Tips on Improving Your Home

Many Jamaicans would like to improve the look and feel of their homes. Most, however, never undertake decorating projects, as they view this as a luxury in which only the wealthy can indulge.

The term ‘decorating’, however, should not imply affluence, but simply that careful planning and creativity have gone into organising an area. These are all skills everyone can acquire with thought and practice.

Here are some suggestions for creating a space that reflects your tastes and personal style, whatever your budget is.

  • Select the room in which you would like to begin your project.
  • Take stock of every detail in the room: furniture, walls, floor, windows, size and entry/exit. Consider the features you like the most and how you can enhance them and likewise, how you can downplay those you like the least.
  • Give thought to the function of the space. Some obvious ones are: the living room - for watching TV, reading, entertaining; the bedroom - for sleeping, storing personal items, reading, dressing, etc.
  • Visualise what you would like the room to look like at the end. Make sketches or simply describe on paper your vision of the finished product.

Some common decorating problems and tips on how to solve them:

  • Small room: Painting the walls in a light shade (i.e., pastels) will create a cool, spacious feeling in a small cramped space.
  • Low ceiling: Paint ceiling white or a lighter shade than walls, to ‘lift’ and give the feeling of height.
  • Dingy, discoloured floor: Wood or tile floors can be stripped and refinished. Look in the Yellow Pages or ask at home improvement or hardware stores for advice. Also, an area rug can cover an ugly floor.
  • Crowded room: Ensure that furniture is scaled to suit the size of the room (i.e., a queen size bed in a 9' x 12' room or a large sofa in a studio will feel and look cramped).
  • Avoid mixing too many colours and patterns in a small space. Opt for monochromatic schemes (varying shades of the same colour), sheer or lace curtains instead of heavy drapes, solids or simple pattern for bed linen or upholstering, etc.
  • Limited budget: Be creative about shopping. See newspapers for garage sales, furniture showroom sales of slightly shop-worn items and hotel refurnishing sales, etc.
  • There are many options for restoring or refinishing slightly used or damaged pieces. Consult home improvement stores and furniture craftsmen or see craft section of bookstores for do-it-yourself (DIY) literature.

More Tips

Walls

Retaining walls are a great idea for lands with slops to prevent erosion.

Construct holes in them to relieve pressure and crumbling!

Layout

Quickly consult an Architect to make sure that your hobbies don’t   suffer as a result of the layout of your premises. Make your property conducive to your likes or dislikes.

Stick to what you enjoy best, if it is gardening, landscaping or swimming.

Building

Plan to do construction in phases so that you can look at the total picture.

Let’s face it; this is a lifetime investment, so make it worth it for you and your family. Don’t rush it and avoid avoidable mistakes!

Golden rules

Your safety is important, stick to building codes and abide by building regulations.

Know what, when, where, and how, to observe these rules. Your safety, health and the structure and design of your property are most important!

Aesthetics

Pay keen attention to the aesthetics of your living environment. This includes trees, colour, and fixtures.

Questions to ask yourself?

  • Is this really my taste?
  • Does this make me feel comfortable when I see it?
  • Does it add to my interior and exterior décor?

Flooring

Tiling is the most preferred option for housing in Jamaica.

Marble, Laminate and Solid wood flooring are great options to use. Also explore using a mixture of tiles and wood. Create a unique low maintenance, and totally you look!

Patios

Enjoying the pleasure of your own home means a time to relax, a time to reflect and even entertain guests.

Patios not only add to the comfort of your house but also provide a lot of ventilation to your home.

Additions

This is becomes necessary for many of us and sometimes can be problematic if the right approach is not taken.

Additions can be disastrous if not done the proper way. It is ever so important to consult an Architect, to ensure that too much weight is not placed in any one area, and to prevent leaking joints etc.

Valuations

We often times wonder what's the value of our property and whether or not the value can fluctuate, increase or decrease.

One way you can use to determine the value of your property is to know the last sale value in the area, look at the location and where the land or house is in proximity to yours and take a look at the structure of both houses. Ask yourself questions like "Is the building an antique structure?"

Click on our property services company link for more information.

Kitchen

This is where most of us spend our time on a daily basis.

Make it simple and user friendly, your kitchen must have room for movement in case you need to exit quickly. Designs must not conflict with the general safety of this area. The key is to accentuate well.

Painting

Make the area alive and one that can build on your confidence and keep you high spirited. Dull colours take away rather than complement. Stick to your personality, and if what you see makes you feel good, go ahead!

Ragging, stenciling, and sponging add texture and make the area more beautiful.

Fencing

It is important that you don’t just choose any fence, choose a fence that is appropriate for your neighbourhood, but most of all one that will complement the design of your house.

Pay attention to the contours of the fence, shape, size and length.

Roofing

Roofing goes with your house design, and can make that which is ordinary, extraordinary.

Stick to your budget but make sure that your choice of roofing is durable and won’t require changing after a few years.

Gates

The traditional home would have a basic gate, one you have to manually open and close. Today, several persons have sought to equip themselves with electronic gating.

They are just as functional, and come in a swing, or slide model. Imagine opening your gate with the click of a button!

Lighting

We often concentrate on internal lighting for our property, however external lighting is equally as important.

Motion detectors, and floodlights provide a very effective source of protection for you home.

Swimming Pools

This is an option that is becoming quite trendy in our local market and used mainly for recreational purposes.

Important things to know is that proper cleaning, vacuuming and a constant check of “PH” levels are critical for pool maintenance.