If first impressions are the most important, your home’s walls, floors and ceiling are the canvas for your personal expression of style and comfortable living. For most of us walking into a home for the first time, our first impression is the décor. What does your home say about you? What would you prefer it to say? If these don’t match up, a room makeover can be the solution. Follow these 6 steps to ensure a successful DIY decor project.
1. Recognize when it’s time for a room reset
Maybe you know you want to redo a room, but aren’t sure where to start, what to keep or junk, or what parts to tackle. You may have started with a pretty simple, livable room years ago, but then as an assorted mishmash of furniture, pictures and collectibles found their way into the space, it became the kind of living area of last resort it is now.
2. Decide what to keep and what to change
Wiping the decorating slate clean, so to speak, is usually the best way to tackle a room makeover. Begin with a checklist of what you have. Identify what you like most about the space, as well as the “keepers” among the room’s surfaces, something like a hardwood floor or walls with great texture. This will help you start defining a palette.
3. Brush or roll on a new look
Painting should really rank up there as one of the great American pastimes. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist or Michelangelo to paint a room. It’s literally something you can do by yourself, with your spouse, even with your kids. For the cost of a can of paint you can add loads of color to your life. But if your newfound color confidence went a bit too far fuchsia, you can dial it back for another twenty bucks’ worth of paint.
4. Snap together a spiffy floor
Flooring is now an attainable project for do-it-yourselfers with novice to moderate skill levels. Credit goes in part to manufacturers who have become much more innovative with products that are easier to install and easier to maintain, such as installing a hot-looking, easy-care new floor by snapping together laminate boards or carpet tiles.
5. Build confidence to try bigger projects…
Decor projects can be low in difficulty but high in impact. They are like the bunny-hills of home improvement: ratcheting down the skill requirements so you can learn good form and build the confidence to tackle bigger adventures in and around your home. Who knows what your gorgeous room makeover will inspire you to achieve!
6. …but know your limits.
A few projects related to walls, floors and ceilings are best left to the pros. Hardwood floor sanding and refinishing is definitely one, given the value of hardwood floors and how easy it is to cause permanent damage to your asset, along with the fact that pros are able to apply the more durable commercial-grade finishes that aren’t available to consumers. Vinyl flooring is also a tricky job where the unskilled may unwittingly damage the product and add costs to the job.
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