50 Upgrades Your Home Deserves in 2018

In a renovation by Jersey Ice Cream Co., two shades of paint and brass sconces jazz up an otherwise ordinary white wall.

You keep saying you’re going to retile the bathroom, or switch out the cabinets in the kitchen, or paint the living room once and for all. You magically need to add a closet where there isn’t one; the bedroom lacks light. But even smaller adjustment—new blinds, an upgraded showerhead, a rug—can make a home much more reflective of its inhabitants. Well, now’s the time. Call it a New Year’s resolution or a pledge for self-care, but put down the phone (after you read this, of course), head to the hardware store, and hop to it. Wallpaper a roomthat badly needs personality or hack an affordable marble floor—your home deserves a little more this year. Here are 50 of our favorite ways to be clever in 2018.

1. Hard-wire for less. The simplest light socket is also one of the most attractive, especially if you put one of these bulbs in it.

2. Or just clamp a light wherever you need it. With this spotlightthat’s not just for photo sets anymore.

3. Build out a minibar on a bookshelf, your side table, tucked in a cabinet, and more.

4. Or skip the bar cart entirely and make space on a shelf (even mount one) for your favorite bottles.

5. Install marble floors. They might sound like a luxury, but if you search around, you might find enough scraps to hack one on the cheap-ish.

6. Beadboard creatively. This classic material lends all kinds of cottage vibes to interiors, but panel it in a new way and it will look as novel as can be.

7. Swap in minimal baseboards. Here are six modern ways to modernize crown molding and baseboards, from the ultra low-key to the stylish statement.

8. Cork your floors. Cork…as flooring? Yes, you should consider it as an affordable alternative to hardwood that’s comfy to walk on, absorbs sound, and more good things.

9. Hack an IKEA kitchen. This couple’s IKEA kitchen, done on the cheap, will teach you all the tricks to customize your own.

10. Reno the bathroom—but don’t move the pipes. Here’s the biggest way to drastically reduce your bathroom renovation costs.

11. Don’t forget a shampoo nook while you’re at it. This is the add-on that you should make sure to incorporate in any bathroom renovation—be gone, shower caddies!

12. Forage for supplies if you’re building a hearth. No, really! When you’re looking to redo that statement fireplace, see if you’ve got stones on your property that will work.

13. Really, don’t overcomplicate fireplace design. Give your fireplace a makeover by simplifying the one you’ve got (no mantels here).

14. Or just strip it down to the bricks and be done. If you’re already giving a room that has a fireplace a makeover, consider striking down the mantle, or the paint, or anything else covering up its rustic beauty. There’s a trick to making it pop, too.

15. Upgrade your medicine cabinet. Two ways: framed and flush with the wall.

16. Add ceiling beams. Yes, add. Grab a few two-by-fours, a drill, and some three-inch-long screws, and transform a boring ceiling.

17. Fix up the laundry room. If you’re lucky enough to have an at-home laundry (and laundry room!), here’s how to make it a room you actually look forward to being in—on a budget.

18. Try a funky wallpaper. Ombré isn’t just a trend for your hair. Try it on your walls!

19. Think twice about ripping out those copper pipes. This Brooklyn loft proves you can incorporate more raw materials into your space, or use the ones that seem like they’re in the way.

20. Add a walk-in to any room. Turn a wall, even in a studio apartment, into a walk-in closet wide enough for drawers, racks, and a vanity.

21. Paint your kitchen cabinets. Ugly kitchen cabinets got you down? Get to painting them, but first read this thorough, tip-filled primer.

22. Color your bathroom. Bathrooms don’t have to be shiny white and subway-tiled; use a few tactics that lean more toward warm and playful, like in this tricolor bathroom in Milan.

23. Get creative with your grout. Here’s everything you ever wanted to know about grout—to DIY or not, colors, and pro tips—and probably a little more.

24. Or reglaze the tile you’ve got. Reglazing tile—also called resurfacing or refinishing—can save you a renovation (and a whole lotta cash) if you really can’t live with an existing 1960s teal/taupe/etc. color scheme.

25. Don’t overlook tiny tiles. If you’re redoing a small bathroom, whether it’s perhaps a half-bath in a larger home or just the one in your one-bedroom, here are the reasons to spring for similarly tiny tiles.

26. See double. The technique of book-matching—whether used with marble, wood, leather, or another material—will create a statement in a room, no art needed.

27. Turn a closet into your home office. Closets are everything in a small space—but if you happen to have one you aren’t using for storage, make it over into a desk!

28. Ditch the shower curtain. Big shower dreams + tiny bathroom reality = ditching the shower curtain/tub combo once and for all. These three bathrooms provide immediate inspiration.

29. Or, better yet, ditch the shower door. Renovating your bathroom? With the right floor slant and drainage combo, you don’t actually need a shower door.

30. Drill holes in your cabinets. Pulls, whether on kitchen or bathroom cabinets, are the easiest thing to replace if you want a light-lift renovation. Try a new color or metal to pep things up. But why not go for something more minimalist? No hardware needed.

31. Do not underestimate the power of paint. These homeowners shared six tips for keeping historic features intact while renovating to fit their lifestyle. (Spoiler: As always, paint does wonders.)

32. Face reality before you reno. Renovation is all about the give-and-take, and this kitchen makeover story proves you should always be willing to shift your expectations, be readily decisive, and think about how you’ll actually use the space versus being out of touch with your everyday reality.

33. Strip some paint. Paint can be your best friend in a rental, but there are some surfaces you should let shine in all their metal glory. Here’s a primer for how to strip paint from them!

34. Rethink your staircase risers. A staircase that needs a little work is the perfect place for a little artistic flourish—as if you needed another reason to love museums and their websites (truly!).

35. Build in built-ins. Surprise renovation aside, this apartmentmade use of so many small-space tricks (like building in shelves beside the fireplace) even we’re in awe.

36. And consider plywood if you want them to cost less. Built-in shelving makes any space all the more cozy—and if you opt for an affordable material like birch plywood, it will be half the price come installation time.

37. Embrace the breakfast nook. A renovated Seattle kitchen made more use of its space with a little shuffle of appliances and countertops, leaving just enough room for its shining star, a breakfast nook.

38. Do subway tile differently. There’s no need to set basic subway tile horizontally if you wish for something with more movement. Here are six other patterns and sizes to consider.

39. Paint the floor. Delicious wooden floors, you’ll always have a place in our hearts, but those slicked with paint have made their place right next to you.

40. Try a textured paint. Nope, no popcorn ceilings here, just the pros and cons of textured paint and how to DIY it with care.

41. Get rid of a popcorn ceiling. But if you do have popcorn ceilings, rid your home of it with these pointers.

42. Hide your ugliest appliances. Anyone else dream of custom cabinets designed to hide an ugly microwave or laundry duo? We thought so! Take inspiration from these two apartment owners who did it right.

43. Cut your countertop costs in half. Deep design-internet-dive win: Just one phrase will help cut the cost of a fancy-looking, thick countertop in half.

44. Switch up your backsplash. Somewhere along the way it was decided kitchen backsplashes had to be tile, or so it seems. But there are other chic, hard-working materials that will happily assume duty instead—here are five.

45. Rethink awkward nooks. Full renovations aren’t always necessary when your space has good bones, as evidenced by this smart refresher of a home in Seattle (note how a new piece of furniture totally changed the awkward entry hall).

46. Try plaster. Plastered walls are front and center in this farmhouse renovation—a good advertisement for their warmth and classic look. Also on display to consider for rustic reno vibes: sanded floors, low-lying custom cabinets, and neutral colors.

47. Don’t overdo it. This London apartment goes to show you don’t need tons of adornment for a space to feel lived in. Simple carpentry, such as shelves out of very basic, any-hardware-store wood, can add just as much as more expensive options.

48. Sand down paint that doesn’t make sense. As proven by this light-filled Hudson Valley home, and the once-black ceiling beams the owners sanded down to show off the original grain.

49. Or paint a piece without sanding it first. Step away from the sander! Here are five ways to paint wood furniture by skipping that very annoying first step.

50. Customize thoughtfully. When designer Alex Reid set about planning his Manhattan apartment, he realized a custom sofa—more compact than your typical couch, so as to not take over the space in a small room—was just the fix for a tiny floor plan.

Original article found at: https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/home-renovation-ideas-upgrades-your-home-deserves