Last month I shared my moving journey with you. This month I’m concentrating on how to make a new home yours.
You may be thinking, “This is going to be overwhelming and time consuming.” I am here to tell you it doesn’t have to be. Small changes can have big impacts, as you will see.
The first few times I visited my home there were things I loved about it and some things not so much. The negative features that I wanted to change were glaring to me and I knew I could work on them right away.
The best part of all, these small changes didn’t cost a lot and many I could do myself, or with the help of a friend.
Here are my favourite before-and-after changes. Get ready to be inspired!
The first thing that had to go was my front screen door. It was old, damaged and didn’t work properly. My friend Kim and I removed the door in about 15 minutes and we were elated it came off so quickly.
Now I had another of my dilemmas become even more prominent — my pink front door, ugh! The pink had to go.
I selected the same colour that I had at my previous home, a lovely grey/blue shade called Mysterious (AF-565) from Benjamin Moore.
I cleaned the door, taped off areas that I didn’t want to paint and began painting.
As is often the case when you make a change, the area around it then looks dated. Notice (below) the pillars are two-toned; that had to change. As chain reactions go, this one was making its way across the front of my house. The garage was next on the paint list.
Here is the before, during and after:
And, no, I didn’t hire a painter. I painted it all myself and was pretty proud about it. I waited for a few sunny and dry days and went to work.
For my next DIY project, there were some quick and easy inside changes that I tackled.
All the kitchen cupboard and bathroom door knobs and handles were a dated gold colour. I decided to change them to black and they look fabulous.
If you are thinking of changing your handles and knob colour or style, here are some tips:
- For handles, remove a handle and take it to your nearest home improvement store to look at various styles that would fit.
- After you decide on your style, make sure you purchase a contractor multi pack of your handle and knobs. This will save you a lot of money. You may find that the contractor packs are available in a few styles only. If so, do any of them suit your style?
- Remove the handles and knobs
- Clean your cupboards
- Install new handles
- Step back and marvel at the transformation — so quick and easy!
I hope I have inspired you to look at some small changes you can make around your home that will update it quickly and not break the bank.
Next month: I’ll share some of my living spaces with you and how I decided to work with what I had from my previous home — but with a twist!
