Top 5 Most Unique Home Upgrades for 2016

It’s 2016 and it’s time your home starts accommodating your 21^st century needs.  The foundational principles of the common home finishes have gone largely unchanged in the last 30 years. Sure popular colors have changed, the texture on the walls have changed, flooring has changed but that’s to be expected.  I’ve put together the top 5 COOLEST and most unique ideas to give your home the unexpected. Spice it up with some personality and functionality that will enhance and streamline your life.

The Dutch Door

This upgrade is PERFECT for those with kids and pet’s or if you just want to add some unique flair to your home.  With a Dutch door you can easily close the bottom half of the door to keep in kids, but maintain eyes and ears on them at all times.  You can throw away the rickety baby gate after adding this slick upgrade.

You can buy pre-made Dutch doors from local custom door shops, or if you are more of a project type, here is your step by step instructions to get it done.  The result will be well worth the effort and show off a unique and custom look in your home.

Dutch doors don’t just have to be just inside either, you can use them as a front or exterior door.  Again, perfect to keep the pets at bay but get some fresh air straight into the house.  A Dutch door right up front sets the tone of your homes personality as soon as visitors arrive.

As a BONUS, an upgraded front door is actually one of the best ROI projects you can do on your house.  An upgraded front door is the first impression as guests enter your home and sets an upscale and unique tone from the get-go.  Don’t be afraid to switch out your front door for something nice and unique – you’ll get every penny out of it when you go to sell your home!

Hidden outlets

Let’s be honest, we’re a society hooked on technology.  Mobile technology is supposed to have given us the freedom to use technology without wires.  But there are ALWAYS wires to plug and charge our devices on a daily basis.  Since the cords are really here more than ever why not hide them? This idea is best suited when doing a remodel, but can certainly be added retro fit with a little effort.

If you are anything like me, you have tripped over your fair share of blowdryers and flat irons in the middle of the night. Now I’m not pointing the blame at any particular gender who may or may not be an offender of this because hey, “gender neutral” is the new black.

The solution? Put outlets in drawers.  This is perfect for the bathroom and the kitchen.

In the bathroom, you can use the plug to keep a couple devices plugged in and stored at all times.  This way, when you set it down, its out of the way, and goes back out of sight (and out of tripping range) right away.

You probably have phone chargers in a few rooms of the house – 1 being the kitchen where everyone likes to gather.  And since we naturally can’t be away from our phone for more than 2 minutes at a time, it’s the perfect place to charge your digital lifeline.  Having a small drawer with an outlet in it can keep you all tidy, and keep the power available for anyone who might need it.  You can take it a step further and buy a specific cable that charges all types of common devices rather than using your actual single device phone charger.  Your friends and family will love your modern day hospitality.

Creating something out of nothing – More Storage!

I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to several foreign countries in my life.  There are times I wonder, “why would someone do this? Other times I think, “that is an incredible idea, why isn’t this in every single house EVER!?”

If there is one thing outside the US that is almost always done better, is maximizing storage.  It’s actually a bit ironic since were one of the most materialistic and consumer based driven countries in the world.  Our love of gadgets and toys is out of control and most of the time so is our closets and cabinet space.

If you have never taken the time to think about all the wasted space in your house, I promise you, there is a LOT.  If you have kids, pets, or just stuff and you want to keep it neat and tidy, there are solutions out there that are easy to install, add, or put into your house that will make a world of a difference.

Take a look at a few of these best examples for a little inspiration.

 

Multi-Use Furniture

Ok, this is really aimed at the men ( or grown boys ).  We all like to have fun but maybe we don’t have the room we need for dedicated rooms to one particular activity.  Some genius came up with a couple of multi-use pieces that are sure to please everyone in the house.

This door that doubles as a ping pong table is just about as cool as it comes.  Sure it’s not a full size table, but for the non-competitive type who just wants to have a little fun, it’s the perfect addition to a kids room or man cave.

The biggest problem with a pool table is having somewhere to put it.  These folks put together not only a world class pool table, but a quality contemporary dining table.  We almost all have a dining room that gets used a couple times a year, so why not make double use of that space with this two in one pool table?

You can shop your pool table/dining combo table at Fusion Tables

A passageway to make Life that much easier

Ok, I admit on this one it’s not for everyone.  It’s going to totally depend on the layout of your house, but if you can pull it off, you can thank me later. Even if your home doesn’t allow this think about the concept and other ways you could use this idea. Pass-through for laundry, serving food/drink outside, etc.

If you are anything like me, bringing in groceries from the store goes something like this. You grab as MANY bags as possible, lift up 40 pounds of groceries around your wrist to get the trunk shut.  You then waddle towards the house manage to shimmy the door open just enough to get by, but your likely to lose at least one snagged bag on the door.  If you make it to the kitchen without having any bags burst open or dropped along the way you are only one final heave up onto the counter away from success. All of this, because heaven forbid you take more than one trip to bring in the groceries.

Alternatively, you work smarter and not harder and put in this awesome pass-through to make your life that much easier.

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