Source: AJC – Homefinder

Here are 10 jobs that will increase your home’s efficiency and boost aesthetics.

Call this the wish list. Or the value-added list. Or the upgrade list. It’s a list of things to do around the house some expensive, some not; some cosmetic, some operational that will make your home perform better and make it a nicer place. When it’s time to sell, it will set your house apart.

  1. Replace your windows with high-performance, double-paned, low-E windows. Low-E means “low energy.” These windows have a metallic coating on the inside that reflects heat outside in warm weather and holds it inside in cold weather. It also reflects damaging ultraviolet rays.
  2. Have your closets outfitted by a company that installs racks, shelves, drawers, and other organizing equipment.
  3. Have your grout professionally cleaned and sealed. A grungy kitchen floor or shower stall will look like new. Expect to pay about $1.75 per square foot.
  4. Replace worn or damaged counters with solid surface, granite or quartz. This is an instant upgrade that gives a big-ticket look. It’s about $50 a square foot for quartz, more for granite and about the same for solid surface.
  5. Update your lighting and fans. The builder-standard fixtures that were in the house when you moved in may be showing their age.
  6. Add insulation. Have a free energy audit performed by your utility company to assess the energy efficiency of what you have, and add more as appropriate.
  7. Replace tired knobsand drawer pulls. Bright bass is so early ’90s, and it’s probably scratched and nicked by now. New knobs start as low as $1 each, and you can replace a houseful gradually.
  8. Upgrade the kitchen faucet.This fast fix improves the look of the entire room. In today’s open-plan homes the kitchen is on full view, and a good-looking faucet upgrades everything around it. And it’s a daily pleasure: You can use the kitchen faucet many times per day. It should be versatile, sturdy, and great-looking. Expect to spend a few hundred dollars.
  9. Replace the lamp shades. Take your lamps to a retailer who specializes in shades and lamps and try on a variety of sizes, styles and colors. Often a lamp has had the wrong shade since Day 1, and what a huge difference the right shade makes.
  10. Have a landscaper give your yard and garden a professional going-over. Often trees and shrubbery are so overgrown, the house is barely visible. It’s like getting a haircut when your hair has gone shaggy. You’ll be amazed at the difference.