January 24, 2023 Bailey Strobel

New Year, New Home: 14 Unique Ways to Transform Your Space

You’ve taken down the tinsel and the tree for another holiday season. How does your home make you feel without all the glitz and glamour of your seasonal decor? Are you getting the vibes you want, or is your inner Chip or Joanna screaming to get out?

 

The beginning of a new year is the perfect time to tackle your dream projects and transform any less-than-desirable spaces in your home. You’re stuck inside anyway, so why not take advantage? Perhaps you already have a few things you want to tackle, but if not, this list will give you a great place to start. Even better, each project will change the room’s look without breaking your budget.

 

1.  Paint the Front Door

Your front door is often the first thing someone will notice when driving by your house. It’s what welcomes your friends and family inside and what greets you each day when you come home. A fresh coat of paint that complements your current colors can give your entire facade a facelift.

 

2.  Add Outdoor Lighting

Nothing adds casual elegance and luxury to the exterior of your home quite like accent lighting. As they say, “If you’ve got it, flaunt it.” Use solar lights or brighter LEDs to draw the eye to your house’s best features.

 

3.  Change Out Hardware

Installing new cabinets or even refinishing can be a long and expensive undertaking. Why not spruce up your bathrooms and kitchen with a minor upgrade instead? Changing out the hardware will significantly impact the look and feel of your space without breaking your budget. You can even play around with different metal tones like gold, brass or matte black.

 

4.  Do a Declutter

Decluttering your house is free and might have the biggest impact of any of these projects. The amount of time it takes to complete will depend on the current state of your home. Are your counters a total mess? Do you have a secret closet where you keep all your junk tucked away? Is your basement bursting with old mementos?

Take a few days to a few weeks to tackle those areas you’ve been putting off and get extra stuff out of your home.

 

5.  Hide Cords

We love our electronics, but just about everything comes with unsightly cords. One here and there isn’t so bad, but get a few devices together and the visual clutter becomes overwhelming. Luckily, you can purchase simple cord covers to disguise the mess. You could also drill holes in the wall to hide mounted TV wires.

 

6.  Put Your Garage to Better Use

Whether you store your cars or junk in the garage, odds are you could be putting it to better use. This part of the home is notoriously underinsulated — the cold air constantly seeping in can hike up your heating bills, ruin your possessions and make it difficult to spend any amount of time there. Adding insulation and repairing or replacing your garage door would give you a more usable room.

7.  Bring Nature Indoors

Bring the freshness and beauty of the outdoors in. Houseplants and flowers add a sense of completeness to any room. You’ll also breathe easier thanks to the presence of nature’s air purifiers. Add a touch of class by repotting your new darlings from their basic black plastic containers into something that better reflects your style.

8.  Rearrange the Space

Sometimes all you need to refresh a room is to move things around. A little rearranging or massive overhaul costs you nothing and can completely change the look and feel of your space. Feel free to move furniture, artwork, rugs, lighting and anything else that isn’t nailed down. Play around until you find an arrangement that feels right.

9.  Enhance the Mood With Lighting

Stark white lights are useful when cooking or working on a hobby. However, those bright beams aren’t suitable for every activity, especially when you want to cozy in with a good book or movie.

 

Add a little ambiance to any room by installing dimmer switches for a relatively low cost. This will allow you to turn the brightness up and down as your needs change. A more expensive but exceedingly customizable option is to swap out your regular lightbulbs for smart versions. Then you can change the color, brightness and warmth of any light.

 

10.      Replace Standard Lights

If you’re living in a cookie-cutter home, odds are you have the infamous boob lights in most rooms — you know the ones. While they technically do the job, they aren’t doing your home’s aesthetic any favors. Find some lights that are more to your taste to create an instant improvement.

 

11.      Raise the Rods

Your curtain placement can make or break the final appearance of your room. Placing the rod too close to the window frame visibly shrinks the size of the entire space. Raise the curtains closer to the ceiling, a minimum of 2 inches above the top of the frame, to make your walls appear taller and the room bigger.

Add to the optical illusion with a rod long enough to extend several inches beyond the side of the frame. Your windows will look wider and your curtains will have a place to sit when open.

 

12.      Embrace Peel and Stick

Peel-and-stick renovation options aren’t only for renters — they can be a budget-friendly option for any homeowner. The possibilities are endless, and if you don’t like it after a while, you can pull it off and try something else. Floor tiles, backsplashes and wallpaper are some of the most popular types.

 

13.      Add an Architectural Wall

Any wall can stand out when adding 3D architectural features. Lumber is more expensive than it used to be, but thankfully you don’t need much to make a grand impact. Try laying the boards in an asymmetrical style or opt for more traditional wainscoting. Whatever you choose, your new focal point is sure to wow.

 

14.      Change the Ceiling Color

Does your home feature traditional white ceilings? If so, you’re missing out on extreme design potential. Flip the typical paint job on its head by making your walls a light neutral and your ceiling bolder.. Color lovers could go even further by skipping neutrals altogether.

 

Spruce Over Splurge

When the new year gives you the itch to renovate, try one or a few of these small-scale, big-impact projects. Otherwise, you could get stuck in costly and time-consuming work. You don’t have to break the bank to transform your space into something that better reflects your personality.