65% of the US population being homeowners means that 6 out of every 10 people that you meet are building wealth constantly in the rapidly growing real estate market.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is that 6 out of every 10 people are also responsible for the tedious and sometimes downright expensive upkeep of their houses. When your sink is broken, the showerhead isn’t doing its job or garbage disposal smells like roadkill, there’s no leasing manager that you can call to perform fixes when you’re a homeowner.

You’ve got to tackle your home improvement needs by yourself.

Home improvement can be intimidating for a lot of people. The truth is though that better home improvement is only a few steps out of just about anybody’s reach.

Armed with these 7 tips, you’ll build your confidence as a homeowner and the value of your home.

1. Inundate Yourself with Inspiration

The first step to better home improvement is having the imagination that’s required to not see your house as it is but as it could be. The problem with that is that most of us aren’t all that creative.

Despite what people tell you, creativity isn’t just something people are born with. It’s something that you can hone with practice.

To hone your creativity on the home improvement spectrum, the best thing that you can do is inundate yourself with images of kitchens, bathrooms, living rooms, yards and more that you admire.

A great place for this kind of inspiration is Pinterest.

2. Study

The biggest barrier to most people wanting to jump headfirst into home improvement is that they don’t know how to so much as swing a hammer. If you’re one of those people, just like creativity, you can start to work out your contractor muscles.

There are tons of books and YouTube tutorials that you can read/watch that will step you through just about any home improvement project that you can possibly imagine.

The more information on this front that you consume, the more confident that you’ll be managing (or even hiring people to manage) different household projects in the future.

3. Consider All of the Dimensions of DIY

We think that DIY home improvement is great. It gives you a sense of accomplishment in your home and bakes little bits of yourself into your house’s ambiance.

DIY comes at a cost though and that cost isn’t something that most people think about.

When you’re tackling a DIY project, you’re going to spend time going to the store, researching products to purchase and likely making the occasional mistake that’ll set you back a few dollars.

All of those steps are part of the learning process but cost people in both money and opportunity costs.

Make sure that you’re prepared to cover said costs. If you aren’t there’s no shame in getting home improvement quotes from a great contractor.

4. Start Building out Your Toolset

Better home improvement often comes down to owning better tools.

If you’re having to saw 15 pieces of wood for a home improvement project with a hand saw, you’re going to get burned out, fast. If you purchased a buzz saw to get through those pieces of wood in 5% of the time, you’re going to be more open to getting things done.

Sure, tools can be expensive. Some high-quality tools last forever though and in most home owner’s estimation, are well worth the cost.

5. Do the Quick Stuff First

A lot of home improvement projects that can have a huge impact on your home boil down to 10-minute tasks.

Have a garbage disposal that smells? Squeeze some lemon in your disposal, blend it and after, run some hot water down the drain for 60-seconds. Just like that, your kitchen will start to smell like citrus.

There are tons of tasks that are just as easy as fixing a smelly garbage disposal so create a shortlist and tackle them before you move onto the big stuff.

6. Create a Plan and Stick to It

When you get to a place where your home improvement tasks become more advanced (replacing a bathtub, installing new cabinets, etc.) come up with a plan before you get started and stick with it.

Coming up with a plan is typically as easy as watching a YouTube video on how to do something at least two times, figuring out how you’re going to replicate those steps and then executing.

If you start to improve as you go or if you start doing a project without having familiarized yourself with all of the steps, you’re going to run into costly snags that will slow your project down and perhaps even damage your home.

7. Save Some Money

Better home improvement doesn’t have to be expensive. It can be though and that’s why homeowners that are committed to updating their houses regularly have dedicated savings accounts for home projects.

Start putting a small amount of money away in a high-interest savings account each month. As your savings account builds, you’ll eventually have enough cash to do various things around the house that you’ve always wanted to get to but were convinced that you couldn’t afford.

Wrapping Up Our Tips for Better Home Improvement

Better home improvement is only ever just a few steps out of any homeowner’s reach.

We hope that our tips have inspired you to start stepping up your home improvement game and our team invites you to keep reading more of the content on our blog for additional inspiration.