Budget-Friendly DIY Home Improvement Tips for Empty Nesters

What do you do when your home becomes an empty nest? For all those years, you had one primary goal for your home: to create the best environment possible in which to raise your children. Now that your last kid has left the house, you may find yourself wondering where to go from here. Here’s something important to remember: You shouldn’t feel guilty about being excited. Yes, you miss your children, but now you have the opportunity to create a home that specifically caters to you and your spouse. If you plan to stay in your home for a while, why not transform its look and function to meet your needs? 

With that in mind, here are a few DIY home improvement tips to consider as empty nesters — and they won’t drain your bank account, either. 

Assess Your Options 

First of all, it’s important to lay out your options before you take out the living room wall. Do you consider your current home your forever home or at least plan to stay there for a while? Would you like to downsize to a smaller home or move to a different city or state? These are the kinds of questions to discuss with your spouse because they can help you determine whether to undertake and budget for certain home improvement projects, repairs, and upgrades. 

You’ll also need to determine how you’ll pay for these projects. If you’re aiming for more costly repairs, you’ll need the cash to pay for it all. If you don’t have the money to afford these projects, you could look into refinance home loan information to determine if this is the right choice for you. Otherwise, you can begin saving up for the bigger projects and revisit them later.

Keep Track of Changes

If you intend to make major changes to your home, you’ll need to keep track of all the renovations you make. This is especially important if you intend to sell your home, as these changes can help increase your home’s appraisal value. Keeping your documents organized can be a chore when you’re dealing with paper copies. Whenever possible, convert your documents to PDF files. From there, you can then combine PDFs into one file, allowing you to quickly and easily find information whenever you need it.

Replace Some Furniture

When you have kids, you often make your furniture choices around them. That is, you go for pieces that will stand the test of time. Now that it’s just you and your spouse, you can completely rethink your furniture for the living room and other areas. 

Obviously, getting new furniture can get expensive really fast, so you will want to save money where you can. The best and most convenient way to do this is by looking on deal sites for coupons, cashback offers, in-store discounts, and other types of deals.

Evaluate Your Floors 

Like your furniture, the floors in your home have likely experienced their share of wear and tear. Unfortunately, replacing flooring is no cheap endeavor. If you have hardwood floors, however, you can refinish them yourself for the cost of materials and equipment, and your floors will look brand new. Plus, it’s the perfect DIY project to tackle with your spouse! If you need to replace any floors, consider laminate as an attractive, cost-effective option.

Paint Away

Another great DIY project to take on with your spouse is to paint the walls, ceilings, doors, and/or any other part of your home that needs a refresh. With time and a few materials, you can transform any or every room of your home. Discuss color schemes with your spouse, and get to painting over those kid-themed walls and revitalizing your living space!

Convert Rooms 

Finally, you might have a few rooms that you can now convert into whatever you want them to be. For instance, you could make your child’s bedroom into a home office or workout space. You could transform the game room into a craft room or library. Moreover, you and your spouse could each create a personal space where you can retreat to solitude, whether it’s a man cave, hobby room, or any other type of room. The options are unlimited. 

Becoming empty nesters can be difficult, but it has its advantages. Discuss your options with your spouse before you determine any DIY projects to take on. Consider replacing your furniture, refinishing the floors, and painting any rooms or other parts of the home that need refreshing. Lastly, consider converting any unused rooms into spaces that both of you can enjoy. Just because the house is empty doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it!

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