Winter Home Renovations that make sense
Are you looking for winter home renovations?
Although spring is coming, many of us start the new year looking for an opportunity to get a jump start on various home improvement projects around the house. In Calgary the winter months can be long and cold, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t get some of those home projects completed so that when spring does come you can get outside and enjoy it.
So what are the best renovations to get done during the winter?
Check out our list below and enjoy ticking the to do list.
Kitchen Renovations During Winter
Although it might not seem like the best idea, doing a kitchen renovation in the winter is definitely ok. Usually when your doing a kitchen renovation it means that you are living/eating in another room or outside using the BBQ. This doesn’t lend itself to the winter. However there are some kitchen upgrades you can do without having to lose the functionality of your kitchen.
The Kitchen Counter Tops
Everyone loves new countertops, and for good reason. Getting new kitchen counter tops can really change the look of your kitchen, and give it an upgrade in a really short amount of time…usually all in one day.
The great thing about this upgrade is that it doesn’t require a lot of trips in and out. The demo team comes in and removes the old counter top and the install team comes in an installs the new one. That’s it. And often because winter is slower sometimes you can find a great deal on price.
Kitchen Light Fixtures – Or any Light Fixture for that Matter
Light fixtures can make a really big different to the look of a space. Not only the look of the actual fixture but the way it lights up the room. Light can really make or break a room. The great thing about changing out the light fixtures is that it is actually pretty easy to do once you have selected the fixtures and have them delivered. Obviously you want a professional electrician to do the installation, but often they can get it done in a day (depending on the number of fixtures) and there isn’t a lot of mess or cleanup.
The Kitchen Cabinets
Ok so if you are ripping out the entire kitchen this might not be the best time of year for that, but there are a number of ways to upgrade or change your kitchen cabinets without replacing them.
Paint the Cabinets
Painting your kitchen cabinets a different colour can make a HUGE difference to your kitchen. It can really bring new life to a space. It can also modernize an older kitchen in a really small amount of time.
Re-surface the Doors
If you have wood cabinets and wood cabinet doors then you can always get them resurfaced. Usually, this means taking the cabinet doors to a different location, sanding them down and then getting them re-stained or painted a different colour. The nice thing is that the doors come off easy, go somewhere, and then come back and are re-attached easy. There’s no mess and relatively low inconvenience. And the weather doesn’t matter.
Door Hardware Upgrade
One of the easiest things to do in a kitchen is to replace the door hardware. It’s amazing how just changing the colour of the door hardware can really change the look and feel of a kitchen.
Painting the Walls a perfect winter home renovation
You’ll mostly be inside during the winter months, so painting seems obvious, it’s also one of the easiest home improvement projects. The only issue is ventilation depending on your tolerance for the smell of paint. If you can find a stretch of days where you can have some windows open for short bursts of time to let the paint smell out, this can be a really great activity for the winter.
You can pretty much paint anywhere in the house.
Plumbing Faucets
Most people only think of this when they are doing a full bathroom renovation or when they are building a new house. However just like the door hardware in the kitchen, changing out the bathroom fixtures or the kitchen sink fixture can be a really great way to spruce things up. You can even go as far as changing out the toilet or the sink and making a new bathroom without much effort.
Attic Or Crawl Space
Ok so this might not seem like a winter idea, but the reality is upgrading your attic or crawl space during the winter can have significant returns on heating bills and electricity bills. most people think of renovations as cosmetic, and don’t spend a lot of time changing things that affect the value of their home. Even when they can’t see it. As the world becomes more and more energy conscious homes that increase their efficiency will be worth more than homes that don’t.
not only could your attic present an additional living space, but it could also decrease your monthly home operating cost…which looks like a win win.
Home improvement isn’t just about the way it looks. We so often think about home improvement as colours, cabinets, upgrades etc. But when you really look at the value of your home, it efficiency and resilience to heat and cold is a huge factor.
Flooring Upgrades in the Winter
There is definitely a myth out there that doing hardwood flooring during the winter is a bad idea. Much of that comes from the thought that when the wood expands in the summer it will cause issues. However, the interior of the house and the humidity of the house can be adjusted before the installation. I used to work as a hardwood flooring installer and we would always have the material in the home for at least 48 hours before the installation so that the wood would acclimatize to the home. We would also make sure that the house has some humidity in it so the wood wasn’t dry and small. Link
The other types of flooring are also great during the winter months. Tile, laminate and cork can all be installed during the winter months.
The biggest issue you will have is keeping snow, dirt and salt out of your home during the colder months. Many contractors are good at making that happen.
Bedroom Renovations
Many bedroom renovations are on the smaller side…more decorative than destructive. Unless you are moving a wall.
There are a whole number of bedroom design ideas that don’t take a lot of time and can be done during the winter months. My wife and I did a little wall upgrade in our bedroom and the whole thing turned out really well. All we did was add some baseboard pieces to the wall and then painted it. It was a pretty easy project and something you can do without a whole lot of mess. If you aren’t handy like that but love the look, that is why Bedrock Construction is here, to help you get done what you need to get done. Contact us today to see how we can help.
