3 Key DIY Home Renovation Tips

• Decide which projects you’ll DIY, and which you’ll leave to the pros
• Budget for more than you think you’ll need
• Work on one project at a time

Decide which projects you’ll DIY

As a general rule, you’ll want to avoid DIYing projects that require permits (this will vary depending on where you live, so do your research before you start). Similarly, projects involving your electricity, plumbing, and HVAC system are better left to professionals. So, what projects can you DIY?

Demolition

As long as you take proper safety precautions, demolition is a home renovation project you can tackle yourself. Just don’t knock down that load-bearing wall, please. And if your home was built prior to 1979, make sure you test for lead paint and asbestos first.

Paint

A fresh coat of paint is a mainstay of DIY home updates. Choose your colors, cover your furniture and floors, and have fun. And if you don’t feel like taking on your whole home, simply painting your front door with a statement color can boost your curb appeal.

Fixtures and finishes

Swapping out light fixtures, switch plate covers, and cabinet hardware is a simple update that can make a big difference. All you really need to handle this one is the right screwdriver. Since fixtures and finishes are easy to swap out, this is also a good way to incorporate current home decor trends. If you don’t like the look or trends change, updating them again is a simple process.

Drywall (sometimes)

This one really comes down to how much confidence you have in your drywall abilities. Patching up a few holes is a skill every homeowner should have, but large-scale drywall projects are typically not worth the headache of doing yourself. So, if your whole home needs new drywall, call a pro. If it’s a small area, go ahead and DIY (if you want to, of course).

Budget for more than you think you’ll need

An evergreen home renovation tip? Expect the unexpected. That includes your budget, too. While you can save a lot of money by DIYing, you’ll still need to account for the costs of materials and tools in your budget—with wiggle room for any do-overs you may need. Luckily, your mortgage could actually help you finance those home projects. With a cash-out refinance, you can leverage your home equity for cash and use those funds to cover your renovation expenses.*

*Using your home equity to pay off debts or make other purchases does not eliminate the debt or the cost of the purchases, but rather increases the loan amount of your mortgage to be paid according to your new mortgage terms.

Work on one project at a time

Ready to practice mindfulness? One of the best DIY home renovation tips we can offer is to be patient. Tackle one project at a time so that if life happens and you need to pause, your whole home won’t be in disarray. Starting with just one project is also a good way to gauge if DIY is the right choice for you. Sometimes, the work just isn’t worth it and you may decide that professional renovations are a better fit going forward. No judgment here.

If you do opt out of DIY renovations, you may be able to use a renovation loan to roll your mortgage and project costs into one. This can help streamline the process, ensure your contractor is reliable, and lower your up-front renovation expenses.

Bonus DIY home renovation tips

Don’t hit the ground running with your home improvement ideas just yet. Before you go, here are a few bonus DIY home renovation tips to keep in mind.

• Stay flexible. Timelines, budgets, and visions may have to change as you go, so don’t stress if everything doesn’t go exactly to your original plan.
• Collect plenty of inspiration. Having a visual aid to guide your work usually results in a better finished product than freestyling it.
• Ask for help. DIY doesn’t have to mean actually doing everything yourself. Ask for your friends’ opinions on design options, host a house painting party, and make the most of your community resources.

Our top DIY home renovation tip? Understand which projects should actually be DIYed, and which are better left to professionals.

The post DIY Renovation Tips: What Should You Actually DIY? appeared first on Cardinal Financial.

As the weather warms up and the cold days become scarce, seize this opportunity to take on some home projects and make your home a more pleasant place to live.

Spend more time outside

After a long winter spent indoors, get out and get your hands dirty with some outdoor spring home improvement projects. Create an outdoor escape where you can spend warm summer nights by building conversation areas. You could make a firepit and arrange some new patio furniture around it or build an outdoor bar beneath a pergola. Adding items like new patio stones, seating areas, or an outdoor music system are all fun ways to make your backyard the summer gathering place for friends and family. Working with a tight budget? Add smaller touches like lemongrass plants, pool toys (if you have a pool), or yard games like corn hole.

Lower your energy bills

Don’t you love when spring home improvement projects can save you money? Small changes to your home can be environmentally friendly and cost effective at the same time. Things like caulking windows and weatherstripping doors will prevent energy-wasting air leaks and keep your HVAC unit from overworking. Inspect all your home’s doors, seals, and openings for drafts and thank us later when your utility bills are lower.

Feed your inner chef

Updating your kitchen is an appetizing way to improve your home. It’s been said that the kitchen is the heart of the home—and people tend to gather around food. Time to create a truly inviting space where your friends and family will love to eat, drink, and be merry.

Try installing a new backsplash, attaching new cabinet knobs and handles, and planting some indoor herbs near your kitchen window. These spring home improvement projects are relatively cheap and easy to incorporate. Or if you’re ready to take on some bigger projects around the kitchen, see how your major appliances are holding up. You may need to install a new garbage disposal or call in a professional to fix your refrigerator’s ice maker.

Increase your garage’s usability

At times, the garage can be the ultimate organizational challenge. Have you ever seen a two-car garage that was so cluttered it couldn’t even store one car? It happens all too often. Here’s a helpful hint: on your list of spring home improvement projects, add organizing the garage. First, go through your stuff, piece by piece, and separate everything into four piles: throw out, recycle, donate, and keep. Once you’re left with only the items you want to keep, then you can dust or wipe down the items, sweep and clean the garage, and reorganize the items in a way that will maximize usability. You may even want to add built-in shelves or a labeling system to ensure organization well into the future.

Boost your basement’s organization

Does your basement make you cringe? Like the garage, the basement tends to be the “dump-all” room of the home. After months of hiding miscellaneous items in the basement, take an approach similar to the garage and get to organizing! Reclaim that space and add seating or an entertainment center to turn your basement into a second family room.

Show your home some love and freshen it up with these spring home improvement projects. Looking for financing for a bigger, more expensive home renovation? See how we can help you refinance your mortgage and tap into your home’s equity.

The post 5 Fresh Spring Home Improvement Projects appeared first on Cardinal Financial.

Why wait until spring to freshen up your home? Welcome the new year with new projects around the house that are easy and simple. Here’s our list of 11 decorating tips for 2017 that won’t leave you with an empty wallet.

1. Your front door sets the tone

Make a great first impression and paint your front door a bright, warm color. Toasty tones like reds, oranges, and yellows are gaining popularity on front doors as their hues can be associated with feelings of joy and hospitality. There are other decorating tips to step up your curb appeal too, like enhancing your address numbers and hanging potted plants.

2. Wall colors should be light and neutral

It’s OK to experiment with dark or bold colors once in a while, but the benefit of light and neutral colors is that they work best with everything. Easily switch out your accessories and still maintain coherence throughout your decor with beige or gray walls. This is especially important on the first floor where you really want to avoid jarring transitions. Pro tip: If you have two small rooms next to each other, paint them the same neutral color to make them appear larger.

3. Let in some sunshine

Winter can be so dark and cloudy. Update your window treatments to let in the maximum amount of natural light. Exchange heavy, outdated curtains for lightweight drapes made of cotton, linen, or silk blends. Window treatments made of these fabrics tend to hang nicely without weighing down the room. You could even layer curtains for added elegance and dimension, like sheer panels under full-length drapes. For rooms that get a lot of sun, select a light-colored fabric that won’t fade in the sunny months.

4. Raise the ceiling using visual tricks

While we’re on the topic, did you know there’s a trick to hanging curtains that makes your room appear taller? Hang your curtains higher than the windows to create the illusion of taller walls and more breathing room. Standard curtain panels usually measure 84–96 inches which allows you to hang them about three inches above the window casing before the length becomes awkwardly short. Any higher than that and you’ll most likely have to order custom drapes. For those who love patterned panels, try vertical lines to visually elongate the walls. Other tricks include painting your ceiling white or leaning a large mirror against a wall.

5. Your sofa should talk to your chairs

This is one of our favorite decorating tips and, it sounds strange, but this concept works. Imagine a hotel lobby where the furniture is arranged in groups that invite conversation. Your home seating area should have the same effect. As you rearrange your living room furniture, aim for a sense of intimacy and balance. People commonly assume that pushing all the furniture against the walls is the “right” way to decorate and make the room look bigger. In reality, this method hinders the intimacy created by closely placed seats. The ideal conversation area is a unit that is either U-shaped (a sofa and two chairs facing each other at opposite ends of a coffee table) or H-shaped (a sofa directly facing two chairs with a coffee table in the middle).

6. Anchor rugs under furniture feet

They say go big or go home and, when it comes to rugs, we agree! The rug should define the seating area, so look for a rug that’s large enough to fit all four legs of the sofa and chairs in your furniture group. That means you could be looking at a rug that’s up to nine by twelve feet! At a minimum, the front two legs of the sofa and chairs should sit on the rug. If your rug size is too small, the room tends to look disproportionate.

7. Mirror, mirror… In every room!

Mirrors are not just for checking your hair. One nifty thing about mirrors is that they bounce light around a room, making space feel brighter. By adding depth and dimension, mirrors can make a small room feel larger. But beware: There is a wrong way to place them. For best results, hang mirrors on walls perpendicular to the windows, not directly across from them. In doing so, you’ll avoid bouncing the natural light right back out the window.

8. Use best practices to hang artwork

Hanging artwork is a tricky business, but it’s best not to think too far into it. Take inventory of your wall art and get really familiar with the available real estate. In a way, let the artwork choose the wall. You might have a long and skinny frame whose shape fits perfectly in a small, narrow hallway—place it there. That same frame will probably appear out of place on a big accent wall. The size of the wall is a crucial factor in hanging artwork. Take advantage of one large wall that has no windows by hanging an oversized canvas or grouping smaller pieces for a tiled effect. For the latter style, it’s best to space items about two to four inches apart. Another general rule of thumb: When placing artwork, the center of the piece should hang at average eye level. Your guests should be able to interact with your home’s art seamlessly.

9. Layer your lighting

Out of all the decorating tips, this one is most easily overlooked by homeowners. Most rooms should have three kinds of lighting: ambient, accent, and task. Ambient lighting gives overall illumination to a room, often by way of ceiling fixtures. Accent lighting is more decorative and spotlight-esque, highlighting specific things, like artwork. Task lighting has the effect of a spotlight but is found in more active areas of the home, like over a kitchen island, a desk, or a bathroom mirror. While basic, down-facing lighting may be sufficient, get creative with uplighting (like a torchière) that illuminates the ceiling—another visual trick to make the room appear taller.

10. Freshen outdated fixtures

For those who love to upcycle furniture, this one’s for you. If your home’s fixtures have seen better days, don’t immediately think you need to replace them. If the fixture is still functional, work with what you’ve got and give it a simple facelift. Outdated kitchen cabinets could benefit from a few fresh coats of paint and new hardware. Old switch plates and outlet covers can be repainted or dressed in decorative paper. There are countless creative ideas around updating your home’s furniture and fixtures without breaking the bank or replacing them entirely.

11. Declutter like a pro!

Most homeowners will agree when we say this: The longer you live in a house, the less you notice the mess. It’s normal to get comfortable in your own clutter, which is why a fresh set of eyes can really help you see your home in a whole new light. Grab a friend and start with a storage closet where you might find some forgotten gold nuggets worth rotating into your home décor. Then move to your bookcases and shelves, removing all of the items and wiping the surfaces clean. Once you’ve also wiped clean your books and knick-knacks, set half of them aside. These will go back into storage and will be replaced by the treasures you found in the closet. Turn back to your bookcase or shelf and arrange the items in a new way: Stack some books horizontally, some vertically, and sprinkle in some decorative objects like vases and tabletop frames. This technique will create a truly dynamic arrangement your guests will admire. And we love decorating tips like this one because it’s absolutely free!

The post 11 Genius Decorating Tips for 2017 appeared first on Cardinal Financial.