Ten ways to freshen your home’s appearance comes from a post about boosting your home’s value.

Freshening your home’s appearance can certainly help your home’s value in the long run, especially in this changing market.

Thank you to the Washington Post for their article about ten items a person can do to increase their home’s value.

  1. Declutter. This is the biggest, easiest thing one can do to help their home’s value. If you are planning to sell, a buyer sees clutter and may imagine there isn’t enough storage, or that the home is too small if the current occupants can’t put things away. Start small. Go room by room, you can do even just 1/4 of a room at a time if you don’t have much time to devote to cleaning up.
  2. Repair or Replace Leaking Gutters, Clean Gutters if in good repair. And when you buy a new home, make sure to clean your gutters or have them cleaned at least once a year (twice is recommended,) so your gutters can do the job they are supposed to do – direct water away from your home!
  3. Service your HVAC unit(s). There are many companies that offer a service plan for your HVAC (heating and possibly air conditioning) unit(s). Even if you don’t have a plan, your unit(s) should be serviced at least once a year (twice a year is preferable.) This ensures your HVAC unit is running at its’ highest efficiency, and can help determine and fix a problem before it may become a bigger issue.
  4. Change Old Cabinet Hardware. If your kitchen is a little older, something that immediately ages it can be the cabinet drawer pulls and knobs. Make sure to measure and pick out knobs and handles that will fit into the holes that are already in place in the cabinets and drawers!
  5. Update Light Bulbs to LED. They are more energy efficient and are brighter!
  6. Remove Carpet. Carpet tends to wear more easily than flooring like luxury vinyl plank or laminate flooring. LVP is a very popular flooring – it generally looks clean and nice, and is usually very durable!
  7. Make sure your outdoor space is usable. Easier things like fire pits with chairs around it can be done at minimal cost and effort, while a deck or patio may be able to be cleaned up, painted, or stained to be desirable.
  8. Update/clean up Landscaping. The outside of your house is the first impression a potential homebuyer has of your home. Make sure it is inviting! You can trim bushes, plant some flowers or bushes, put some potted plants outside. Clean up the side and back yard too if you have them!
  9. Check the Scents. Do you have a pup? Is that pup…well…maybe not the freshest? How about a cat? Litter box? Doing #6 can help, as well as #3, because removing carpet that may have the *stink* in them and having your HVAC serviced may help freshen things up…but if they don’t take care of it, rent an Ozone machine to help take care of things. Keep in mind, though, with ozone treatments, whether DIY or hired, most likely you and your pets will need to relocate during the treatment.
  10. Paint! Paint is really the BEST way to put your home’s best foot forward. Inside & out (if paint outside is appropriate,) painting makes a home feel fresh and inviting. Use neutral colors so a new homebuyer can picture themselves and their things in the home!

If you are considering selling your Timonium home, please contact me. I can help walk you through the steps that may be best suited for you and your home’s situation!