Working towards improving your home will benefit you in more than one way. However, it can be a bit daunting. This article provides great home improvement tips, no matter whether you are fixing your home to sell or beautifying your own personal residence. Install weather stripping on the doors and windows to make your house more energy efficient. This cheap fix will seal out cold and hot air from your house and will save you money when it comes to your cooling and heating system. You will also notice that your temperature in your home is easier to control now. You only need PVC cement and PVC primer to attach two PVC pipes. Be sure to use the exact PVC products as generic glues won’t work as well. Make sure the PVC pipes are dry before attempting to glue them together. Re-purpose unlikely items for interesting home improvements. For example, a luggage rack can be reused as a side table. Just take glass out of an old picture frame and set it on top, adhering it with permanent glue. Add a lamp and some books and you have a perfectly good side table. Excess blind cords can be cut off or tied. Long or dangling cords pose a safety risk to small children and pets, who may become ensnared. Make sure you do leave enough cord to maneuver the blinds, but make sure that the cord that does hang down serves no purpose. By removing it you are preventing a potential accident before it occurs. A well-built, immaculate front door can raise a property’s value by up to 10%. One simple way to update your front entryway is to purchase and install new hardware for your door. Most supplies for home improvement projects tend to be items that would be valuable theft targets. You should keep those supplies secure and locked up when you are not working. If your home is safe, meaning everything is locked and shut, you can store equipment inside. If the home has no lock, then a storage bin with a lock will help. It is a good idea to maintain a home repair budget that can also be used for upgrades. Homeowners that set aside adequate money to keep their homes in shape tend to maintain their homes better than those who don’t. If there is money left in this budget at the end of the year, it can be saved for bigger home improvement projects in the future. Great quality materials don’t have to break a homeowner’s wallet; they just need to be long lasting and affordable. When the selling process of a home is complete, furnishings and decor go with the homeowner. Fixtures, on the other hand, are durable and stay in the home, adding to its value and commanding a greater sale price. The first step in beginning work in your bathroom or kitchen is shutting off any water supply to the fixtures or plumbing. It may seem obvious, but a lot of homeowners forget this step and end up with a huge mess. When doing huge landscaping projects, talk to neighbors before doing drainage. A good plan will involve water drainage. In many cases, it might seem convenient to just reroute the water to a neighbors yard, but this can lead to some heated arguments with the people next door! Drainage plans can only be coordinated with proper communication. To add a fresh new look to a dated decor, consider adding a new coat of paint. A whole room can look better with new paint. You can also increase your home’s value by painting. Consider using light colors that will brighten up your home and blend well with existing decor. Think about installing a shower if your home doesn’t have one. Showers are more accessible than tubs. They also use less water. The numbers don’t lie. A quick shower consumes only 25% of the water that a full bathtub does. Select an attractive color scheme for rooms. Selecting a complementary scheme is an excellent suggestion for your home’s formal areas like your dining room. Colors that complement one another across the wheel are always a great consideration when visual appeal is your primary concern. Such colors can include green and red or orange and purple. These colors are visually striking and present a wide contrast which proves to be extremely effective when designing a room. Choose one piece of decor in your room and build your color palette off it. You can derive some great color plans by taking inspiration from upholstery, window treatments, carpeting, or other features. Use a dominant color and work off of that with other matching colors. Secondary shades are geared to improve the look of the primary color. Your hot water should be drained every six months or so. A well maintained hot water heater will last longer and run more efficiently too. This project is as simple as locating the drain valve, attaching a hose, and turning the valve in the same way you would turn a spigot. Add an extension to the side of your home. A playroom for your children or a home office are great choices for additions. This will increase the comfort of your home as well as the value of your home. You should of course do this project when you have accumulated the money. Be mindful of the weather in your neck of the woods. If you have constant blustery or rainy days, having an outdoor patio or backyard barbecue may not be such a sound investment. Putting up a screened-in porch may be a good investment. Improving a home does not have to be an overwhelming ordeal. It doesn’t matter whether you do this on your own or hire a trained contractor. If you apply the above tips, you are on the right track towards completing your projects for home improvement.