People entertain during the year for various reasons. However, the winter holidays are special. Everyone wants their home to look its best for their guests. Most holiday home improvement is cosmetic rather than structural. Here are some holiday home improvement ideas for your celebrations that won’t break the bank.
Front Door
Guests will see the front door before they see your new home improvements. You’d have a good idea if you painted it. It would give the outside of the house a fresh, new look as well as being attractive to whomever knocks on it. While you’re at it, buy new doorknobs and kickplates with which to dress up the “new” door.
Paint
‘Tis the season to enjoy warm colors. Warm green, deep red, honey, deep blue, and rose are trending now. A coat of paint gives a room a fresh, new look and gives your holiday decorations a wonderful background against which to stand out.
You only want to paint the rooms seen the most by guests such as the living and dining rooms, kitchen and bathroom. Remember to paint the trim and window frames for contrast. You might want to also exchange old light switch plates and outlet plates for new ones. The rooms will look bright and merry.
Lighting
If your guests are going to enjoy your home improvements, they need to see them. Lighting fixtures come in ambient, focus, and task lighting categories. Chandeliers are popular right now, as well as pendant lighting and wall sconces.
Exchange the fixtures in the rooms in which you’ll be entertaining the most for a clearer view of the home improvements and decorations. Lighting up a room gives its occupants happier emotions and a clearer mind, so light ’em up!
Window Treatments
In spring, summer, and fall, homeowners use light window treatments. This keeps the harsh UV rays out and coolness in. In winter, though, the windows need an extra layer of insulation, so draperies are added.
Use colors that complement or contrast your new paint as your taste determines. The heavy velvet curtains of yore have given way to heavy textiles like damask and brocade that insulate well by themselves. Lighter fabrics rely for insulation on white rubber or synthetic backing for their insulation.
The added warmth of the material as well as the color will give the room a warm, cozy aura. People usually stay in rooms like that enjoying the happy holiday togetherness.
Kitchens And Bathrooms
Aside from fresh holiday towels and perhaps a candle or two, what can you do with the kitchen and bathroom? We suggested painting them, which will give them a different personality for the holidays. Most folks get specific holiday towels or towels in warm fall and winter colors. Is this all we can do?
Of course not. People are spending more and more time relaxing in their bathrooms after a long day. Upgraded bathroom fixtures add to the ambience and comfort of the room. They’ll contrast well with the new coat of paint you applied.
Warm brass and brushed copper are trending now with towel racks to match. Add festive towels, a bowl of warm colored soaps, and perhaps a basket of chrysanthemums, and your bathroom will be ready for the holidays. Don’t forget a warm rug for cold feet.
Kitchens are fun to upgrade for the holidays. It’s time to break out the red dishes, the holiday patterned place-mats and napkins, the red or green napkin rings, the cornucopia centerpiece for Thanksgiving dinner, the green and red centerpiece for Christmas, and of course, the red or burnt orange candles.
That’s not all, though. You can opt for red or burnt orange small appliances. You can go with gaily patterned cafe curtains. You can deck those halls with turkeys, baskets of fruits and veggies, holly, bows, and candy canes.
If you really want to get into the spirit of the holidays, you can throw a splash of color onto the cabinets. Choose a happy color that complements the coat of paint you added to the walls. You only have to do one or two, for example, by using brightly colored holiday wall decals that peel on and off. These won’t harm the wood grain of your cabinets.
Here, too, you could dress up the kitchen by exchanging old for new light switch plates and outlet plates. Switch out old cabinet hardware for bright new hardware.
These suggestions for holiday home improvements are cosmetic in nature. They can be done on a weekend or a succession of weekends leading up to the holidays, and they aren’t very expensive. Most cities have big box stores that have reasonably priced paint colors and hardware that homeowners like best.
The holidays lift our spirits, give us a chance to be together with family and friends, and give us a colorful break in the bleakness of gray winter. Why not allow the holidays to perk up our home as well?
