Paint

When it comes to updating your home, you’ve got to strike a balance between timeless and trendy.

After all, you want your home to look modern and fit your tastes—but you also want it to exude a timeless, universal appeal, especially if you’re planning on selling it in the next year or so.

With that in mind, here are a few tips on updating your home in 2020, from paint colors to high-ROI projects.

Warm neutrals and rich colors rule paint shades in 2020

Thinking of repainting? While neutrals are always in style, you can add a modern touch by choosing one with warm, earthy tones, rather than cool grays and blues.

If you want to be bold, choose a monochromatic palette. Bright blues, yellows, and greens are showing up in designer homes, adding a huge helping of uniqueness and personality to the overall look.

And if you want to really be on trend, consider adding touches of Pantone’s 2020 Color of the Year, Classic Blue.

These high-ROI DIY projects will be a good use of your time in 2020

  • Fresh interior paint

Choose one of this year’s popular colors and give your living spaces a fresh coat of paint. If you’re pressed for time or on a budget, choose either the most high-trafficked rooms in your home (likely the kitchen and living room) or the ones most in need of sprucing up.

  • Decluttering  

Decluttering is one of those easy home improvement projects that doesn’t really feel like a home improvement project—and yet, it can give you a massive ROI.

The thing to remember is that it’s a time-intensive project, especially if you’re decluttering your whole house. Start small: tackle a closet or even a drawer first, start-to-finish, before moving on to the next small space. That way, you won’t end up overwhelmed trying to sort through your entire bedroom in a single afternoon.

  • Update light fixtures

Not all light fixtures are created equal, which means that some may require the help of a professional to switch out. This is especially true if there’s any complicated wiring—in cases like these, it’s much safer to hire an electrician to install the fixture for you.

However, many light fixtures are relatively easy to swap out for more updated, modern looks. Choose classic, simple styles in brushed bronze, alabaster, or brass to keep them timeless and elegant.

  • Swap out the faucets and hardware in your bathrooms. 

Changing out your faucets and hardware in your bathrooms is a relatively quick and easy way to give your bathroom a DIY refresh.

A new faucet and handles for your sink are fairly easy to install as long as you don’t have any existing plumbing issues like leaks, stripped threading, or rusted shutoff valves. When it comes to cabinet knobs and drawer pulls, you’ll want to make sure your new ones match the “Center to Center” or “drill centers” measurement on your existing pulls—that’s the distance between the attachment points.

Is 2020 your year for DIY projects? By sticking to the ones that will give you lots of value for your investment, and keeping your upgrades modern but timeless, you’ll be sure to maximize your efforts—not to mention the enjoyment you get out of your home!