With the right planning and pieces, even a small space can become an outdoor retreat. Look for nooks in your yard where you can put a bench and a small side table and make a mini patio to enjoy your landscape. If you have a window that faces frigid winter winds, replace it with a high-efficiency unit. If your home has single-pane windows, they could be wasting up to 25% of your energy costs. Improve your home’s energy efficiency by replacing single-pane windows with high-performance double-pane Energy Star-rated windows.
- If you rent your home and apply to your local authority for a disabled facilities grant, you’ll need to get your landlord’s permission before your local authority will agree to help you.
- Your foundation already has a big job to do holding up the house.
- Conventional wisdom among estate agents is that kitchens and bathrooms sell homes, so if you’re thinking of improving with a view to selling on, this is a good place to start.
- If you want to add more safety features to your home but can’t seem to follow through, make it one of your top priorities in the new year.
Miss the studs and you’ll be pulling out more than the bars when you put your weight on them. Stainless steel, stamped tin, wrought-iron grillwork, glass, and wood painted to match your flooring or countertops are all possibilities. “The process is simple,” says Mike McAllister, owner of Riverside Kitchen Center in Mount Vernon, Washington. “Remove the small flange that holds the existing insert, then replace the insert with your material and add wood or metal stops to keep it in place.” Spice up your cabinets and drawers by replacing factory-issue handles and pulls with designs that reflect your personal taste. These days there is cabinet hardware available for every kitchen style.
The Amount You Borrow Depends On Your Equity
“In other words, if you’re contemplating a kitchen remodel but your roof is leaking like a sieve, you need to address the roof issues first before indulging in any updates,” says Matke. These are unsecured loans issued and supported only by the borrower’s creditworthiness, rather than by any type of collateral. Our sister company Rocket Loans® offers personal loans for home improvement and many other uses. Lenders typically require you to maintain 15 – 20% equity in your home after a cash-out refinance. This can limit the amount you can access for home improvements.
Refinancing Requires Closing Costs
Home appliances and home mechanical systems are expensive enough. Set enough easily-available emergency money aside, even if you’re sure that nothing will ever break, to cover the costs. Having to buy whatever is available in an emergency, and paying financing charges and interest on top, will only drive up the cost of stuff you already don’t want to buy. Grab bars are one of the simplest ways to make an existing bathroom more accessible. Stylish designs can be found at your local home improvement center. The most important thing to remember when installing grab bars is to find the studs and mount the bars directly to them.
Simple upgrades like adding a new light fixture, such as the semi-flush sputnik chandelier, to your foyer can make a bold statement. If the carpet in your living room is looking worn, remove it and install some hardwood flooring. Quality hardwood flooring can cost anywhere from $3 to $8 per square foot and you can save some money by installing it yourself. If the carpet is still good, give it a good DIY carpet cleaning. Many times people will create an opening through a wall between two rooms similar to a large window opening to try to make their home feel more open or bigger. These openings really can make a big difference but adding an extra feature to them like an arched top makes them more appealing to the eye…
Tierney McAfee is a freelance writer and Country Living and The Pioneer Woman contributor who covers entertainment, holiday & entertaining, food & drinks, design ideas, DIY, and more. Well, if you need a little extra motivation to take that first step, look no further than the best home improvement shows on TV. The friendly hosts and genius tips will inspire you to finally tackle that DIY project you’ve been daydreaming about for months. He started building a fence but put the project on hold when he found it impossible to source new fence posts. Stacked neatly in his backyard is a minivan-size pile of gray lumber, all stuff Buhr salvaged from dumpsters and a fence demolition project. The river rock she wanted in order to help set an aquatic theme was nowhere to be found this spring, so Camille had to use 53 bags of pea gravel as a substitute.