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What’s the Biggest Change You’ve Made to Level Up Your Home?

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Here's a fun open Q for today, as the post I'd planned on strength training is taking forever: What is the biggest change you've made to level up your home? Is it something you enjoy daily (a killer shower, or a more functional work-from-home office or workout space)? Or is it something that feels Big but doesn't get a lot of use (an expensive purchase of dining room furniture, a chandelier, a home sauna)? Or is it one of those basic items that's kind of unassuming but gets a ton of use, like a great new bed? Do tell, readers…

Here at Casa Griffin we're in various stages of completion for a few projects we've wanted to do for a while, and I'm in the midst of picking out wallpapers, paint colors, and attempts at backlighting some built-in bookshelves — it's all a lot of fun. With some of the more permanent elements (like wallpaper), I definitely suffer from research paralysis — there are just way too many fun wallpapers. (Meanwhile, for a new countertop we're picking out, I've basically let my husband run with it and find the lowest-cost option possible — I feel like from past adventures all countertops end up looking black/white/gray in the room unless they're really crazy.)

I'd say the biggest change I've made to date is my office area — it isn't huge, but it's great to have a space to spread out my papers and enjoy double monitors, and it makes me happy that the walls are painted navy blue, and it has a few hot pink accents among the white accents. (Yep, totally blog colors, but as mom to two sons it's kind of nice to have a girly area just for me.) I'd love to find a new office chair that both looks great AND is super comfortable — I've been inspired by a few recent reader threadjacks on petite-friendly ergonomic chairs from Aeron and Steelcase.

I also always enjoy little things that add more space — whether it's adding an extra shelf to a cabinet that has unused space, organizing a closet differently (or getting rid of wire shelving, which I personally can't stand), or more. In one old apartment we cut square doors and built shelves above some tall closets where there was unusable space — yes we had to get on a ladder to access the space, but it was great for storing random stuff that we didn't need RIGHT that instant, like Christmas ornaments and more.

Readers, do tell — what's the biggest change you've made to level up your home?

Stock photo via Stencil.

24 Comments

  1. We just finished a remodel of our second bathroom and it was a huge level-up from the ca. 1950s original. This is the first time either Hubby or I have lived in a house with no “bad” rooms.

    Coming up is another project that will be even bigger: we are adding clerestory windows to bring natural light into our dark family room. Right now it’s stuck in the city planning department but we hope to have it finished by the end of the year.

  2. Would it be dumb and pretentious to add wainscoting to the dining room of my small scale, low ceilings, 1940s single story bungalow? I’m thinking of trying out a trendy mural wallpaper, and it feels like it would be “too much” if it’s ceiling to floor. (Maybe the wallpaper is the misstep?)

    1. I had wainscoting in the dining room in my ca. 1938 house and it looked great. I think your idea of mural wallpaper above would be great and could even be period appropriate depending on the style you choose.

        2. I value your input and sense of style, so thank you for answering! I will continue to pursue this plan. The house definitely lived through the Schmitz Horning era, so perhaps you’re right that it will look period appropriate.

    2. I think it would look great and I have a mural wallpaper in my dining room and love it – it gets the most compliments of anything in my house.

  3. You wouldn’t do this to a home as a project, but the best thing I ever did was selling my threestory row home and moving to a one-level home. I will never live in a house with stairs ever again. Everything on one-level is a game changer for me!

    1. Agreed. Love our mid-century modern ranch. Something I never thought I was looking for, but I adore.

  4. Screened porch! It greatly increases the amount of time we spend outdoors. Removing insects from the equation was a game changer in the evenings and at meal times.

    1. Yes. Now that we have a screened porch with a ceiling fan that means business, we’re spending so, so much more time outdoors. I like that the household pets can accompany us without restraints too.

    2. +1 million. As a Houstonian, the screened in porch has been CRITICAL in summer. Many summer mornings are spent on that porch with my coffee. It’s even lovelier the rest of the year, DH and I have fallen asleep many times out there while watching TV.

  5. Decluttering. Upgrading from foil to hardwood furniture. Better art. Investing in garden space. More

  6. The mud room in our new house had a large reach-in closet with heavy bifold doors. It wasn’t functional and the kids ended up throwing stuff on the floor and in the hallway. My dad and I removed the doors and built a bench and shelves. He also installed board and batten “cubbies” so each person’s area would have some visual separation. Now each person has their own cubby with two hooks to hang a coat and bag and two storage baskets for things like mittens, sunglasses, etc. The bench has open storage for shoes. It has made a huge difference in organizing all of the kid clutter that always accumulates in the “drop zone.”

    1. I live alone and the one thing I wish I had in my house is a functional mud room. I do have dogs, and a clean-up area for them would be amazing. Alas, adding this would be a major project in this house.

  7. We looking for a home closer to my office (30 miles away) and honestly, everything is going for hundreds of thousands over asking and it all would require substantial renovation. Our house is nearly paid off so we decided to invest in making it perfect. Just had a more efficient HVAC system installed. Added solar (in California. done with PG&E!). Having the exterior painted this month and hired a landscaper. Removing the lawn and converting to drought-tolerant/more functional space (and the county is paying us to take out the lawn woohoo!). Next month we’re getting new flooring throughout and replacing the wood stair railings with a custom metal design. Finally, we decided to update our gas fireplace. The fiberglass fakey wood logs are gone and it’s been replaced with fire glass. The tile surround is out and we’re putting in marble.

    I’m THRILLED. But I’m also ready to be on the other side of it all!

    1. This sounds amazing. We moved into our current house with the intention to put in a lot of work. It’s just what was available in our smaller town when we looked. We’ve changed 80% of the flooring, new kitchen countertops, reconfigured the mudroom, etc. But my very favorite part is the marble tile around our fireplace. I still sit and stare at it over two years later because I just love it so much. ENJOY!!

  8. I’ve not fully leveled up in this area, but it’s definitely a priority: paying as much attention to the outside of the house as the inside. Good landscaping, regular weeding, quarterly washing of the windows, biannual power washing of the porch, a cleanly swept garage free of clutter. It helps the house have a bit of a ‘wow’ factor from the street and makes it very welcoming and peaceful to come home to.

    1. Hubby needs projects when his 3rd shift factory jobs has unexpected time off. In the last 2 months, he’s painted the entry door from garage to family room in the home white plus adding framing to make an old door look nice and modern. He also just stained our covered patio brown instead of the dingy natural color. His next project is to paint 1960s gold plastic tile on our half-bath walls white until we can get the half-bath renovated. He also plans to do paint and add trim to the doors in the hallway to match the entry door. Last year he completely redid our guest room–painted, added trim around windows and closet, and created a faux headboard using trim and beadboard scraps, hung up pictures and his diplomas, set up small home office. He really got the decorating gene that I didn’t!

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