Your home is your castle – a sanctuary for personal expression, safety, and wellness. It makes sense that your home is tailored to expectations. Customizations, renovations, and upgrades are commonplace. Often, it’s the financing angle that makes things appear complicated. Fortunately, there are many affordable upgrades you can implement to make life easier and improve your quality of life.
Depending on the upgrade, the money side is not as complicated as people assume. Many homeowners think it’s cash or nothing. Fortunately, that is rarely true. Some upgrades are must-haves because someone in the home needs easier access and safer movement. Other upgrades are about comfort. They make daily life less annoying.
It helps to look at funding options early, before you start ripping things apart. And when it’s your primary residence, working with a credible lender matters. If you’re eligible, a NewDay USA home loan can be part of that picture. If you’re not a vet, you still have plenty of standard financing options.
Home equity is the big one for many people. A HELOC can work well if you want flexibility. A personal loan can be cleaner if you want a fixed payment and a clear finish line. Some people use 0% APR promos, but only if they can pay them down on time. Savings is still the least stressful route when it’s available.
The main idea is simple. Pick a funding method that fits the upgrade. Then the upgrade feels like relief, not regret.
Doors and Hallways
While exact measurements may vary from one home to the next, it’s always a good idea to widen doorways to create an open, inviting entrance. Other benefits of widening doorways include wheelchair accessible entrances. Likewise, hallways should be widened to allow for easy movement. These spacious remodeling initiatives enhance accessibility and enable independent living for folks who may require walking assistance or use mobility devices.
Lighting and Switches
Lighting is a vital part of your home. It creates an ambience, a mood that can make your home incredibly comfortable. Most people only notice lighting issues when it is notably absent. Brighter, warmer LEDs are best for high-use areas of your home. Think of laundry rooms, rooms, kitchens, and hallways.
Old toggle switches can be replaced with dimmer or rocker switches for a more aesthetically pleasing look. Another worthwhile upgrade is a motion sensor in walk-through areas like walk-in closets, pantries, bathrooms, and hallways. This is especially true at night when visibility is limited.
Ramps and Stairlifts
Easier living means different things to people. Disabled individuals, for example, may benefit immeasurably from ramps and stairlifts installed in the home. These support a high quality of life by fostering an independent way of living. Many people with mobility-related issues face constraints in their own homes.
Whether it’s joint degeneration, spinal issues, limb loss, or old age, ramps and stairlifts can significantly improve quality of life. They can alleviate pain caused by ambulating onto landings and staircases. They make the transitions smoother and dramatically reduce the risk of falls, injuries, and pain.
Floors and Thresholds
Continuing from ramps and stairlifts, the natural progression is floors and thresholds. Easy living begins from the ground up. Wherever your feet find themselves, it should always be smooth, safe, and easy to move across. Uneven transitions between the rooms- lounge, dining room, bedroom, and bathrooms, to name a few, are trip hazards. This is not limited to people with mobility challenges; anyone can fall and injure themselves at any time. That’s why it’s best to level out thresholds and replace loose rugs with nonslip alternatives.
It’s always a good idea to opt for low-maintenance flooring that’s easy to clean and durable. Something very few people consider with flooring is the underlayment. If you find yourself standing for long periods of time in the kitchen or working from home, you may want to consider soft underfoot surfaces beneath the vinyl floor panels or wood tile. This cushions the surface and reduces fatigue and pain. The goals are clear with floors and threshold – to reduce full risks and make the surface as smooth and comfortable as possible.
Smart Storage and Everyday Reach
Many of the difficulties people face at home come from how and where things are stored and the difficulty in reaching them. Fortunately, upgrades for these issues are entirely possible. Cluttered spaces are not recommended as ideal storage locations. Smart storage answers the problems. Pull out the pantry shelves, roll out drawers in lower cabinets, and well-placed wall organizers do the trick every time.
All of these movable fixtures, compartments, and space-saving options should be easily accessible. Nothing should be out of reach, or require painful movements or difficulty. When done correctly, smart storage and everyday reach upgrades can make a home more functional and calmer. A Lazy Susan in corner cabinets and heavy-duty drawer sliders are particularly useful. Hooks for bags, keys, jackets, and other accessories are a good idea, particularly in a well-placed area of the home.
