25 Tips for Homeowners to Improve their House
March 12, 2012
image from better homes + gardens magazine
- Hire an architect – its your best investment.
- Love your house – it fosters good family time.
- It is your house, don't focus more on whose house it might be in 15 years.
- Consult an architect when buying and selling a house.
- Invest in durable, healthy materials.
- Go for energy + historic tax credits.
- Not all windows are created equal.
- A lot of insulation + air sealing goes a long way.
- If doing #8, install a mechanical whole-house ventillation system to keep your air fresh.
- When planning a kitchen, think about what it willl be like to clean it.
- Less is less. More is more. Find the balance.
- Don't be afraid of color.
- Make sure your faucets are metal. Avoid plastic fittings. You get what you pay for.
- Don't feel obligated to remove walls.
- Your house details are a part of the house facade, the neighborhood design, the town architecture: what you put on their defines much more than your personal style.
- Vinyl is boring, unattractive, and toxic.
- Declutter before you even think of an addition.
- Use the space you have, just rearrange and reallocate. Who says your dining room has to be a dining room.
- Purchase high efficiency appliences and + low flow fixtures.
- Invest in your home's envelope, decrease your mechanical system sizes + save money.
- Hire an architect – its your best investment. Ooops! We already said that!
- Find the sunny spot in your house and live there.
- Reduce indoor allergies by purchasing furniture + textiles that are made without petroleum based, fire-retardent chemicals.
- Capture rain in your rain barrels and release into your vegetable garden.
- Invest in an outdoor room.