5 Simple Ways to Freshen Up Your Living Room

If you’ve been living in a family house your whole life and you’d like to continue so, you must be aware that such a living situation requires regular updates as well as various fixes. An old house has its charms as it has history and character. However, an old house also has baggage and flaws that need treatment, as well as more work and upgrades. Of course, you can always choose whether or not you’d like to embark on this adventure. If you do, you should be ready to accept responsibilities and we’re here to help you out by giving you advice on where to start and what to focus on. Start from insulation Old houses often have issues when it comes to insulation . There probably is a system already, but it may require updating, or switching to more modern solutions. This is why it should be done if you notice your house is difficult to warm during winter and gets too hot in the summer. The roof and the attic are often sensitive categories that often need insulating the most. However, if the situation is severe, your walls may need it, too. Double-glazed windows are also quite necessary in order to keep your room temperature the way you want it. Redo the wiring It is often the case that old houses had the electricity done by homeowners as people used to do most things on their own. If that happens to be the case with your house, there are probably numerous safety hazards at this point and the issue should be tended to immediately. For instance, electricity regulations are extremely strict in Australia. This is why most Aussies from Sydney hire an expert electrician from Western Suburbs to rewire the whole house and make it up to current standards and regulations. It’s quite the work, but it is an absolute necessity which is why it can’t be avoided. A fresh coat of paint The fastest and most effective action you can take is repainting the house. You can go for both the exterior and the interior or just one of the two. It all depends on when it was done the last time and how untidy your walls look. If you feel your house is in need of a fresh coat of paint, you should definitely repaint it. Even if it isn’t in such a horrible state, repainting can do you good, especially if you change the color and design of your walls. Your whole house will get an entirely new vibe and you’ll become more motivated to change other things to match your new walls. Don’t be afraid to get creative and mix crazy wallpapers or several color schemes. Combine old and new It’s irrational to think one can just replace every single thing in the house. The first issue with that idea is the fact that people rarely have the money to redo absolutely everything in their home. Another issue has a more sentimental aspect. It is a scenario where one can’t bring themselves to saying Goodbye to a piece of furniture or an item that represents family heirloom and cannot be kicked out of the house. This is why one must compromise between the old and the new. This is not as difficult as it seems, but it should be carefully considered. In order to create balance, you need to make a connection between your old coffee table and a new couch. These are often best connected with details such as table cloths, curtains, and pillows. All in all, living in an old family home gives you a true feeling of love, family, and togetherness. It is a place of history and memories as well as genuine warmth that no new house can ever give you. However, it’s also a huge fixer upper. Nevertheless, as long as you’re OK with the work that awaits you, and are ready to do everything it takes, you’ll be able to have a happy and loving life in this amazing family gem of yours.

When choosing to update your living space, aside from aiming at improving its look you should also try to increase its value. Simply put, if you manage to make some changes to your property that will make it worth more than what you’ve paid for it, you can ensure that your upgrades will pay off if you ever decide to sell it. That being said, it’s also important to keep in mind that not all the upgrades will bring the same value and not all of them guarantee the same return on investment. So, with that in mind, let’s see which upgrades are best for boosting your value, without necessarily costing a fortune. Inspect your doors and windows Your doors and windows are the things that protect everyone inside the house from the outside elements. If not working properly or if their structural integrity is damaged, neither one of these elements will be able to perform the way they’re supposed to. Therefore, this should be your first priority when upgrading your house. See if new caulk needs to be applied anywhere and if everything is able to seal properly. If not, consider replacing your doors and windows with a more energy-efficient alternative. Repaint your walls The next thing you need to do is repaint your interior walls. The fact is that the walls of our homes experience a lot of wear and tear even if it’s not as obvious as when the floors are concerned. That being said, however, you should see to it that you repaint your home regularly. Depending on the space and the area of your home, this should be done anywhere between every two to seven years . Take care of your floors Your floors will also require some TLC. There are numerous ways you can upgrade your floors but if you’re looking to add value to your property as well, consider going with laminate flooring. Australians who are known to be excellent at marrying the style with the practicality are increasingly replacing their flooring solutions with this popular alternative. That’s why experts for laminate flooring in Sydney constantly have their hands full. Laminate flooring is not only an aesthetically pleasing solution but it is actually quite a durable one that also offers easy maintenance. Touch up your exterior The exterior of your home is the thing based on which people will form opinions of what they can expect inside. That’s why you should also see to it that your house’s exterior gets the necessary attention. Inspect your façade closely and see if you should repaint it or if there are any dents and cracks that need to be fixed. Check your windows and see if you need to repaint their frames. Also, inspect your patio and see if any work needs to be done there. Boost your curb appeal Finally, the look of your curb appeal will also significantly influence the look of your property. It only takes about 4 seconds to form a first impression which means that unless your curb appeal is top-notch, chances are that the first impression people form about your property won’t be the best one. So, make sure you maintain your lawn regularly and remove any dead plants or foliage. Try to collect dry leaves and branches as often as possible to maintain the polished look of your yard. In the end, inspect your driveway and your pathway to ensure there are no cracks and stains and if you find any, try to remove them as soon as possible. If you have a fence, see if it needs to be repainted or fixed in any other way and give a nice little trim to your hedges. When upgrading your home, you should be thinking about more than just the visual aspect of the project. Sure, you might not be thinking about selling your property just yet, but it would be great to invest in upgrades that will boost its property either way.

Purchasing a home is a long-term investment, and that’s how the property should be treated when it comes to long-term decisions about it. You should start working on improving your property and increasing its value since day one, and this can often be done with small but meaningful repairs and upgrades. This doesn’t mean that the only reason you should adapt the home is to sell it later on. It’s best to choose the improvements that are both selling points and make your home more comfortable and less expensive to maintain. Landscaping A home is a product, and therefore selling it very much depends on what it looks like and how marketable it can be. Curb appeal is the term used for how your home looks like when it’s seen from outside, and that’s what you should work on. This doesn’t have to be about complicated design or importing foreign and expensive plants. For the most part, you should try to keep your yard clean and well organized and make sure that you repair the driveway and keep the gutters clean. Façade The same goes for the building exterior since it means a lot in how your home appears to someone looking from the outside. However, there’s an additional component when it comes to facades. First of all, there’s a matter of safety and that’s why you should use non-combustible cladding as a way to protect the property. Cladding is also a way to keep the property more insulated and thus easier to heat and cool when needed. This is one of the biggest expenses that a household has over the years and you should try to reduce it in the long run. Open plan Open-plan homes are difficult to design and especially so if you don’t start designing them as such from the ground up. However, what could be done in most cases is to tear down some walls and connect the two rooms that share both the same wall and a similar purpose. This is most commonly done by connecting the kitchen and the dining room into one room. This gives you much more space to work with and makes entertaining and cooking for a large group of people that much easier. It’s still possible to use the design of the room to separate its two main parts while removing walls and getting the extra space. Make it smart Smart homes can mean a lot of things and the technology behind them is changing and developing every day. At this point, it’s best to focus on the features of smart homes that will lower the cost of its maintenance. This is most seen in eco-friendly light and electric features as well as leaving heating and cooling to an AI. In the long run, this will keep your home comfortable with less involvement and it will cut the costs of maintenance services. Money matters In the end, it’s important to think about the financial side of purchase a home and how it’s tied to your overall finances. Paying down the principal on your loan will give you more financial freedom in the years to come and help you sell the home in a more profitable way as well. This is why you’ll need to take your time before you actually go into the loan and discuss the details of it with your financial advisor and an accountant. A homeowner should treat their property as an investment and work on improving to so it could be sold for more than it cost in the first place. This is often about making the home more comfortable and easier to maintain.