Your kitchen island is a perfect opportunity to create a fun and practical change. Change its shape, or if your existing island is a 2-tier, turn it into a 1-tier. Lower the counter-height so that you can use stools that are at a comfortable height. Change out the corbels. Go from paint to stain or vise versa. For those who love to entertain, turn your island into a built-in bar. Add under-counter lighting accents. The super-fast idea: change out the countertop material. A sudden transformation, in a single-concentrated area, almost overnight – and viola! You have an eye-catching, fun change.

Pick a bedroom and make it fun.  Bedrooms are personal spaces, and relaxing places.  Use colors, floor coverings, patterns, furniture, window treatments, and artwork to make individual personality pop.  Use the same to create an intentional experience or mood for the person who walks into it or who stays in it.

This may be a new term for you, but shedquarters are basically a neat spin-off of the tiny house concept. Turn your imagination loose and create a finished but compact get-away on your own property. How about a shedquarters for isolated privacy – an outdoor office, or a reading, writing, thinking, prayer, or music-practice room? Or consider making it an “outdoor” bar, exercise room, man cave, or kids play & picnic area. Building these is an exciting way to be clever with the use of space. Finalize its look with some landscaping accents and a creative footpath. There! You now have a new space & all of the action took place outside!

Lighting is about bringing an area to life and the fun part is, you can accomplish a lot with a little. Replace your floor lamps and ceiling fixtures with modern masterpieces. Suddenly, you’ll have great conversation pieces. Maybe it’s this simple: update your can lights with LED trims. Reduce the heat from the old halogen bulbs, or remove the frustration of the notorious CFL. Utilize the wide range of colors, trims, & covers available. How about adding dimmers? Above all, free yourself from the hassle of changing bulbs for a long time to come.

Garage spaces are generally misused spaces. Stuff gets stacked, piled, leaned, and ultimately nearly forgotten. Ideas? What if you finished the drywall, gave it a quick coat of paint, installed off-the-ground cabinets and perhaps a slot wall so almost everything had its easily accessible place? What if you topped it off with a multi-colored epoxy floor to bring in a splash of color and make it easier to clean & even added a couple of light fixtures to brighten the place? How about a new insulated overhead door for practical style … even one with a side-mounted opener to clean up the ceiling look and save space?  Updates that are amazing – & practical besides!

Cabinet door and drawer pulls, along with interior and exterior door hardware, can not only look worn and act worn after a while, but can highlight the fact that you’re style is a thing of the past as soon as your guests ring the doorbell. A quick way to elbow your way back from the outdated is to replace these. It’s interesting to me just how quickly a different color finish or a different shape can subtly redefine your home. Perhaps it’s a great time to rekey your locks or add a key-code option at the same time?

Have kids? Then this is one of the hardest working rooms in your home. Why not make it easier to work in by adding a folding area, cabinets for clean-looking storage, or really neat-looking drying racks? How about sound absorption or better visibility with well-placed lighting or a window? Would it be the perfect place to add a pet washing station? Why not add some charm and fun? Time goes fast in there if there’s a TV or sound system. How about a piece of artwork or the perfect decoration that simply makes you smile when you see it?

Between hair, high-moisture, makeup, soaps, and just their very nature, bathrooms have the tendency to get dirty, dingy, and a little … well … gross.  Unfortunately, they get to that level rather quickly. This rejuvenation can be a simple as a deep clean and fresh paint. But with just a couple of new fixtures (lights, towel bars, hooks, commode, faucet and shower controls, etc.), it can sparkle again. Feeling even more adventurous? From what I’m seeing, custom, one-of-a-kind vanities are in. And yes, bathrooms are a great place to add a little luxury too.

What does your front entry say about you? Is it welcoming? Does it make your guests want to come inside? Maybe it could use a little face-lift in that department. How about a new walking surface, stone accents, and different trim style surrounding a new front door unit sporting a discerning use of glass? From the inside, you have the same opportunity to continue the outside-in experience by widening the entry hallway to allow for accent features, artwork, and furniture pieces to compliment it. Lighting is also a valuable asset to this leading design. Consider enabling your front entry with something new to say about you!

When in doubt, clean & paint. It’s inspiration simplified. It’s amazing what clean windows (inside and out), along with cleaned window treatments can make.  Make the dings, divots, scuffs, handprints, etc. go away from your walls, trims, doors, and drawers with some judicious use of fillers, fresh caulk, paint and/or stain, and Wow! What a good feeling. Deep-clean your kitchen and bathrooms in addition, and suddenly, it may just feel like you have a new home. Take it up a notch and outfit a room with new furniture, then pick a new wall color or add a wallpaper accent to make it pop. Simple, good, clean, fun!