Making your house look and feel newer doesn’t always require renovations, replacements, or costly upgrades. With some ingenuity and a bit of elbow grease, you can make your house look new without spending too much or replacing anything in it. How? Here are some things you can try:
Refinish your floors
Refinishing your hardwood floors can make a big difference in how the whole room looks. So if your floors are looking a little too dated, you can refinish your floor with a hardwood floor refinishing kit (if you’re planning to do it yourself) or have a professional do it for you. Either way, the process can take less than a day and is relatively inexpensive to do, especially if you refinish the DIY way.
Repaint your walls
Giving your walls a fresh coat of paint is a cheap and easy way to make a room look new again. Best of all, you can do this yourself over the weekend, even if you don’t have much experience with painting.
Get rid of old wallpaper
If your walls are still burdened by old, yellowing wallpaper, it’s high time to get rid of them and make the house look brand new. Rent a wallpaper remover or a steamer from the hardware store, then dedicate one to two days to remove the wallpaper in your house, as well as an additional day to clean and paint the walls.
Renew grout
Dirty grout can make the entire bathroom look old and gross. To avoid this, clean your grout with a vinegar-water solution and baking soda paste, using a toothbrush to scrub away the dirt and grime that has accumulated over the years. It may take you half a day to scrub every inch of grout, but it’s well worth it when you see your tiles bright and shining again.
Get rid of outdated decor
Is that ancient lamp giving the room personality? Or is it really making the room feel tacky? Decor from the previous century can either give your home retro vibes or make it look unkempt. Of course, this depends on the way you’ve decorated your house, but it also depends on the decor itself. If your decor is making your home feel old (and not in a good way), it may be time to get rid of them.
Refinish old furniture
Just like refinishing hardwood floors, refinishing old wooden furniture can make them look brand new, which will also have a positive effect on the appearance of the entire room.
It’s relatively easy to refinish a piece of old furniture. Basically, you just have to clean it, make repairs as needed, remove the old finish or paint, then apply a new finish and/or paint to it. No need to buy new furniture; you just need a free afternoon and some basic refinishing tools to make your old ones look new again.
Clean rugs and carpets
Dirty rugs and carpets can make a room look old and unkempt. But worst of all, they host tons of bacteria that can spread illness to your family and pets.
Get your rugs and carpets professionally cleaned to breathe new life into them. If you want to do it yourself, make sure that you have the right tools and equipment to clean your carpets thoroughly. But to save time and get the best results, it’s recommended that you seek professional help, especially if you have a lot of carpets and rugs to clean.
Reupholster furniture
Reupholstering furniture can be quite costly, but it’s definitely cheaper than replacing them entirely. Take your furniture to a professional reupholstery service. You can ask them to maintain the current look, or you can choose an entirely different material for your furniture. Either way, it’s going to make your home look newer and cleaner without much effort.
Alternatively, you can hire a professional upholstery cleaner to get rid of years’ worth of dirt and grime from your furniture. This is a great option when your furniture is generally in good condition but is just burdened by dirt and stains that are making them look old. If you want to save money, you can also try cleaning your furniture yourself by renting a portable extraction cleaner from your local hardware store. For stains, spot clean using commercial stain remover or a homemade solution.
As you can see, you don’t have to spend a lot of money or replace anything to make your house look newer–sometimes, you don’t even have to spend at all. With these tips, you can breathe new life into your house by making it look newer, cleaner, and more well-kept than before.
