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Real Estate Tips

5 Classic Home Upgrades that Will Withstand the Test of Time

Posted on Thursday, June 28, 2018
Upgrading and simplifying your landscaping can improve your home.

A classic home might seem like it needs no addition. However, if you want to modernize your home with some new amenities, or if you'd like to make subtle changes to your home, you need to make sure that they will stand the test of time. What home upgrades will add value to your classic home?

1. Change the Flow of Your Space

According to This Old House, "anything that opens the space and creates a sense of flow in the house is generating a response from buyers who can afford to be choosy." Knocking out a wall to create an open space between the kitchen, dining room, and living room can be attractive to some buyers, as can a living room and sun-room combination.

2. Add More Light

Natural light is always a wonderful sales pitch for a home. No matter what style of home you have, you and your prospective buyers will love it when natural light highlights the beauty of your interior and your decorating. Using skylights and sun tubes can allow you to add light where there was none before. You can also change your window coverings and prune trees outside the windows to let the light come in.

3. Add Comfort and Reduce Costs

Add awnings to reduce the heat inside your home, or reduce energy use by adding insulation to your home. Any modifications that make a home more comfortable will make it attractive to future buyers. These energy efficiency strategies can also reduce energy costs. For instance, using more efficient windows and reducing drafts makes your rooms more comfortable, and you're not heating and cooling needlessly due to all of the air leaks in your home.

4. Welcome People to Your Entryway

The front of your home should give a welcome to those who are coming to visit. You can do this by:

  • Changing an older, battered front door
  • Painting your front door
  • Adding window boxes
  • Adding seating near the front door
  • Installing a piece of art or a planter near the front door
  • Adding a wreath to the door

5. Reduce the Clutter Inside and Outside the Home

HGTV asks, "if you were a buyer, would you choose the house that is slightly dingy or the home down the street that is clean and welcoming?" Sometimes it's not the big changes you make but the little ones that you do every day that make the greatest difference. Add storage outdoors, such as a shed or a bin where you can tuck outdoor equipment. Reduce the clutter around your garden by simplifying your landscaping, focusing on a few key plants that are striking rather than adding more and more plants that you need to maintain. Indoors, reduce what you own or place it into a cabinet or other container so that the beautiful bones of the house can shine through.

At Open for Homes, we want to help you understand your home. Look to us for advice on home renovations, sales, and purchases. Visit the blog at Open For Homes for more information today.