Home Improvement Projects to Complete in 2020

Weatherstrip Doors and Hatches

Weatherstripping is something that might sound like a project you need a professional for, but some kits will make it a lot easier. It’s a type of sticky foam that gives you an added layer of sealing. You can use them around doors, windows, or any place where air leaks into your home from the outside.

One key to remember is that you want to ensure your hinges are tight, so you don’t need to worry about the stripping scraping the floors. Once you finish this project, you want to take notice of how much energy you save. You will probably notice your utility bill slightly decreases.

Adding a Garden

You don’t always need to take on household renovations to improve your home. Outdoor projects are on the rise, even during the current crisis. People want to create beauty outside of their homes more than ever, and one way to do this is through a garden.

It doesn’t matter how much yard you have (or lack thereof); what matters is that you have flowers and plants that speak to you and make your garden different from every other garden. You might do this by building your trellis or ordering flowers online that are hard to purchase in your area.

Updating Hardwood Floors

There were times, way long ago, where you didn’t always have a choice when it came to flooring in your home. You either built them out of wood or you had a dirt floor. Fortunately, these days are gone for many parts of the world, and now you have an abundance of flooring choices from tile to carpeting.

For many years it seems that people didn’t care for hardwood floors, especially authentic hardwood. They wanted to carpet. It was softer to walk on and for children to play on. Plus, it helped stop the echoing of sound that would often travel around the house. While many people still enjoy carpeting, it seems that hardwood floors are coming back into style.

Silence Squeaky Boards

As a teen, you might have known where every single squeak in the floorboards was because it allowed you to sneak in and out of the house without notice. But, now, as an adult, you probably don’t have these locations memorized or even know where they are until you hear “squeak” when you step down. Of course, it’s at this moment you become frustrated with yourself and hold your breath so you can listen for any signs of children waking up.

One of the easiest and quickest home improvement projects to do is to silence these floors. All you need to do is get about 2-inch nails and drive them into the bare floor, which means if you have carpet, it can be trickier, but it’s always doable.

Smart Technology Devices

Another home improvement project that is on the rise is smart technology devices. These include anything from security systems where you can view the outside of your home from your phone to thermal leak detectors. You can even get tools to help clean your house!

You might not see these devices as an improvement project, but they are a selling point if they’re installed before moving and selling your home. Therefore, it’s not a bad idea to look into how much they cost as you might raise the value of your home.

Small Bathroom Upgrades

What do you look at when you’re thinking of purchasing a home? One of the most important rooms is the bathroom. People are picky about where they get ready for the day. They might want a shower/tub combo, enough room to place a couple of pieces of furniture, room for a laundry basket, and they want to know that it’s been cleaned and kept clean.

If you want to improve your home or are thinking of selling and want to increase the value, one step to take is to upgrade your bathroom. Unless your toilet and vanity are older, you don’t need to touch them. All you need to look at is re-caulking your tub, update the shower head, and replace the faucet.

The Heart of the Home

Along with your bathroom, you also want to look at your kitchen. How modern are the appliances? Does everything match? Are your countertops a little out of date? Kitchen upgrades can be a vast improvement that can make you feel like your home belongs in the magazines and increase the value.

If you have a large open kitchen, maybe you could add an island. If you have old appliances, update them. You might consider adding new wall tiles, getting a new faucet, or even adding some paint.

Upgrade Countertops

You don’t need to update your whole kitchen or purchase new appliances, especially if they’re in good working order. You can make your kitchen look brand-new by doing a simple update with your countertops.

Look carefully at how dirty and old your countertops look. Even when you’re careful when chopping vegetables and cleaning them often, they still get heavy use. Plus, many cleaners can do damage so specific colors on countertops. If your counters are a little old and used, look at your budget and then make a quick slight improvement.

Don’t Forget About Your Light Fixtures

How old are your light fixtures? Were they installed before you moved into your house? Do the accessories look like they are a few years or a couple of decades? Don’t worry if they do; this problem is normal. Most people seem to ignore their light fixtures until something happens, such as a bad wire or one day you look up, and it’s *gasp* yellow.

It’s always a good idea to update your light fixtures every few years, especially if you don’t clean them often. As long as you know what you’re doing and don’t make any changes with the wiring, you don’t need an experienced electrician to change your fixtures. However, you need to take all the safety measures necessary.

Replace Screens

If you have a kitty cat that likes to put their claws on the screen to try to catch bugs or birds, you probably have a few small holes. While you’re used to them, many people will look at these holes and wonder how you keep the rest of your home. Plus, it’s more likely that you can let in bugs.

You can watch YouTube videos to help you learn how to replace screens. You can also talk to various stores that focus on home improvement projects, such as Menard’s and Fleet Farm, who can give you advice or resources.

Add Storing Shelves

If you feel like your home doesn’t have enough storage space, you can change this by updating your home by adding shelves. You can put up shelvings in your garage or other storage closets to your ceiling. While you might not want to store items that you often need on the top shelves, it can help you keep things off the floor and make room for new objects.

You can also purchase floating shelvings to add to your living room, bedroom, or any other room in your home. You don’t want to place bulky items on these shelves, but they make for good places to set pictures, knick-knacks, and books.

Cleanup Under Your Sinks

It’s not a place you clean out often – the location under your sink. You might use it to store cleaning supplies or other items you barely use. Maybe you don’t have much under there and never open or don’t even remember what you put there. But, no matter what it is, there is a lot of dirt and damage under the sink, especially if you’ve had a leaky pipe.

Take time to clean under your sink at least once a month. Take everything out and sweep under there. You can also update it by adding squares of self-adhesive vinyl tile. It’s a pretty easy home improvement project that can help you feel better about what’s under your sink.

Clean Out Your Sink Trap

The majority of people don’t think about cleaning out their sink traps until an emergency pops up, but these are expensive. You not only need to get new pipes and traps for your sink, but you also need to clean up and possibly replace your vanity or wood underneath your sink. On top of that, you might also need to pay for a plumber.

One essential step you can take is learning how the pipes in your home go together. Disassembling your kitchen or bathroom ones and putting them back together can help you learn. It’s also an ideal time to update the pipes if you notice any damage.

Do It the DIY Way

It’s common to want new furniture after a few years, especially if you have pets, children, or merely a few accidents spilling drinks. The problem is furniture is rather expensive, even when you search Facebook, Craigslist, or other groups to buy someone’s used furniture. Instead of dealing with buying and needing to haul old furniture out and new pieces in, change your current furniture.

You can buy new fabric and change the cushions. You can also look at how well painting your chairs or articles of furniture will go. It’s also possible to refinish your furniture to make it look newer. Another way to change your pieces is to add adhesive contact paper with its shapes and designs.

Maximize Your Unused Space

There is always unused space in your home. You might not think so. You might look around and see that your home is cluttered. But, by searching from corner to corner, up and down, you’ll find that you do have unused space, even if it’s on the walls.

Take time to redecorate this space by adding shelves, pictures, or other decorative objects. You can also find that you might be able to clean out some of your clutter by putting it in these unused areas, which gives your home a fresh look.

Enhance Your Entryway

One of the first locations people see when they come into your house is your entryway. However, this area doesn’t get as much love as a living room, kitchen, or bedroom because you don’t spend much time in this location.

There are a lot of easy and fun projects that you can bring into your entryway. You can add some paint, artwork, or even freshen it up with some shelving and rugs. Find pieces that include that not only provide function but also give your home a unique look.

Show Your Laundry Room Some Love

If you have a laundry room, it might be the most neglected room in your home. No one likes looking at the masses of laundry that you need to do (face it, we all have the piles from time to time). If you have a door to the area, you might just close it and pretend it doesn’t exist for a couple of days, but it’s time to change your mindset to this room (not to do more laundry) but to give your home a nice pop.

Like other rooms, you can upgrade, look at the paint, and add some shelving for storage space. You can also update your washer and dryer or give the room it’s own personality. You might find that you don’t mind spending more time in the room. You might soon find yourself hiding snacks from your children that you can eat while you’re “doing laundry.”

Create a Space Just for Your Pet

Some pets, such as dogs, might like their particular space more than other pets, such as cats. But, you can always try to change a part of your home by giving your pet their own space. You can give them a new bed, scratching post, toy box, and anything else you think your companion will like. You should also include their food and water dish as then they know this is their spot.

You might find that your fur baby finds their new space pretty exciting and doesn’t spend as much time near you as they used to. They might sleep in the area and be happy. Then again, this might only last a few days or weeks, especially if you have a cat because they will just lie wherever and without a care in the world.

Organize Those Closets

Do you just grab what you need quickly out of your closet and then shut the door? Maybe you have a bunch of boxes of storage in your closet or find the need to put up an “Open at your own risk” sign on the door. Don’t worry if you fit this category because you’re not the only one!

But, if you do fall into this category or just want to make a change with your closets – improve them with organization. You can add shelving, paint, put up adhesive tiles, and so much more. You can make the closet of your dreams by making a few changes to make you happy and proud to show off your wardrobe.

Mirrors and More Mirrors

I know you probably don’t care to look at yourself in the mirror every time you turn a corner, but they can add so much personality into your home. One of the most excellent tricks with mirrors is that they can make your home seem more substantial. Another bonus to this room hack is that you don’t need to spend much money because you can find several in secondhand stores and at garage sales.

You don’t need to add mirrors to look at yourself in every room. You can put them higher on the wall for decorative purposes. They will also give your room a bit more brightness. Some people will put smaller mirrors on their shelves and set a knick-knack in front of it to provide a customized look.

Turn a Larger Closet Into Your Office

Did you do some spring cleaning and take a bunch of your items to a secondhand store to realize that you emptied a whole closet? Maybe not, but it’s possible, and when you take this step, you can turn the area into an office.

Clean out your closet thoroughly, take off the doors, create your office, and put some decorative features in there. Keep all distractions out of your workspace so you can get some work done. In a few days, you can find yourself going from no home office space to a great little nook that keeps you motivated.

Improve Your Landscape

Do you feel that your yard is a little… how do you say it… blah? Do you think that you could get a few ideas to liven up your space and make it a bit different than your neighbor’s yard? If so, then you want to think about ways to improve your landscape as your next home improvement project.

Besides adding a garden, you can also add a few stones for decorative purposes or people to walk on. You might even add words in the rocks that give your outdoors a positive vibe, such as “Happy” or “Smile.”

Start Spring Cleaning

Have you been putting off spring cleaning, even with the current crisis? Okay, let’s face it, you might have put off spring cleaning for a few years. It happens. It’s a lot of chores to go through your home and not only clean but organize it, especially when you have your whole family home.

But now is the perfect time to come up with a game plan. To make it more exciting, you can update your home or even decorate it differently while cleaning. You might also rearrange your furniture to give your home a completely new look.

Sources:

“Home Renovation Trends That Are Shaping 2020.” Urdesign. May 2020

“These 10 Renovation Trends Will Be Popular in 2020.” Andréana Lefton, Bob Vila.

“20 Home Improvement Projects to Tackle in 2020.” Family Handyman.

“16 Super Easy DIY Home Improvement Ideas.” Laura Mueller, Moving. March 2019.