while this will involve some prep work and moving of wall hangings and possibly furniture so that they don’t get unwanted paint on them, room painting is normally a one day project from start to finish, even if the day begins early with a trip to the local paint store. Paint can alter a room in many ways from making the room look larger with lighter colors on the walls and a pure white ceiling, to dressing up the dreary washed out look with some vibrant colors or even highlight a single wall for a focal point with a big bold color while finishing the remainder of the room in white. While white can sometimes be considered the ultra-modern or sterile look, understand the entire look changes with whatever décor is added such as colorful drapery, wall hangings, artwork and photographs; by altering the décor items you will transform those white walls into a base for a color palate that explodes into the senses. While on your painting project, consider freshening up the windows and doors with either a fresh coat of complimentary color or going with a semi-gloss to glossy white. This addition will add that extra level of wow factor to the look of the room. And lastly, don’t for to look down; the floor, if wood or hardwood flooring, can be over stained or painted as well to give an entirely new look to the room. If you are choosing to include the floors in the painting project, be certain to consult your local paint store to determine what kind of paint will be best for durability as well as adhesion to the current floor finish.
Another great addition to a room that will make it tremendously upgraded as far as the look goes is to add moldings. Enhance base moldings by adding to them; for example if your room currently has square 1 x 4’s as the molding, you can add a quarter round or half round molding to the top and or to the face at the floor and totally change the look. Molding around doors and windows can be carefully removed and trimmed to fit square blocks at all four corners, again giving a very dramatic look. And one of the most powerful molding statements in any room would be the addition of crown molding around the room at the ceiling, crown molding adds not only elegance but also enlarges the look of the room due to it transitioning the wall to the ceiling creating a better visual flow. Moldings can be painted or stained to either blend in, mimicking old style plaster moldings or contrasted with a white or bold color giving yet another totally different look. A lot of times just changing the color of the molding, for example, from same color molding as the walls to a gloss white contrasting color to the walls will give the room an absolutely different look and feel.
Window dressings can also greatly impact a room’s look, the various different materials and styles curtains and valances can add are remarkable. Windows can also easily be converted to a new look by adding shutters or blinds to them; louvered shutter type blinds with a heavy material sash across the top and draped down one side would give a unique look that changes the entire rooms appearance. Wooden or plastic grid work can also be quickly installed on the window panes for a quick transformation and again, most of these freshen up ideas can be done in a single day and cost comparatively inexpensive.
