Easy Ways to Upgrade Your Home

If you’re looking to make your home feel more custom without having to pay the price {or deal with a move: no thanks} then this blog post is for you.

There are a few details that can make a huge difference in the overall aesthetic of your home. I’m sharing the four areas that can upgrade your space and make it appear more custom.

Our home was not technically not a custom build. Long story short: I actually found our home on Zillow when it was a mere hole in the ground. When we purchased this home it was early enough in the process that I got to choose the vast majority of interior finishes. The only thing we couldn’t change was the foundation and we loved the layout so that was never a problem.

But as we were making final selections, there were four key areas that I paid extra attention to that add a finishing touch to the overall feel of the space. What’s great is that these are things that you can implement into your home that don’t require major construction. These are home improvements you can implement on a free Saturday or over the weekend.

-M

1.) LIGHTING

Lighting can make a big difference in your home and there are so many great options out there for affordable and stylish fixtures.

In our home, for example, we have a blend of boutique lighting (Holland House lighting is in our kitchen, master and upstairs bathrooms while our basement bar lighting is from Montgomery’s) and big box store lighting (Blakely’s bedroom, guest bedroom and downstairs bedrooms/bath all feature fixtures from Menards).

The point here is that you can easily blend higher end lighting with a more affordable option without compromising on design. The big box stores like Menards, Lowes and Home Depot have really stepped up their game over the years so they’re definitely worth checking out. I also really like Wayfair or Joss & Main for online ordering. We used both of those retailers in our previous home and were very happy with the result.

Switching out your light fixtures is a quick and easy project that can make a big impact.

| LIGHT FIXTURES |

2.) PLUMBING FIXTURES

We opted for Kohler plumbing fixtures throughout our entire home and have been so glad we did. The style, durability and features (like the sweep spray option on our kitchen faucet… game changer) are unmatched. 10/10 recommend Kohler.

That said, if Kohler fixtures aren’t in your budget, there are so many beautiful options available at places like Wayfair, Joss & Main, Lowes, Home Depot and Menards.

Updating your faucets can update the design of your kitchen or bathroom space in just minutes.

| PLUMBING FIXTURES |

3.) ACCENT WALLS OR CABINETRY

Whether it’s with wallpaper, a grid wall or simply painting a focal point, you can make quite the statement with a feature wall. I have done an accent wall in every bedroom of our home and it’s given each space its own personality without breaking the bank.

We chose a grid wall in the master of our home and have absolutely loved it. There are so many ways to execute a grid wall and adds some great depth to a room. With our grid wall we kept the same paint color throughout the room but with our kids’ bedrooms and the guest room, we opted for a painted accent wall behind each bed. This is by far the easiest and most affordable option but still makes for a gorgeous design feature.

I added the painted cabinet option because if you’re looking to update a cabinet in your bathroom or even your kitchen, this can be a bigger project to take on but it can be totally worth it. Pinterest has a ton of “how-to’s” on this and if you have the time/patience, we recommend giving it a try.

Our basement bathroom cabinet in this house was one we had installed painted but in our previous home we had gone through the work to paint some bathroom cabinets and we were absolutely glad we did it.

4.) CABINET HARDWARE

Kitchen, bathroom or living room storage cabinets can take on a whole new look if you update hardware. This was another thing we had done in our previous home and it gives cabinetry a fresh appeal with very little effort and cost.

I’ve had the most luck with Lowes when it comes to cabinet hardware but Amazon and Wayfair also have some great options. Just make sure to measure for the right size of pulls/knobs before ordering. When I’ve gone to a store like Lowes to pick out new hardware I have typically taken one of the old pulls/knobs with me just to double check that the screws will fit in the right spaces. It can save you an additional trip. 😉