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Every home can always use a good makeover. It could be that you’ve noticed some things in your home that is in dire need of replacement or that there are some areas in your home that requires some rejuvenation. Surely, you want your home to be in its best state. It’s more than just making it ready for visitors to come; but it’s also about making it comfortable and stylish for the entire family. After all, this is your home—the place where you should feel as if you have your own personal retreat.

Then, here comes the worry, money. Of course, everyone’s on a budget. It’s not all the time that there may be a lot of extra cash in the bank to spare, given all the other expenses families also have to go through. But, fret not as it’s a common misconception to think that a home upgrade has to be costly.

To prove this, here are five home upgrades you can try that are guaranteed to be friendly to your wallet.

1. Add A Porch Swing

A porch swing may only be a very minute detail to add to your backyard, but it’s a home improvement that’s cheap and nevertheless can bring so much life to your garden. Especially if you’ve got young kids with you, this is a place they’ll truly love to be in.

When you’ve got a 6 foot porch swing, this can also encourage the entire family to spend more time outdoors. This brings about many benefits to the homeowners, such as:

  • It gives you an opportunity to relax and de-stress;
  • It improves your health as you can sit on your porch and have some healthy dose of Vitamin D;
  • It may help you attain positive emotions as a little sun and light exposure can improve your mood greatly.

Along this line, you can make your porch swing even more relaxing by sprucing it up with pillows.

2. Repaint Your Kitchen Cabinets

One of the areas in a home that goes through the fastest wear and tear is your kitchen. Especially if your family is spending more time at home and every member eats for every three meals, this could mean you’re cooking more than usual. So, you might find your kitchen starting to wear out.

While a full kitchen remodel could be expensive, here’s one area you can do by yourself, repaint the cabinets. Changing it to another colour can instantly improve how your kitchen looks. For instance, if you’ve always had white cabinets, painting them a darker colour can make them look brand new.

As you do this, you can also take it one step further by upgrading any outdated handles your kitchen cabinet may have.

3. Refresh Your Rooms With Paint

Like repainting your kitchen cabinets, you can also repaint your bedroom, one room at a time. Repainting your bedroom walls isn’t something you’ll necessarily need a contractor to do. You can do this by yourself and still have excellent results with it.

Repainting the walls can instantly freshen up each room in a very inexpensive manner.

4. Add Outdoor Seating

Along with the swing in your porch or patio, you can also add outdoor seating. If you take the time to search and window shop for outdoor seating, you may come across good deals that won’t make you spend more.

Take a good look at your garden and see if there’s an area where adding outdoor furniture would be good. For instance, if you have trees, you can place a piece of furniture under them. 

You can also spend quality family time now that you can hang around in your outdoors. There’s enough space for watching the children play and any organised family outdoor activities. Outdoor seating also gives you more opportunity to entertain guests outdoor for an evening barbeque.

5. Install A Dishwasher

Ending up this list is an electrical appliance you can invest in for this year, a dishwasher. If you don’t already have one at home, it’s a good idea to have a dishwasher. When whipping up at least three meals a day, this also means that the washing of dishes never ends, and it can actually be quite time-consuming.

You can be more efficient with your time when the dishwasher does the dishes because you can now do something else while waiting for it to finish running. Plus, many dishwashers today are also water-efficient, and you can conserve more water than washing dishes manually multiple times a day.

A dishwasher is an investment for the long run, plus, because it’s so popular, you can also find brands that offer affordable models with good quality.

Conclusion

Affordable home upgrade ideas surely won’t break the bank, albeit they would inspire you to get started with the project right away. Through these aforementioned tips, you’ll never be without ideas of what you can do to upgrade your home without spending a lot. Plus, many of them are easy DIY tips that are guaranteed to be cost-effective. Being budget-friendly doesn’t mean the ideas are of low quality. With a home upgrade, spending time at home will feel so much better as it becomes more livable, comfortable, and cosier to stay at. 

Are you thinking of remodeling your current home design? Remodeling the interiors can be a daunting task. To make it easier, one can appoint home remodel contractors to execute your plans in the best possible way. 

Delivering high-quality results requires exceptional skills and you have to thoroughly evaluate all possible options before appointing any contractor. You can read the following article to find out how you can hire a contractor: https://www.forbes.com/sites/houzz/2016/05/31/how-to-hire-a-contractor/?sh=6bb7906b5526

Business Experience

Choosing a contractor is a challenging task, so before making any selection, you must look out for certain things like:

  • Does the contractor have an e-mail address, permanent mailing address, personal contact number, cell phone, voicemail, and fax number?
  • Does the contractor carry any insurance which protects you from any kind of liability? You must ask them for the remodeler’s insurance certificate copy. 
  • Get details about the company and find out how long they have been serving their customers. Also, check out whether they have a friendly relationship with their co-workers or contractors like electricians and plumbers or other staff because smooth work requires good teamwork.
  • Check the reputation among their customers and peers. 

Interview Candidates

Shortlist the contractors and have a face-to-face meeting with them. To make selection easier, always try to shortlist only up to 3 contenders because things will get confusing beyond that. How a contractor responds to your questions is very important but remember that communication always goes both ways. The candidates should also ask lots of questions too. 

Check References

Ask the contractors to show some of their previous projects. If you like them, make a call to the contractor and ask for references for their work done in floor and bath remodel from their former clients to verify on them. Ask their clients about their satisfaction level and their experience of working with the contractors. 

Always remember, when you hire a remodeler, the quality of service should be the top priority because the finished project outlook always depends on the quality of skills applied to it. 

Contract Details

When you have finally chosen a contractor and have finalized the work to be done, you must put them all in writing so that it will make be easier for you and the contractors to work smoothly without any disagreement during the project. Before the work starts, make sure that your contract involves:

  • Outline of the task to be executed
  • Subcontractor information
  • Bids and costs
  • Material details
  • Payment information
  • Deadlines

In case any changes occur in the project, it should also be written out in detail and signed by both parties. Try to cover all details like material cost, time deadline, etc., and ensure that no information is left uncovered.

Be Flexible

Some unseen problems may arise while carrying out the project which even a contractor cannot foresee. Therefore, you must be prepared that you might have to pay a little extra than the quoted amount. Be reasonably flexible and always keep the right communication level with your contractor to avoid any undesirable circumstances.

Click here to learn how you can prepare for renovation.

Insurance

Before selecting any contractor, always cross-verify with your insurance agent and find out what is covered in your homeowner’s policy regarding home remodeling or repairs. Make it compulsory that your contractors have this insurance policy so that there will be adequate security to your projects.

Certifications and License

You must always opt for licensed contractors and subcontractors. Before making a choice, check all the requirements of your state. If any contractor doesn’t hold the license to carry out your desired work, you must opt for someone else. By doing so, you can be assured that your work is being carried out by the best contractor. 

Payment Schedule

Always write down the payment schedule before finalizing a project. In most cases, some partial payments are required to be done in the middle of the project. Do not settle the whole amount until the work is completed and you are delighted with the job done. In the event that you cannot pay the entire amount in one installment, always look for contractors who might be able to offer financing services. 

Selecting a remodeling contractor is a tough job. It requires perfect execution because the beauty of your home lies with your interior decoration. So before appointing anyone, do consider the above points.