People Share What Things Massively Improved Their Homes With Minimum Effort (30 Posts)

When my kids were little I bought a refrigerated water fountain and put it on the side of my house facing my backyard. I'd love to know how many thousands of gallons the neighborhood kids drank. It saved them from coming in the house when they were playing outside. Total game changer. They liked drinking from it so much they would get off the couch and go outside to get a drink.

Extra fridge. Just by coincidence right when the pandemic started we replaced our fridge and left our old one in the garage planning on craigslisting it. We kept it instead and used it for bulk storage. It's been great - fewer visits to the grocery store, and more home cooking.

A 3D printer. Half the random things I need for my apartment I just make myself now. Want an under-cabinet mounted paper towel holder? Done. Little sliding shelves for under my coffee table? Np. Tiny, oddly-shaped random piece of plastic to fix some latch or whatever that broke on my expensive something-or-other? Give me 20 minutes.

Painted the interior of the whole house before moving in. It feels 20 years newer.

Automatic light sensors for the laundry room and pantry. Not having to fumble while carrying a load with two hands is wonderful.

Insulated the attic for ~ $500 plus $150 to put a bathroom fan in(in the upstairs bathroom before I blew the insulation in)

Easily have saved $1800 in heating and cooling costs since

Bidet toilet seat. Your butt will never feel so clean. And the heated seat is great in the winter.

Cabinet hinges with slow-close springs. Like moving to Beverly Hills.

Shelving system in the garage. The amount of space we freed up was well worth the cost considering we don’t have a basement or a useable attic for storage.

Battery powered lawn equipment. No more gas cans. No more 'tune ups'. Much less noise and no stinky exhaust (I hate two stroke fumes). Only think I have to do is keep the blade sharp and keep things greased. And in terms of power? Snapper 58V is just as powerful as it's gas counterparts. Now there's an 82V model out.

FYI - I have the Snapper blower, weed eater, and mower (Walmart was having a 50% off closeout sale). I will never go back to gas lawn tools as long as I'm on a town/city lot.

Putting a dimmer switch in the bathroom was the best decision ever. In the early mornings, it's not blindingly bright — but when you're cleaning the bathroom or want a bright shower, you have the option of turning it all the way up. Such a small investment, but I appreciate it every day.

Best $20 investment was properly fitting door sweeps. I didn’t realize how much cold air was entering the house during the heating season. Take time to measure the size of the gap and width of the door.

A tankless water heater. Taking a shower with endless hot water is life changing.

I installed sliding shelves in all of my lower kitchen cabinets. Eventually, I'll swap all of them out for drawers, but sliding shelves was a low-cost upgrade that adds SO much functionality. No more taking out every single item just to find that one thing in the back!

Hiring a professional cleaning service twice a month. :P

when we redid a bathroom we put in radiant heat under the tile floor. fantastic. Will do same anytime I do a floor. my cousin put it his finished basement in MN and the TV room went from being cold and uninviting to the most cozy room in the house during those long winters.

you can buy an electric mat to put under a thin rug.

No brainer! Keyless entry lock. We got a Schlage. It was an easy install. The battery life is good and you get plenty of warning when it is time to change the 2 AA batteries. I no longer have to carry a house key. I can give workers, guests or relatives the other door code and then easily change it when I want to.

Replaced pantry bifold doors with a French door style opening. Put spice rack on back of new doors. Added a few things to the inside and it seems so much more usable and organized

Range hood vent. I can cook what I want and sear the f*ck out of some steaks.

When I had toddlers that answer was a fully fenced yard. Life changing.