When faced with a brand new home, it is both an exciting and terrifying experience all at once. There are a million and one questions to be answered. If you’ve bought a fixer upper, you might have more questions than most, but you shouldn’t be overwhelmed or intimidated by the task before you. You saved money by choosing a house which needs a little work, and you’ll continue to save money by putting your DIY hat on and getting to work with renovating the place.
Of course, just because you knew your new house could be “fixed up”, that doesn’t necessarily mean you had or have any idea of where to begin with this challenge. With many problems to fix and a messy home before you, your plans might be a little scrambled to begin with. That’s why I’ve put together a rough step by step plan to help give you some advice on how to recover your fixer upper. Whilst it doesn’t look like much yet, you bought it for a reason. Hard work is all it will take to get a brand new, shiny property.
Start in the kitchen.
A good plan for your fixer upper is to avoid tackling everything at once. You’ll make the challenge more difficult than it needs to be, and you’re likely to find yourself getting overwhelmed by the amount of tasks which need to be done. Tackle room by room, and start on the bottom floor; logically, it makes sense. Personally, I’d suggest starting with the kitchen, because this is the main focal point of any house, and renovating this one room will instantly help to uplift the look of the entire house, as it’s such an integral component of your home.
This doesn’t have to be a costly venture. Maybe the cupboards are looking a little drab, dreary and faded, but a simple paint job could completely transform them into cabinets entirely indistinguishable from brand new ones. Alternatively, if overhead cupboards are looking so battered and bruised that they’re practically unsalvageable, you could reinvent them. Taking down the cupboards and fitting some DIY shelving in their place will not only get rid of an old furnishing and replace it with a new one, but it’ll create a quirky, unique, contemporary feel in your kitchen with open storage space for your crockery and cutlery. DIY doesn’t have to be cheap and tacky. It can be artistic and modern whilst barely scratching your budget.
Check that amenities are in fit condition.
One of the most important initial projects with a fixer upper should be a check over all practical machinery and facilities in the house to ensure that they don’t need fixing up to a large extent. Redoing a faded paint job or replacing an old cabinet is one thing, but a broken fridge or boiler is not something you can ignore. Not everything has to be a DIY task, though. You could consider a plumber, if you’re struggling, of course. It’s better to check these things now and get a professional opinion on the appliances in your household, so as to give yourself a little peace of mind. A few tatty furnishings aren’t going to hurt anyone anytime soon, but if the heating or the water fails to work in your new fixer upper home, that’s a more serious issue; and one you may not be able to fix yourself.
Fix that garden.
The great thing about mother nature is it mostly looks after itself. All you need to do is trim the edges and tidy up the excess a little. But, if you’re looking for cost-friendly solutions to fixing up your new home, doing something about the exterior is always a great idea. For example, if you wanted some colorful flowers to spruce up the garden, perennials such as the daylily can be divided every few years to help prevent oversized plants, but also to promote further growth. Nature will take care of the rest.
At no additional cost, the outdoor world conducts a little exterior design for you and keeps the garden looking pretty and enticing, whilst all you need to do is conduct occasional maintenance. If you want your house to appeal before you’ve even stepped through the front door, then you could carry some of your garden to the front of the house and line windowsills with flowers or place them on either side of your front entrance. Nature is certainly a great tool for lifting a slightly worn property into the realm of new, clean, shiny and modern abodes.