If you have an empty nester home, which is a home where a parent or parents live after their children have moved out either to their own homes or to attend college, you may be wondering how you can improve it. There are several steps that you can take to do this so that, in the end, you have a space that doesn’t drown you in its sheer size, with memories echoing off every single wall in it. In seeking to improve your empty nester home, there are a number of steps that you can take, each one addressing a different aspecs so that the final project looks complete and well-balanced. Here are some of the ideas that you can rely on if this is your intention, and you may get a home that you’re happy and alive in, able to reconnect with your interests and hobbies that you may have had to leave in the past, or to discover new ones.
Properly Clean Your Home
The first step that you should think about taking before you begin to improve your empty nester home is to clean the house thoroughly. Doing this will allow you to start on a clean slate, and you can get the other things that you need to do done a lot more easily. To do this best, it’s a good idea to hire a team of professionals to help you get the job done right. In addition to regular cleaners, you should also hire an air duct cleaning service. This way, you can be sure that the entire house will look amazing and smell good.
If you’ve identified large items that you’d like to get rid of, you could put them in storage so that you can dispose of them a lot more easily. This way, you should be able to get the house cleaned effectively, ensuring that every nook and cranny is reached. Even if you don’t get rid of anything at this point, hiring a team of professionals should help you get a thorough cleaning done, since they have the experience of cleaning houses that have occupants in them anyway. Look for a team that’s likely to meet your requirements, which you may have an idea of based on the reviews that you see of them on the internet or based on the recommendation of someone that you know.
Help Your Kids Move Out
To improve your empty nester home, you may also want to help your kids move out. You more than likely already have experience with moving, so you can share some valuable insights with them as well. This will serve as a life lesson that they’re likely to benefit from for a long time to come. Help them find a reliable local mover as well, giving them the pointers that they need to look out for so that they can be sure that they pick the right person for the job. On top of having amazing reviews online or from other people, that you know, they should also be fairly priced and be willing and able to do what’s needed, which may include helping to install appliances at the new house that your kids are moving to.
Remember to think about all the details when looking for a mover, making sure that the one you find will be able to safely cover the distance necessary. They should have a track record of doing a safe job as well, so that you know nothing is likely to get damaged or lost during the process. It’s great to do this at the initial planning stages since you can organize your home more effectively. That’s because you’ll know what will be left behind, which is all that you’ll have to organize.
Upgrade Your Landscaping
Your empty nester home needs to look good both inside and outside, and that’s why you need to work on the landscape as well. This could involve hiring a landscape artist to help you either change or refresh the layout of the landscape. If you have mature trees, which are great for increasing the value of a home, you should also make sure that they’re in a good state. If there are any old or damaged trees, for example, talk to a tree removal service to remove them safely and efficiently. In this case, you may have the room to plant new trees in the place of any that you have to remove.
You could also add a garden to your landscape to make it more appealing, which will also serve as an amazing hobby to fill your time. Don’t forget to make the area more functional by adding seating to it so that you can relax outdoors or even host parties whenever you like. Another great idea in this case is lighting if you don’t already have any. You can add it to decorate the landscape and make it usable for a longer part of the day and evening. This will make your home safer as well, and since you can add solar-powered lighting, it may not even cost you a lot of money to set up.
Add Outdoor Entertainment Areas
Bring some life to your empty nester home as well by adding outdoor entertainment areas to it. To begin with, you need to make sure that there are comfortable seating areas, which need to be sheltered from the elements to begin with. They should also ideally have flooring that can stay usable all year long, which calls for you to think about hiring stamped concrete services in your area. This should result in a professional outcome that will add value to your home, making it well worth the cost.
Remember that the ultimate entertainment area will depend on the type of entertainment that you’d like to enjoy. This could be anything, from watching movies to having parties, so the outcome that you want will dictate the details of the projects that you work on. The options in this case are endless, so you can add anything from an outdoor kitchen to a swimming pool. Look for ideas online and consult widely so that you can settle on something with which you’ll be happy for a long time to come.
Make Essential Repairs
Your home should be in a beautiful state at all times, and to this end, you should make any essential repairs to your empty nester home. This will ensure that your home looks amazing and everything functions as it should. As a result, you’ll be both safe and comfortable. If there are any leaks or other issues with the roof, for instance, you should hire a roofer in your area to inspect it and suggest the steps that you need to take. Next, any issues with concrete surfaces should be addressed by a local concrete contractor. These include cracks, faded surfaces, and other issues that could leave your concrete surface looking weathered.
Other details that you should look into are the electrical outlets, for which it’s a good idea to replace any that no longer work. While working on the electricity, you could also adjust the lights to add dimmers to the switches. Change the bulbs themselves to LEDs so that you can make your home significantly more sustainable. Finally, check the plumbing and fix any leaks tat you find, which could call for changing old piping and other elements of the system to modern ones that are in a solid state.
Improve the Exterior
Follow through with the landscaping by improving your home’s exterior. To start with, you can get it pressure-washed so that any accumulated dirt is removed. If the paint is faded, or it has other signs of damage, call a painter to give it a fresh coat so that it looks as good as new. Your empty nester home could also benefit from an inspection and cleaning by your local roofers. This will get rid of accumulated dirt from the roof, which will do away with the risk of added weight and obstruction of water flow from the roof.
You should also talk to your local stucco contractors if there’s any damage or weathering to the stucco. If you need to replace or make repairs, work on them before further deterioration takes place, and you can be sure that your home’s exterior will be significantly improved. If you need to do an expansive project, you could change the color or other details to give a major fresh new look to your home’s exterior.
Add Luxurious Materials
You can also make your home look and feel more luxurious so that you enjoy being in it a lot more. For this update, there are a number of details that you can make changes to. One of these is the lighting, which you can make more luxurious by adding gorgeous fixtures that act as decor when the lights are off. You can also give flooring installation services a call and have them help you replace the floor. If you can afford it, a wooden floor is the best option for you to pick, since it’s stylish and quite comfortable to walk barefoot on. This will especially be something that you can appreciate a lot if your home is in a cold area.
Don’t forget to add a touch of luxury to the bathrooms, which are some of the most popular spaces in the average home. Modernize them and add features that you know will not only make the bathroom more trendy, but those that will also improve the accessibility and function of the room. You can add luxury by changing the window treatments as well, since these can complement the soft furnishings and other details of your home if you choose the right ones. Finally, you can add smart home automation to various relevant areas of the house so that you can use a voice command or a simple push of a button to get something done.
Remodel Your Kitchen and Bathrooms
As mentioned, the bathroom can be improved with a remodel since it’s one of the most popular spaces in a home. Another room that the same case applies to is the kitchen, which can give your entire home a more beautiful look and feel. If the kitchen currently feels too large or even a bit dated, this is your chance to convert it into the perfect space for your current tastes and needs. From the decor to the color of the walls, there are many details that you can change in the kitchen to make it more appealing and welcoming for you.
Your empty nester home also needs to be sustainable and efficient, and this is something that you can achieve by talking to a plumbing contractor in your area. They should help you to check for leaks and fix them so that you don’t waste any water in your home. If there are any damaged fixtures or some that simply don’t look the way you’d like them to look, you can always change these to some that you like. Keep in mind that you can now make improvements that you’ll be happy with since the house is literally your very own once again.
Completely Transform Your Home
Finally, you could choose to work on a complete transformation of your home, making a massive change that will reflect the home that you’d like to have. To do this best, you should work with a good home renovation contractor. The one that you hire should have ample experience with working on home renovations, especially with the aim of getting the end-result that you’d like. With this in mind, you should start with a solid idea of what you want, something that you could either borrow from an image that you’ve had for a while or search for online. As a result, your empty nester home is sure to look impressive and feel comfortable for you in every little detail.
These are just a few of the ways in which you can improve your empty neater home to make it perfect for your needs. Make sure to think about the future when making the changes and improvements that you work on. This way, you won’t end up with regrets over the investment that you’ve just made.