The notion of renovating one’s home typically occurs to us more often than we are ready to actually do it. You might have a few projects in mind that would make your house more energy-efficient and reduce some of those expensive utility bills; or perhaps you have an addition you would like to make to your home, but don’t know where to start.
Here are five easy projects that can cut down on costs and readily lift your feelings about living in your home.
- Add insulation
Adding insulation is one of the best ways to make your home more comfortable and save money. You can do this to your attic, walls, floors, or basement or crawlspace.
Insulation helps keep heat inside in the winter and cool air in the summer. It also gives you better control over humidity levels in your home.
Although insulation isn’t the cheapest renovation project that you can attempt, it can easily pay for itself once your heating and air conditioning bills begin to drop.
- Install an Outdoor Kitchen
If you’re looking to add value to your home as well as increase your pleasure while you’re still in it, installing an outdoor kitchen is a great idea. An outdoor kitchen can be as expensive as you want it to be, ranging from a flat top grill and countertop to an all-out second kitchen.
Not only will this help you create a better space for entertaining guests, but it also allows you to expand the living area of your home.
- Install LED lights
LEDs are a great choice for home projects because they’re energy-efficient, durable, and dimmable. They use about 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs, which means you will save money on your electricity bill. They also last up to 50,000 hours—which is nearly 22 years if you leave them on for just three hours a day!
- Paint a wall or room
One of the easiest ways to transform the feel of a room is to change its color. Switching a red wall to a white one can alter the entire aura and energy of a room, and it doesn’t cost much.
You can purchase paint for your own walls for as little as $15 per gallon without having to hire a professional. A room can be painted with two to three gallons of paint and brushes for about $60.
The cost of adding more rooms is even lower per square foot, since the painting materials are unlikely to need to be changed. But it’s important not to take shortcuts when painting.
Buying painter’s tape, baseboard covers, and other materials that will prevent the rest of the room from being stained with paint will cost more, but it’s definitely worth it. It may cost $10 to cover a baseboard, but it may cost ten times as much to replace one!
- Create a greener lawn with sod
Sod is a great way to create a lawn quickly and with minimal required maintenance. Sod grows faster than seed, requires fewer resources, and can be more eco-friendly since it’s not necessary to use fertilizer or pesticides . . . though you should still use such products to prevent bigger problems.
Sod grows very quickly and can change your yellow or dying yard into a lush green expanse in only a few weeks.
Conclusion
These are just a few of the home improvements you can select to help you save money and energy. Whether you go for insulation, LED lights, or laying down sod, each one will improve your home’s efficiency and make life easier in the long run.
And if none of these options sound like they would work for you, there are plenty more ideas out there!
