We've done the big stuff, now what?
March 1, 2022 12:54 PM
We're closing in on the completion of some major home renovation work, but I've still got the bug to tackle some home improvement "quick wins." Once the big stuff's out of the way, where should we be focusing our attention?
Long story short, we've been on a home renovation/repair kick for the past year+ and despite having our home completely upended for the last month I still find myself looking around for things to change and improve. But we've kind of done all the big stuff on the list, so I'd like to come up with a list of "second tier" projects to tackle. What would be some good quality of life improvements that might not be at the top of the list, but are smaller projects that are still effective at improving quality of life?
Some considerations:
-House was built in 1915 and still has most of the original detailing (plaster and lath walls, original wood floors, stuff like that).
-I'd like any new projects to be short duration ("weekend project"), low disruption (not sure I have the stomach to take any more walls down right now), and low-ish cost (let's say under a thousand dollars)
-Easy DIY or hiring professionals are both fine with me
We've tossed around things like paint, lighting, replacing furniture, undoing some functional but cosmetically questionable things previous owners have done, but I'm having trouble committing to anything. What do you think?
Long story short, we've been on a home renovation/repair kick for the past year+ and despite having our home completely upended for the last month I still find myself looking around for things to change and improve. But we've kind of done all the big stuff on the list, so I'd like to come up with a list of "second tier" projects to tackle. What would be some good quality of life improvements that might not be at the top of the list, but are smaller projects that are still effective at improving quality of life?
Some considerations:
-House was built in 1915 and still has most of the original detailing (plaster and lath walls, original wood floors, stuff like that).
-I'd like any new projects to be short duration ("weekend project"), low disruption (not sure I have the stomach to take any more walls down right now), and low-ish cost (let's say under a thousand dollars)
-Easy DIY or hiring professionals are both fine with me
We've tossed around things like paint, lighting, replacing furniture, undoing some functional but cosmetically questionable things previous owners have done, but I'm having trouble committing to anything. What do you think?
Maybe this has already been addressed at your place, but it might be worth looking at the windows. Specifically, could they be sealed better (a little foam tape will help), do they have screens that fit well (if not these are easy to buy or make), are the exteriors peeling or have birds pecked holes in them (trim can be cloned or treated), stuff like that. And of course washing them well!
If there's a chimney, you might consider having it at least checked for blockage, built up soot etc. Might not be a right-now thing but can add to your to-do in the future.
If you have a yard, front parking strip etc, these can always be trimmed, weeds cracking the sidewalk zapped, etc. Probably obvious but it's definitely something I nearly always walk by and think "some day..." but never today.
Updating something like the kitchen cabinets with new pulls and better hinges is also something you'll appreciate every day. Those "I interact with it every day" opportunities are often small and easy to change on your own.
Electric wise you might want to double check that the 3-prong plugs around the house are actually grounded... I think there's a tool for that. It can be trouble if they aren't but have that type of plug.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 1:02 PM on March 1, 2022
If there's a chimney, you might consider having it at least checked for blockage, built up soot etc. Might not be a right-now thing but can add to your to-do in the future.
If you have a yard, front parking strip etc, these can always be trimmed, weeds cracking the sidewalk zapped, etc. Probably obvious but it's definitely something I nearly always walk by and think "some day..." but never today.
Updating something like the kitchen cabinets with new pulls and better hinges is also something you'll appreciate every day. Those "I interact with it every day" opportunities are often small and easy to change on your own.
Electric wise you might want to double check that the 3-prong plugs around the house are actually grounded... I think there's a tool for that. It can be trouble if they aren't but have that type of plug.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 1:02 PM on March 1, 2022
You mentioned Lighting, YESSSSS LIGHTING!!! It will make your whole place feel different and is such an easy win!!!
posted by Sweetchrysanthemum at 1:56 PM on March 1, 2022
posted by Sweetchrysanthemum at 1:56 PM on March 1, 2022
My husband and I have been on a home improvement kick during COVID. Here are the relatively cheap and easy things we have done by ourselves:
-Replaced 3 ceiling light fixtures that we hated and installed dimmer switches.
-Bought a new (to us) couch and completely rearranged the living room around it - mounted the tv on the wall, finally bought a rug (that really ties the room together), got a new dog bed. Just getting rid of the ratty old couch/dog bed/TV cabinet makes the room feel so much nicer.
-I took every single thing out of my office, rearranged the furniture, purged and organized and redecorated the room with art I already had on hand but had never found time to hang.
-Speaking of art, we took down some framed pieces we had hung on one wall when we bought our house almost 14 years ago and hung up new/different framed pieces. That made a huge difference!
-Cleaned out and organized the linen closet, the junk drawers, my vanity, the fridge.
-Bought new sheets and towels - and bought two sets of each so we can easily swap out for fresh ones without feeling like we have to do laundry all the time.
-Dug up a big part of our lawn and planted a pollinator garden.
-Replaced our front door lock with a smart lock.
Other things on our list include:
-Install a wood-burning stove.
-Touch up chipped paint around the house.
-Redo our master bathroom (we got a quote of almost $40K (!!!) to redo our 8' x 5' bathroom, so we decided to tackle it ourselves).
-Continue to organize and declutter so I can open any door or drawer without feeling overwhelmed by crap.
-New awning over our back porch.
posted by GoldenEel at 2:04 PM on March 1, 2022
-Replaced 3 ceiling light fixtures that we hated and installed dimmer switches.
-Bought a new (to us) couch and completely rearranged the living room around it - mounted the tv on the wall, finally bought a rug (that really ties the room together), got a new dog bed. Just getting rid of the ratty old couch/dog bed/TV cabinet makes the room feel so much nicer.
-I took every single thing out of my office, rearranged the furniture, purged and organized and redecorated the room with art I already had on hand but had never found time to hang.
-Speaking of art, we took down some framed pieces we had hung on one wall when we bought our house almost 14 years ago and hung up new/different framed pieces. That made a huge difference!
-Cleaned out and organized the linen closet, the junk drawers, my vanity, the fridge.
-Bought new sheets and towels - and bought two sets of each so we can easily swap out for fresh ones without feeling like we have to do laundry all the time.
-Dug up a big part of our lawn and planted a pollinator garden.
-Replaced our front door lock with a smart lock.
Other things on our list include:
-Install a wood-burning stove.
-Touch up chipped paint around the house.
-Redo our master bathroom (we got a quote of almost $40K (!!!) to redo our 8' x 5' bathroom, so we decided to tackle it ourselves).
-Continue to organize and declutter so I can open any door or drawer without feeling overwhelmed by crap.
-New awning over our back porch.
posted by GoldenEel at 2:04 PM on March 1, 2022
Laundry room or laundry closet spruce up! Shelving, wallpaper or paint, make it more functional along with bright and cheerful. So many good ideas on Pinterest and the like.
posted by MelissaSimon at 2:06 PM on March 1, 2022
posted by MelissaSimon at 2:06 PM on March 1, 2022
How are your window treatments? If you have blinds you can look into replacing them with curtains, install some new sheers, rods, or tie-backs, oil any hardwood trim or cabinetry, polish or replace your vent covers, add some fancy guards to the outside corners of your baseboards, if you have any exposed brick you can tuckpoint it if needed, add or upgrade your house numbers (or add lighting to them), paint your mailbox.
posted by mezzanayne at 2:07 PM on March 1, 2022
posted by mezzanayne at 2:07 PM on March 1, 2022
My house is a little bit older than yours. The thing that made the biggest difference: painting the walls and ceilings (even over old plaster) and, if the floors were painted wood, either refinishing or applying a new coat of paint. Everything looked so grungy even when it was clean. In retrospect, we should have slapped a fresh coat of paint on every wall and ceiling when we moved in.
posted by bluedaisy at 2:19 PM on March 1, 2022
posted by bluedaisy at 2:19 PM on March 1, 2022
Stepping back, room by room, and properly wiring so that things aren’t a weird hodgepodge of circuits, which pretty much always happens in an old house. May not be possible upstairs, but downstairs and the basement (should) be doable.
posted by rockindata at 2:49 PM on March 1, 2022
posted by rockindata at 2:49 PM on March 1, 2022
Paint and lighting are two things that are big on bang-for-effort and will make any room look brand-new.
You can do this room-by-room, so don't have to have the whole house turned upside-down. Buy some great new light fixtures first. Remove the old fixtures and patch any holes. Then paint everything. As much as it's a pain, start by painting the ceiling with the whitest white ceiling paint you can get (white ain't white, so don't assume). Paint the trim, paint the walls Paint every surface with a fresh, lovely coat of pure color.
Because, before you started painting, you filled/patched every hole or crack and included any holes from hanging art, you have a completely fresh canvass to re-invent the look of the room. Don't just hang everything back where it was - think about where it really belongs first. You don't need to buy new furniture, but look at rugs, cushions etc and re-arrange/replace these to finish your fresh new look.
You can do all this quite cheaply by doing everything yourself or hire in some or all of the work. Doing everything for a whole room (especially painting trim) is probably more like a two-weekend project, but still relatively low impact and confined to one room at a time.
posted by dg at 3:08 PM on March 1, 2022
You can do this room-by-room, so don't have to have the whole house turned upside-down. Buy some great new light fixtures first. Remove the old fixtures and patch any holes. Then paint everything. As much as it's a pain, start by painting the ceiling with the whitest white ceiling paint you can get (white ain't white, so don't assume). Paint the trim, paint the walls Paint every surface with a fresh, lovely coat of pure color.
Because, before you started painting, you filled/patched every hole or crack and included any holes from hanging art, you have a completely fresh canvass to re-invent the look of the room. Don't just hang everything back where it was - think about where it really belongs first. You don't need to buy new furniture, but look at rugs, cushions etc and re-arrange/replace these to finish your fresh new look.
You can do all this quite cheaply by doing everything yourself or hire in some or all of the work. Doing everything for a whole room (especially painting trim) is probably more like a two-weekend project, but still relatively low impact and confined to one room at a time.
posted by dg at 3:08 PM on March 1, 2022
New door levers with hinges are a nice project. Often in older homes, you’ll have a mishmash of finishes. Coordinating door stops is also nice.
posted by walkinginsunshine at 3:47 PM on March 1, 2022
posted by walkinginsunshine at 3:47 PM on March 1, 2022
I'm the next town over from you and after a couple of decades in student housing and rentals in this area, the one thing that made a bigger difference than I thought it would was finally having level, skim-coated ceilings with a fresh coat of paint. The rooms feel cleaner, bigger, brighter.
It's a good time of year to rent a Flir heat camera and see where the cold leaks are, and factor solutions into the coming years.
How's your toilet? You could spring for a super nice one, or even just upgrade to a water efficient one with after market bidet attachment. (Mmmmmmmm.)
Will your heating system accept a programmable or smart thermostat? It's so nice to know the heat's off when you're out but also be able to turn on the heat remotely so the house is warm when you get home. It's especially nice when returning from winter trips when the heat's been low for a few days. Land at Logan, turn up the heat.
Similarly, I installed a semi-smart front door lock. It doesn't connect to big tech home systems (echo, Alexa, etc.) just to my wifi. It's been really handy and was easy to install. I can let a friend in to catsit unexpectedly, for instance.
Last, do you have an outdoor/front porch? Maybe a refresh on the porch ceiling color and front door? It's not the right time of year for exterior painting but those two elements are real greeters that welcome you home with personality.
posted by cocoagirl at 3:51 PM on March 1, 2022
It's a good time of year to rent a Flir heat camera and see where the cold leaks are, and factor solutions into the coming years.
How's your toilet? You could spring for a super nice one, or even just upgrade to a water efficient one with after market bidet attachment. (Mmmmmmmm.)
Will your heating system accept a programmable or smart thermostat? It's so nice to know the heat's off when you're out but also be able to turn on the heat remotely so the house is warm when you get home. It's especially nice when returning from winter trips when the heat's been low for a few days. Land at Logan, turn up the heat.
Similarly, I installed a semi-smart front door lock. It doesn't connect to big tech home systems (echo, Alexa, etc.) just to my wifi. It's been really handy and was easy to install. I can let a friend in to catsit unexpectedly, for instance.
Last, do you have an outdoor/front porch? Maybe a refresh on the porch ceiling color and front door? It's not the right time of year for exterior painting but those two elements are real greeters that welcome you home with personality.
posted by cocoagirl at 3:51 PM on March 1, 2022
Speaking only for myself, the two things we've done over the last couple of years that have yielded a lot of satisfaction:
posted by forthright at 4:23 PM on March 1, 2022
- Purged, tidied and organized the garage. I used the Rubbermaid system. Your house is old but ours is from 1970 or so, and it is all cement block. I mounted runs of 2x8 foot OSB to the block with appropriate anchors, then another run of 2x8 OSB over that for a smooth level surface around the garage, on which the Rubbermaid track system was easily mounted. We do have one large shelving unit for the really big stuff (fertilizer, snow melt, spare ceramic tiles, or off season storage). It's dopamine rush when the garage door opens and we see everything so orderly.
- Improved garden, porch and patio lighting. Don't forget some spots to highlight your trees. I had an electrician install it all, and then I replaced the on/off switches with these timers. It's great to drive down our street in the evening and see our home look so nice and inviting.
posted by forthright at 4:23 PM on March 1, 2022
Some or all of the lower kitchen cabinets could be switched from shelves to drawers, allowing a slight increase in storage since the top shelf of each cabinet wouldn't have to be a half shelf. Also, easier to get things out of the back.
posted by bilabial at 4:25 PM on March 1, 2022
posted by bilabial at 4:25 PM on March 1, 2022
Install a soft close heated bidet toilet seat. Assuming you have electric nearby and a standard toilet, it's an easy afternoon if you get a compatible one. Makes a huge difference. Wall mount a TV that's sitting on something just for the sake of sitting on it (recommend: ECHOGEAR mounts. They are fantastic, with clear instructions, and included hardware for pretty much any type of wall or TV you might have).
posted by true at 5:13 PM on March 1, 2022
posted by true at 5:13 PM on March 1, 2022
Take a hard look at your window exposures and plant some strategic and climate-change appropriate trees for where you will need -more- shade in a decade or so.
posted by janell at 6:55 PM on March 1, 2022
posted by janell at 6:55 PM on March 1, 2022
You don't mention (at least I didn't see it in the original post) what you've already done, so it's hard to guess what I'd prioritize. Organizing the garage would be one. Another would be window boxes and other outside plant things - even if you have to wait a few weeks for the plants, you could at least get these arranged
posted by TimHare at 9:08 PM on March 1, 2022
posted by TimHare at 9:08 PM on March 1, 2022
Think about grab bars in the shower. It's not really a DIY project, because they need to be anchored to the structure, not just the wall.
I love my bidet seat, and would recommend one to everyone.
posted by Marky at 10:49 PM on March 1, 2022
I love my bidet seat, and would recommend one to everyone.
posted by Marky at 10:49 PM on March 1, 2022
Seconding improvements to the wiring.
Our house is maybe 10 years younger than yours, and even tho the people we bought it from upgraded the electric situation significantly, there are still parts of the house that don't have enough outlets, and circuits that can easily get overloaded.
We've had electricians run additional lines several times already. Eventually we'll probably have them back to do more.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 11:19 PM on March 1, 2022
Our house is maybe 10 years younger than yours, and even tho the people we bought it from upgraded the electric situation significantly, there are still parts of the house that don't have enough outlets, and circuits that can easily get overloaded.
We've had electricians run additional lines several times already. Eventually we'll probably have them back to do more.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 11:19 PM on March 1, 2022
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posted by DarlingBri at 12:58 PM on March 1, 2022