Easy Ways to Update Your Home This Summer
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May 1st, 2023
Our homes do important work. They protect everything we hold dear — our people, our pets, and our memories. Plus, our homes play an important role in our identity and mindset. That’s why it’s important to care for our homes by updating them and in a way that makes sense for our lifestyles. Now, not everyone can update their home with the addition of a mother-in-law suite, one of the latest popular trends. But you can update your home in a way that livens up your spaces and refreshes your outlook with little effort and little cost.
Free Ways to Update Your Home
There isn’t much that’s free these days, and if it is free, it could be too good to be true! In this case, these ideas for updating your home really are free — though they’ll take some effort.
1. Redecorating your home can give you a new perspective on your long-lived belongings and the use of your space. Moving furniture to different locations in the same room, or to a new room altogether could help bring new life into your home. Even reorienting the room around a fireplace, or moving the Television will shift perspectives and make a room feel new again.
2. Decluttering your home can free up your living space and your mindset. Start out with four piles: Keep, Give, Trash, Sell. Start with one room, any room, and look carefully at the items on your bookshelves, cabinets, and tables. For each item, place it in one of your four piles. Being honest with yourself is a key part of this process. For many items, you might feel a tug of nostalgia. Ask yourself why you’re keeping the item. It’s okay to let one sentimental item go in favor of keeping another item that has more meaning or embodies a loved one in a stronger way. For those items you wish to sell, holding a yard sale can be an easy solution to earning a few extra dollars.
3. Organizing your space can help you find things more easily and feel more at peace in your home. Yes, you can organize your home for free! Many times, we restrict ourselves by believing that we must have the right tools before we can begin to make changes. Sometimes that’s true, other times, it’s a procrastination trap. Use boxes you already have to organize items in your closet or pantry. Designate spaces in your home, like cabinets and shelves for specific items. Or create zones in your closets for organizing shoes, coats, craft supplies, etc. Organizing even a few areas of your home will benefit your environment and your mental health.
Affordable Ways to Update Your Home
These days, it can be rather expensive to make renovations to your home. That’s why we think these ideas are great for making a big difference in your home for little cost.
1. Fresh paint smells nice and looks great! For under $100 and some elbow grease, you can have a fresh look in your living room, dining room, or bedroom. Though your world will be a little upended for a time, it’s worth the temporary chaos to freshen up a room with new paint. If you’re daring and want to try something new, choose a striking color for an accent wall in your living room or bedroom. The pop of color could brighten your home and put a smile on your face!
2. Update furniture with fresh paint — or a complete refinish! There are many ways to update and refinish furniture. One of the latest trends is the use of chalk painting techniques to make furniture look vintage and distressed. Chalk paint is very forgiving, and looks great no matter how much experience you have with painting. Online tutorials are great for learning simple techniques for shading and distressing. And if you have furniture that’s already painted, another easy update is to strip the piece, sand it down, and apply wax to the raw wood to bring out its natural luster. Updating your furniture could quickly become a creative outlet for you, plus add a fresh look to your home!
3. Use new color and textures in your fabrics on pillows and window treatments. Window treatments can change a room dramatically. Finding fresh colors or patterns for windows can anchor your rooms and make your spaces look finished and well put together. Many discount department stores offer affordable options for curtains and window dressings. Similarly, using pillows from these same discount stores can add color and texture to your rooms, bringing new life and relaxation to your home.
When updating or making extensive renovations to your home, it can help to have some extra space. No matter how much or how little you have, we can hold your stuff for you at Alamo Mini-Storage. Our prices are affordable, our policies are fair, and our team is friendly. Visit a location near you in south Texas, and experience the Alamo difference.