When we think of home upgrades, we always think of something expensive and long-lasting which we don’t have energy for. But it doesn’t have to be so. You can do a lot of small quick upgrades that will refresh your lifestyle and give a new, cool look and feel to your house. You don’t have to do a total remodel or open all your walls and you don’t have to move out of your house.
Here are 5 home summer upgrades that can change your life:
1. Change your shades and drapes.
Shades are of those accessories that can totally change the whole look and feel of your house. We suggest you change it to automated shades or drapery – wired or battery-operated.
If you don’t have the option to pull wires, there are a lot of battery-operated shades in the market that use regular batteries with a lifespan of up to 6-7 years. With modern technological advancement, you can put battery-operated shades and drapery on windows up to 12 feet in width.
Some of the automated shades/drapery has a built-in astronomical clock that will automatically open and close windows with the sunrise and sunset or on our programmed time.
You can play with colors, styles, and lengths. By changing your window treatments, you can even make your room seem bigger or smaller, wider or narrower etc.
2. Upgrade your thermostat
An ugly and big thermostat can totally destroy the design of your house. If you have an old one, you just need to change it. There are a lot of smart and cool-looking options, like Nest, Honeywell, etc. They will save you energy and give a high-tech look to your house. And last but not least, the modern thermostats (as nearly every new home accessory that comes out now) have a mobile app and can be controlled from your mobile devices from wherever you are.
3. Improve your backyard entertainment
If you have a backyard, patio, or balcony, then it’s the place you spend most of your time in summer (including amazing pool parties and BBQ nights), especially if you are living in such a sunny place, as California. We are sure that investing little money in good sound and video, as well as lighting in your backyard will bring its return.
According to CEDIA (Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association), home technology improvement projects cost less than a family vacation ($7.000-$10.000), a bathroom remodels (approx. $15.000), or an in-ground pool building ($20.000 and up).
4. Add whole-house music
You have your favorite music everywhere with you – on your phone, laptop, PC, or at work. Now it’s time to add a whole house music system so that you can seamlessly transfer the music to all your home speakers or to your room when you enter your home. You can play the same or different music in the whole house or choose the rooms you want, you can play all your sources just from your phone and let your favorite music follow you wherever you go.
5. Add full home automation to your house
If you want to have all the fun, then you definitely need to install a full smart system/home automation in your house. It will totally change the way you live, the way you look at technology and your view on comfort and simplicity.
Connect all your home systems in one place – audio, video, security cameras, lights, shades, thermostats, even pools, and sprinklers and control everything from your phone or other mobile and desktop devices with just a touch of a button.
