Most homeowners assume that the winter months do not offer the opportunity to engage in home improvement. When you feel stuck inside, it may not be easy to see your home’s potential for improvement with cool projects. Winter home improvement projects may be the way to combat those inside blues.
Beat Those Blues – Easy Winter Home Improvement Projects
Luckily, your home offers a wealth of projects you can complete during the months of winter. Even better news is most of these projects are less expensive than heavy-duty projects completed in the spring. Here are eight of the best winter home improvement projects:
Keeping in Your Warmth – Replacing Insulation
It’s never too late to consider contacting a local professional specializing in conducting a home energy audit. An energy audit will help you address areas of concern regarding where energy isn’t being properly. One of the most common issues that arise is outdated and weak insulation.
Replacing insulation in places like attic spaces helps keep the temperature regulated throughout your home. This winter home improvement project may be best done at the beginning of the season to maximize the benefits new insulation provides truly.
Oooh La La – Install New Crown Molding
There are few things in an affordable winter home improvement project that add such dignified value than adding crown molding to a room. It grants a space a certain finished and polished look. Crown molding is also an easy project to undertake when feeling stuck indoors.
One of the most inspiring things about crown molding is the wide variety of appealing options available to the discerning homeowner. With loads of different designs, it offers an easy to install fresh look.
Crown molding also doubles as a hider of many sins – nicks, scratches, and blemishes in awkward spots on the wall vanish when covered with a stylish piece of crown molding.
Spring, Er, Winter Cleaning
While “spring cleaning” is a well known and accepted concept, winter cleaning offers many benefits. Since you’re already spending much time inside your home, taking stock of what you can afford to get rid of becomes easier.
A new year is a great time to make resolutions, and many of those include creating more peace and happiness in your life. Having a clean and uncluttered space has been known to induce feelings of joy and contentment, so doing a deep winter cleaning can help that prosperity grow.
Since many homeowners opt to put their homes on the market in the spring months, doing a declutter and deep clean during the winter months can allow them to concentrate on more pressing matters when selling their homes later.
Small Upgrades With Fresh Looks
One of the easiest and most effective (and most cost-effective!) ways to freshen up your home is a fresh coat of paint. It’s recommended to complete this project towards the beginning or end of the winter months when windows can be left open due to proper ventilation.
Clean colors that create feelings of peace and joy can change the entire way a home appears. Paint isn’t the only way to accomplish change. You can make your kitchen look brand new with a new backsplash and new cabinet hardware.
Sealing the Leaks
As we talked about with insulation, sealing up crucial leaks in the home’s foundation, windows, doors, and attic spaces can substantially reduce energy costs. Applying fresh caulking around windows and foundation is a job that is inexpensive and doesn’t require a professional’s hand.
Not only does sealing up your home tight help keep the cold out and warm in, but it also will help keep unwanted critters and pests out of your space. Pests and rodents often seek out the warmth of a home to seek refuge from the cold – make sure it’s not your home they find!
Reorganize – Create Cool New Space
You may find that while you are touching up your rooms with fresh paint, certain spaces may be jumbled and disorganized. Since you’ve already done a great job at decluttering, take this one step further by reorganizing various areas.
Reorganizing your home spaces is a winter home improvement project that can keep you more organized for the coming year. There are many tools out there to help you get the job done – from new shelving in pantry areas, with hooks to hang various pots and pans, to original closet accompaniments. With the reorganization, you can reinvent so many awesome places in your home.
Face Lift – Checking Out and Replacing Windows and Doors
Sealing up around doors with fresh weatherstripping usually can satisfy pesky air leaks around doors leading to your outside spaces. However, occasionally you may be required to replace one or more of your doors entirely. This replacement may be a blessing in disguise, as it opens options for a brand new look to your home’s openings.
The same can be said for the windows in your home as well. Windows themselves are an important part of ensuring your home is operating in premium energy efficiency. Outfitting your home with new window fixtures early in the winter season can help save you hundreds of dollars.
Get Your Fix(tures)
You’ve done an amazing job with your winter home improvement projects by ensuring your home is more energy-efficient, has freshened up spaces, and is organized and clean. As you added that new backsplash in the kitchen or bathroom, you couldn’t help but notice your dated fixtures do not compliment the fresh look.
New fixtures like faucets and showers can truly transform your space. Not only can you upgrade the look of your faucets, but you also have the opportunity to upgrade the functionality. It may seem a bit daunting as you are likely not a professional plumber, but fear not – these types of upgrades shouldn’t require a pro.
By winter’s end, your home can transform into a brand new space with a little bit of elbow grease, some forethought and planning, and a smaller than expected financial investment. The gains and rewards are well worth it in the coming fresh air of spring.
Solyndria Creative 