Bought Your First Home? The Guide To Making It Yours

No matter how much you search, there mightn’t be anything such as a dream home. Instead, you’ll find quite a few that are almost perfect. There’ll be things that you’ll want to change.

These could be relatively minor changes or modest house renovations. Once you’ve bought your first home, you’ll want to start on these as soon as you can. There could be more to it than you’d expect, however.

You’ll need to know what improvements and changes to make. Money could be quite tight, after all, so you mightn’t have the budget to do everything at once. Then there’s the issue of when you should start renovating.

It’s worth looking at which home renovations you should focus on first. Natural areas to focus on would be any needed repairs, such as a roof replacement. Outside of that, you can concentrate on a few specific rooms.

What To Focus On After You’ve Bought Your First Home

Kitchen

Most people see the kitchen as the heart of the home. It’s easy to see why. Almost everything revolves around it. That’s why you’ll want to pay a lot of attention to this. You might think of the more high-end home renovations to make.

While these can be appealing options, they’re not the only ones you can go with. The likes of backsplashes, changing the faucets and other minor areas, and a few more examples could be recommended.

These can be quite affordable, especially if you do them yourself. It’s worth putting a larger investment into it when you can, however. New appliances will be one of the recommended things to get.

If you do, it’s worth investing in some of the more energy-efficient options.

Bathroom

The bathroom will be one of the busiest areas in your home. Everyone in the house will need to use it on a daily basis, after all. Make sure they can do so in comfort and style. You can use multiple bathroom improvements and renovations to make changes.

Many of these can be quite large, such as adding a new bath or sink. If you don’t want to go this big, however, you can focus on the smaller things. The faucet, mirror, and other things can all be affordable changes to make.

If you change all of them, then the bathroom will feel much more like yours. Changing the toilet itself also shouldn’t be too difficult. If you or your partner have some DIY skills, then you might be able to do it yourself.

For the budget-minded, that could be more than welcome. Don’t forget to look for any leaks and other plumbing issues when you’re renovating.

Bedrooms

When it comes to making your house feel like yours, you’ll want to look toward the bedrooms. You should feel comfortable in them, after all. Once you’ve bought your first home, you’ll want to start with these.

If you don’t have any children, then you might only have one or two of these to focus on. That could mean spending a little more on them. You can try multiple things to renovate your bedrooms and make them feel more like yours.

That includes built-in wardrobes, new flooring, new paint, and more. Like some other rooms, you shouldn’t overlook the power of decorations here. A new rug, some nightstands, and some artwork can make a large impression.

It’s worth going with a warm color scheme here. Whatever paint color you decide to go with, however, it’s worth either matching or contrasting this with your bed linens. It can make the room look more stylish and welcoming than you’d expect.

Living Room

The living room is usually the first one you see when you walk in. That gives it a certain amount of priority when you’re renovating and making changes. You’ll likely have people over not long after you move in, so it’s worth putting a certain amount of effort into this upfront.

Redoing the walls will be one of the more obvious changes that you can make. Doing this on a budget is relatively easy, as you could go with a simple paint job. You should also look at the smaller areas.

The light switches and other minor things are relatively easy to overlook. Changing these could make quite a decent impression once they’re all done, however. If you’re looking for a large change, you might want to consider changing the floor or adding a fireplace.

While both could be expensive, they’ll completely transform the room. They could make it feel brand new once it’s been done.

Similar to the bedrooms, you shouldn’t underestimate the power of decorations here. If you’ve already got large furniture, like your sofa, keep these in mind before doing the walls. Color coordination could be vital, after all.

Should You DIY It Or Hire A Professional?

After you’ve bought your first home and you start thinking about renovations, you’ll have multiple things to consider. The cost will be one of the more notable. Funds could be tight, especially for the first while after the purchase.

That means deciding whether to hire a professional or taking a DIY approach. You can DIY multiple smaller upgrades and other renovations. Before you do, however, you’ll need to consider a few things.

Whether or not you have the necessary tools and skills will be the most important. DIYing the tasks you can do well is recommended. Beyond that, it’s best left to the professionals. That’ll give you a great balance between cost and quality.

When Should You Start Renovating After You’ve Bought Your First Home

Once you’ve bought your first home, the chances are that you’ll want to move in as soon as possible. As natural as that is, sometimes it isn’t the best-recommended option. That’s especially true if any repairs need to be done first.

That begs the question as to whether you should start renovating your home before or after you move in. Both options offer multiple pros and cons. If you’re in the position to live somewhere else while renovations are being done, then it could be worth considering.

There are a few reasons for this, including:

• There’s less stress involved.
• You’ll have a healthier living environment.
• You mightn’t be able to use certain rooms during renovations.
• Construction is a lot easier to schedule.

That doesn’t mean that starting renovations after you’ve moved in couldn’t be a recommended option. Instead, it could offer a few benefits of its own. The most notable include:

• You’ll save on costs associated with living elsewhere.
• You can oversee the work and progress.
• You wouldn’t have to travel to the site and back every day.

Both approaches have their pros and cons. You should consider these before making a decision if you can. There’s no right or wrong choice here, although you’ll need to be aware of what it entails.

Wrapping Up

After you’ve bought your first home, you’ll naturally want to get started on things quite quickly. Money could be relatively tight after the purchase, however. Concentrating on a few rooms with your home renovations and improvements will help it feel more like it’s yours.

Before you move in, it’ll simply be a house. It’ll take time and effort to make it your home. It’s worth starting on this as soon as you can. Focusing on certain rooms will make the largest impression from the start.

While you’ll want to decorate and change other areas, these could be a secondary concern to the above. Get the most bang for your buck by starting with the above and then expanding outward.