We recently sold our home FSBO (For Sale by Owner). We knew our home needed some updates before going on the market, but we didn’t have a real estate professional directing us. So when decided what to update in our home, I looked for items that were cheap and easy to replace, but that I would notice if I were looking for a home. Two areas we focused on were lighting and doors. By updating these areas, our home looked refreshed and more modern. Even if you’re not selling your home at the moment, but are looking to give it a makeover, these suggestions will make a difference in the overall look of your home.
Lighting
We had a very plain florescent light in the kitchen–it was huge, a plain light over the kitchen table, and ugly gold fixture lights in the bathrooms. We swapped the florescent light out for the track lighting, the plain light over the kitchen table for the pretty swirly one, and the gold vanity lights out for chrome ones. Yes, we used the cheap builder grade chrome ones, but they were an amazing improvement over the gold ones!
Doors
I always notice the doorway when I enter a home. At our townhouse, the doorbell didn’t light up and it was a stained, white plastic mess. We swapped it out for the one shown above. We also swapped all of the doorknobs, inside and out, from gold to satin nickel. Not only did our outside doorways look updated and just plain nice, but even my husband agreed that getting rid of the gold doorknobs in the interior of the home made a difference.
Additional Updates
Two other quick updates you can do are lava rock/mulch and blinds. If you have lava rock/mulch outside your home, make sure to give it a fresh layer. If you have dirty and/or mangled blinds, you can pick up these cheap vinyl blinds for less than $5 (for most windows)! Make sure to get white ones instead of the beige to make your windows pop.
What home updates do you notice when you walk in a home?
