Real Living Suburban Lifestyle Real Estate
258 Main Street Unit F, Medfield, MA 02052
508-944-1967 | [email protected]
258 Main Street Unit F, Medfield, MA 02052
508-944-1967 | [email protected]
Have you ever rearranged your furniture, and it instantly improved your mood? Or do you feel happier since you bought that new couch? For many of us, our homes have a significant impact on our well-being. If your house is messy, it may cause you to feel stressed. If your home is tidy, you may have a sense of calm and peace.
It may sound like a surprise, but home renovation projects can drastically improve our moods. Here are a few pointers on how a home renovation project can boost your mood and improve your well-being.
While this isn’t true for all home renovation projects, some of them add more natural light to your property. Not only can this add vibrant positivity to any space, but it also means you’ll be using less artificial light. Additionally, studies show that sunlight can actually increase our energy levels. That said, installing a new window or upgrading your blinds can help you feel more energized and alert. As this lighting can impact your mood, it can be very beneficial for your mental health. Also, if you work from home, this boost in energy can take your productivity to the next level.
If you work remotely, you may be focused on building a new home office. If you’re like most people, you try to have this office in a quiet space. But with daily distractions and only so much room to work with, that can be a serious challenge. This may be the reason you want to build a home office in the first place. Try to find an area with plenty of natural light, enough outlets and a good bout of room to get up and stretch when you need to take a few breaks. This is a practice you can bring into other facets of the home that may need a little tranquility. You could also try removing excess screens and things that would further distract you from the room's purpose. Next, you'll want to decorate with calm and soothing tones. Earthy notes of brown and green have been known to help individuals feel more grounded and relaxed. After finding the ideal area and completing the project, this space can do wonders for your well-being, including your productivity. These calm areas can also decrease stress, promote high energy levels and even lead to a more organized home.
Once you've found your space and gotten as much natural light as you'd like, try organizing. Ensuring that everything has its place can remove certain stressors from your everyday life. Cubbies, built-in bookshelves, shelving units, cabinets, drawers, etc. are all great ways to store a few extra items. If you're feeling artistic, you can always add colors that either match the wall or compliment it to ensure that your storage space stays congruent with the rest of your design. Adding items by color can also give you a more relaxed yet exciting artistic flare.
From innovative technologies to updated best practices, residential construction continues to improve.
As we look towards the future, here are seven home construction trends to consider:
Safety is always a prime concern in the world of construction. As jobs can pose many risks and dangers, organizations focus on protecting their staff with innovative tools and techniques. Equipment is also enhanced, leading to fewer systems that are shared with others that could cause cross contamination of materials or accidents.
One very exciting trend in the world of residential construction involves the use of living materials. These include biological compounds that actually grow themselves. In recent experiments, these were applied to buildings to provide a range of benefits. Out of these biological materials, the most promising types are materials made of bacteria and fungi. Further experiments are being conducted to learn even more about this area of construction.
Chances are you’ve heard about the recent popularity of drone technology. While these devices provide tons of fun for kids and content creators, they’re also very useful in residential construction. Construction experts are now using drones and remote technology to get a better view of the space, and to even transport materials from one location to another.
In building the next generation of homes, people are becoming minimalists. New homeowners are realizing the power of having less, and it’s carrying over to new residential home-building projects. Homeowners today are interested in designing smaller, more sleek homes with clean lines.
The most trendy colors in a new home building, bold colors are in. People are building unique homes that pop with crazy, bold color palettes.
Residential construction is also seeing an increase in more innovative materials. People focus on easy assembly, so don’t expect to see anything too complicated with a new home build. Also, new homeowners care more about functionality, so they’re designing innovative living spaces with unique, practical areas.
If you’re in the market for a new home, you may not know where to start. By following these residential construction trends, you can design a home everyone will love!
Image by Breadmaker from Shutterstock
When you're motivated to get the most from your sale, it pays to add property value through preparation. Get started today with some of these tips:
Have your local real estate agent evaluate your home. As a professional, they know what sells and what doesn't in your area. They will assist you in determining how to spend your money wisely to get the best return.
Pay for a home inspection. A certified home inspector will point out those areas needing fixing, correction, or removal.
Clear up landscaping messes and debris. Add regionally appropriate and low-maintenance plants and ground cover.
Paint your walls to a neutral but modern color. Gone are the instructions for all-white walls. Stick to gray or taupe tones though, to give a hint of timeless freshness. Remove dated, stained, peeling, or faded wallpaper. Instead of replacing it, finish and paint the area in a neutral palette with an appropriate finish.
Request a home energy audit from your utility company. Most energy companies offer this service for free. Sometimes simply making changes to lighting or adding insulation gives your house a higher energy rating. Efficient homes are generally more attractive to buyers.
If your home has "popcorn-style" texture on the ceiling, consider removing it. Replacing it with smooth plaster or a modernized surface increases your home’s value. Do not DIY this, however, until you make sure that your ceiling texture does not contain asbestos. Up until the late 70s, many textured ceiling preparations used asbestos flakes. If your home is newer than this, you're likely fine handling this on by yourself. An older home, however, requires a licensed professional with experience in asbestos removal and disposal.
While you’re at it, replace old light fixtures. Upgrade them with high-efficiency fixtures and for little expense, bring your home into the LED era. Upgrade exterior lights with automatic options to add a safety factor to your home's exterior.
Replace your roof. When living in storm-prone areas, hail or windstorm may cause damage that you cannot see and affect your roof’s integrity. Get a roof inspection (most roofing contractors do this for free). If your roof is storm damaged, contact your homeowner’s insurance to see about replacing it. In some policies, storm damage replacement has time limitations. If you've experienced heavy hail or windstorms, immediately have your roof evaluated or you may end up paying for repairs yourself. While a new roof may not increase your sale price, a damaged roof will lower it.
Expose your hardwood. When you have wood flooring hiding underneath stained, faded, or worn carpeting, take time to remove the carpeting and expose the hardwood. Refinish the floor if you can do so. Even if you cannot, use some of these quick fixes to make your wood floors appear inviting to homebuyers.
When in doubt, always refer to number one above: call your real estate pro. They’ll help you determine the best options for you to get the most from your home.
When you stop and think about all the preparations involved in putting your house on the market and avoiding mistakes, it can feel overwhelming! The good news is that you don't have to go it alone.
An experienced real estate agent can provide you with invaluable guidance on everything from effectively staging your home to complying with seller disclosure requirements.
One aspect of selling your house in the shortest amount of time (and for the highest price) is doing everything you can to make a great first impression on prospective buyers. You've probably heard the old expression "Presentation is everything." While that might be a slight overstatement when it comes to selling your house, it is a concept that is well worth keeping in mind. The overall impression prospective buyers take away with them after they've viewed your property will have a powerful impact on whether they decide to include it on their "short list."
Let There Be Light!
Sometimes the simplest changes can produce the biggest results. One example is lighting. If a room is inadequately lit, then you're not going to be showing it to its best advantage. Spaces that are too dimly lit can come across as dreary, shadowy, and uninviting. If you have bedrooms or other living spaces that don't have a ceiling light, for example, it might be worth the expense of having an electrician come in and correct that. Otherwise, homebuyers may find it frustrating and off-putting when they flip a wall switch, and it only turns on a ceiling fan, a floor lamp, or nothing!
Dimmer switches are often an easy and inexpensive solution for rooms that seem either too bright or too dark. Prospective buyers like the feeling that they can adjust the lighting in any room to match their immediate needs and mood.
Letting in as much natural light from the outside is another way to create a bright, cheerful ambiance in your home. Using decorative curtain ties to pull back curtains as far as possible can add a nice finishing touch while allowing as much outside light to shine in as possible.
If you happen to notice that your curtains are wrinkled, faded, tattered, heavy looking, or noticeably dated, you might want to consider replacing them with newer, more cheerful versions. The appearance and age of your curtains can have a lasting effect on the impression house hunters get from your home.
While we're on the topic of windows, keeping them impeccably clean is a goal worth prioritizing. That can be a difficult thing to keep up with if you have young children and pets who are always leaving smudges on glass and mirrors, but the cleanliness of windows is a small but important detail that will be noticed by potential buyers.
Although there are dozens of things to keep in mind when trying to make a great impression on home buyers, your real estate agent will help you identify cost-effective strategies for putting your best foot forward.
