How to Modernize Your Fixer Upper

Anyone willing to buy a fixer upper must be willing to tackle the various repairs and improvement tasks that come with the territory. In some cases, these renovations can be numerous and large in scale. Trying to get everything done at once is often a financial burden, if not a practical impossibility. As such, it’s usually best to handle one project at a time, taking care of high-priority tasks first. Once those more integral fixes have been taken care of, though, you might look for ways to further enhance your home’s look and feel. Indeed, even seemingly minor renovations can go a long way towards transforming your fixer upper into the envy of your neighborhood. Let’s go over the many ways in which you can modernize your fixer upper while extending its lifespan and boosting its value to boot.

Clean, Repair, and Paint Its Exterior

Establishing a more modern home begins with updating its outward appearances. After all, your home’s exterior is the first and only aspect of your property most people will see. For starters, you’ll want to clean your exterior, getting rid of any dirt, dust, mold, mildew, and/or grime. If you have access to a pressure washer and know how to use it, this is the most efficient way to clean your exterior -- incorrect usage can damage your siding, trim, roofing, and landscape, however. Of course, there’s more to modernizing your home’s exterior than merely cleaning it. From there, you’ll want to address any and all structural concerns with your exterior surfaces, repairing cracks, holes, dents, and so on. If your fixer upper’s exterior paint job is peeling away, you’ll want to hire exterior house painting services to remove the old coatings and apply new ones. To truly modernize your home’s face, base your residential exterior paint color design off of recent and local trends. You don’t have to go with popular colors if you don’t want to, keeping trends in mind will help bring your fixer upper into the current era.

Lose the Wallpaper

Depending on the age of your fixer upper and the stylistic preferences of its previous owner, some of its walls may be covered in outdated wallpaper. It’s no secret that wallpaper hasn’t been in style for quite some time. While certain types of wall coverings are making a comeback in some areas, you won’t find wallpaper in most modern homes. So, if your goal is to modernize your fixer upper, one of your first courses of action should be to take down the old coverings. Before you start tearing down the wallpaper, however, note that this process requires a delicate touch and the right techniques to minimize any damage done to the underlying wall. If you’re not confident in your DIY abilities, hire professionals to handle this task; they will know not only how to go about removing the wallpaper but also repairing drywall after wallpaper removal if necessary.

Do Some Interior Painting

Regardless of your fixer upper’s wallpaper status, introducing a new coat of paint to its walls and ceilings can also bring your home up to speed relatively quickly. As is the case with exterior painting, you’ll want to think carefully about the colors you choose for home interior painting. While the presence of fresh paint modernizes an interior to some degree, certain interior paint colors are more modern than others. These trends can differ from region to region and sometimes change quickly, so do plenty of research before making the final call on color. And as you imagine what your fixer upper’s interior might look like with an updated paint job and modern colors, don’t forget to look up -- the appearance of your home’s ceilings contribute greatly to your space’s overall look and feel.

Brighten Your Home with Modern Lighting

Your home’s paint job doesn’t exist in a vacuum -- the way you light a given room will in part determine its atmosphere. Simply put, light and color interact with one another. If you go with a particular shade of white for your living room, it may appear more yellow with warmer lighting and more blue with cooler lighting. Modern lighting comes in many forms, so your preferences will play a big part in how you decide to light your interiors. Regardless of the details, replacing outdated lamps and bulbs with modern lighting fixtures is another potent method for modernization.

Do Away with Those Old Windows

Beyond making artificial lighting adjustments, you might also take advantage of natural lighting by installing new windows in your fixer upper. Of course, replacing your windows can also modernize your home in other ways. For starters, fresh windows offer the dual benefit of improving your home’s exterior and interior appearance (they go both ways, after all). On top of that, present-day windows are more energy-efficient than their older counterparts, so making this investment will reduce your energy costs and maximize comfort by preventing air leakage and excessive heat transfer. Ultimately, new windows protect your home while modernizing its appearance inside and out.

Update Your Front Door

The entry point of your fixer upper sends a strong message about the property as a whole. If your front door is falling apart, it suggests that the rest of your home is also in disrepair. Conversely, if you refinish your door early on, this action immediately enhances curb appeal and makes your home feel more welcoming. And much like a window replacement, a door refinishing project has both exterior and interior implications. Read our recent post, “How a Simple Door Refinish Can Make an Old Home New Again,” for a more in-depth exploration of the power of a thorough front door update.

Install New Furniture, Fixtures, and Hardware

A home is more than its walls, ceilings, floors, windows, and doors. The various features within your fixer upper also contribute to your home’s character and functionality. You can tear down the wallpaper, paint your walls with modern colors, refresh your front door, replace your windows, and so on, but if your home still harbors outdated appliances, deteriorated cabinets, unfortunate countertops, flimsy furniture, etc., you’ll have a hard time dubbing it “modern.” As such, take stock of the decor, appliances, fixtures, and hardware inside your home and decide which of them are stuck in the past and require replacing or refreshing. For instance, you’d be surprised at how big an impact painting your kitchen cabinets and replacing their hardware can have on your home as a whole. The same goes for refurnishing your living area, installing new shelving, etc.

Undertaking a Fixer Upper Update

There are many reasons to invest in an older, worn down home these days, so long as you’re eager to restore it and make it your own. Modernizing a fixer upper is no small feat, which is why it’s good to know you’re not on your own. At Nash Painting, we’re passionate about improving properties across Nashville, Brentwood, and Franklin, TN, and we have a track record to prove it. We offer a wide range of painting and renovation services to help you turn your fixer upper into the modern and enduring home of your dreams. To learn more about us, our services, and our values, call us at 615-829-6858 today!