#3 nickels thus far. and counting

[ciphox]

[bibleteachingbyolga]

“Is following Jesus difficult or easy?” The homeless (and apparently drunk) man asked my wife years ago.

Disinterested in hearing any answer but his own, he solved his own riddle immediately: “If you’ve given yourself fully to him, it is easy. If you are split in devotion, torn in your love between Christ and other things, it is hard.”

In his stupor, that man stumbled upon something profound: Great loves make burdens light. Sacrifice and difficulty in the Christian life become lighter when we face them with love for Christ, and heavier when we don’t.

Love Lightens the Load

The man’s comments remind us, does anything have the power to strengthen us in hardship, and empower us for heroic deeds, like love?

Take romantic love as an example. Is anything too difficult or too inconvenient for a man whose heart has been captured by a woman? For her, he will climb mountains, swim oceans, face dragons. Love, true love, propels him beyond his normal capacities, redefines his limitations, expands his borders. Love thickens his blood, strengthens his arms, and focuses his mind as few things can.

We find this intoxicating power of love in the Bible as well: “Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her” (Genesis 29:20). Behold love’s wizardry. It transformed seven years of hard labor into “but a few days.” His affections for her lightened his load and reshaped his experience of time itself.

She was his treasure. Years of work were but nickels and dimes thrown upon the table, coins hardly worth counting. Six months or seven years; eighty-six cents or a dollar fifty — what did it matter for her?

Though You Have Not Seen Him

Is this not what the drunk was waxing eloquent about? We do not work, as Jacob did, to win Christ, but we do have a great love to lighten our years of service. Love for Christ makes us too feel the time-warping, burden-lifting effect that relieves the hardest labors. Is this eulogy, if spoken truthfully, not the envy of all?

Mr. and Mrs. Faithful served Christ relentlessly for fifty years unto their death. And all their labor and sacrifice over five decades seemed to them but a few days because of the love they had for their Lord.

This living and longing love for Christ, buoying us in our trials and empowering us to endure hardship, was exactly the element Peter commended in that suffering church to whom he wrote. Though placed in various fires of diverse trials, he observed what was apparent to all:

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:8–9)

They were a happy, loving people because their affections were set, above and beyond their trials, on Christ. With all the trouble they did see, their heart was fixed on the Groom they couldn’t. Mixed with their hardship, they possessed joy their most able writers could not put into words: inexpressible. A happiness the inspired author could only describe as “filled with glory.”

Theirs was a robust gladness. A bottomless joy. An unsinkable hope. An indomitable faith springing from the depths of a great love for a mighty, temporarily unseen Savior. They did not focus on their seven years of trials but on the altogether lovely one to whom their trials led. Even in their hardships, their love made following Christ easier, in a real sense, than it otherwise appears.

Love Makes Heavy Crosses Light

Does our love for Christ overwhelm the daily inconveniences, the nagging sufferings, the fiery trials, the exhausting labors? Does it all feel like only a few days? Are the scrapes, losses, and toils but nickels and dimes in comparison with him? Can our hearts say with that excellent laborer and mighty sufferer, “We do not lose heart”?

Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16–18)

Does what we see beyond make all affliction here but light and momentary? “Had we more love to Christ,” the Puritan John Willison once said, “his cross would not be so tedious to us” (Suffering: Selections from Spurgeon’s Library, 17). Does his arrow miss any of us?

Speaking for myself, I know all too well that the days grow longer, the nights darker, the work more tedious, and temptations more towering the very moment my love for Christ begins to cool. I know the difficulty of a divided heart. Weak love for my Lord makes me weak. When my heart adores him, I walk upon the water, no matter what storms surround me. I sink, however, as soon as the raging waves begin to dampen my love.

Lesser Light of Our Love

With all this talk of how our love for Christ strengthens us to labor and suffer with joy, we must remember how our love for Christ grows: by beholding him and his love for us.

Properly understood, he is the Jacob who left heaven and labored among us for more than three decades, being obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. But we see how love braced him to endure the wrath and the shame meant for his beloved bride: “For the joy that was set before him [he] endured the cross, despising the shame” (Hebrews 12:2). She — safe, redeemed, reconciled, with him where he is — played a real part in that joy.

Our love, returning to its source, is always the lesser light. The moon of our affections for him cannot shine on its own. It shines only as it is shone upon by the love of God through his Spirit (Romans 5:5). His flame touches dead coals and sparks new life. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

And thus, John chose this great sun as the center of his life and identity: not his love for Christ, but Christ’s love for him. He was “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23, 35; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7, 20). And when considering our own aching hearts to be loved by such a Wonderful Savior, he reminds us that God’s love is the only mass suitable to orbit: “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

Ten Thousand Lives Later

Jacob labored seven years for Rachel, and the love he held for her lightened his burden. Love fast-forwarded all the months that stood between them. His work became easy, just as the drunk man observed. What a gift it would be for our Lord to give us increased love for himself, such that work and sacrifice become lighter as he becomes nearer.

This life flies past all of us. Instead of lengthening the time between he and us, what if, like Paul, we knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that “to depart and be with Christ . . . is far better” (Philippians 1:23)? What if, as we scaled life’s mountains and walked through its low valleys, we served him joyfully because we searched for him jealously?

And at the end of our appointed time in the harvest, what if each of us, with calloused hands and sore backs, could add our voice to Spurgeon’s? “I feel that, if I could live a thousand lives, I would like to live them all for Christ; and I should even then feel that they were all too little a return for his great love to me!”

[arealestatemanhattanworld-blog]

The Keys to Success to Investing in Real Estate

Most real estate professionals flunk over the first couple of months of attempting to make a business enterprise from property investing. The trick starts with a favorable marketing program and then practicing a disciplined effort to the advertising strategy on a even basis. There's far more required to triumph, and you'll find out additional hints, tricks and exceptional property advertising techniques in this report.

Is there anybody in your city that does not recognize that you purchase houses or that you're a real estate professional? If that's the case, you are not doing as well at advertising or rendering property investing advice about your property investing business enterprise as well you may be. I find out property investors notification all of the time which they aren't getting seller telephone calls and then are not getting the prospects that they should discover the real estate company deals they need in order to make a living. I say raise the advertising and the vendors will Call. Not just that but if you're canvassing the planet (or your place ) that you purchase problem property holdings, finally you'll be acknowledged for everything you are doing and sellers will phone you strictly in your standing. This is called cost effective advertising.

1 real estate specialist was in a house, garden and hardware store a couple of calendar weeks back and moved beyond a few men in an aisle. A dialog was discovered while he walked , I overheard a single nation,"That is the real estate man". I had never understood both of those guys and don't have any idea who they are but experience lets me admit that I need to do my business at allowing the entire world to recognize my company is buying property in that region. There are several ways to allow the region know that you're in the real estate investing profession and receiving information out there which helps individuals realize you purchase foreclosures, distressed property, do property short sales and also have a great deal of property info and expertise to reverse properties. Some methods are inexpensive and some are more costly. You will need to try many things and develop a sense for what attracts around for one of the very best results on your area to find the calls you need in order to transact property bargains. I've tried many kinds of promotion methods for property commercial businesses of all types and have come back into some that always create enough leads for me to buy the 2 or 3 property holdings and homes I wish to buy each and every calendar month. They're as follows:

Classified Ads

The classified ad from the most prominent paper in the area is undoubtedly the heaviest manufacturer of prospects for neighborhood property investors whom I have determined. I know it's expensive and I know that there are cases it doesn't create phone calls however if you're likely to persist in the actual estate investing business sector just put it in there and abandon it. Get used to it which makes up a part of the cost of doing the actual estate enterprise. You'll expend roughly $350.00 per calendar month to get my 4 line advertising and that's the industrial selection. I would look at running it 365 days per year to continuously indicate everyone that you're a real estate professional and you also buy property in their area.

Within the last few or so years I have observed several"real estate investor" advertisements go and come. Most people put them in to get a many or maybe only a few of calendar weeks then remove them try only placing them on the week ends. Real Estate Marketing simply doesn't operate this way. Set your property advertising in the newspaper and leave it in there. It will more than compensate for the cost, expect me, and you'll see after you complete your first thing. If you're distressed since there are property investors advertisements out of a number of different investors in the marketplace, do not be. They're there because they're getting answers. Be absolutely certain to and really answer your mobile phone and keep it on all of the time you'll be wasting cash.

Every time a new ad for property investor info shows up in my paper, I shall always call about the ad. 9 days out of 10 I receive a message apparatus or answering services. This is a substantial turn away to someone who requires a settlement to their property problem today. They would like to consult with someone who can silence their nervousness over their existing issues with their house and tell them what will be ok. Your answering device will not do this, they require a human being. As for what to place in the advertisements, you'll need to work with this one. I've tried different idea and also the one I have hast not altered for more than 4 decades. I have not changed it since I receive answers. My advertisement is:

We Pay CASH FOR HOMES In 24 Hours! Any area, price or state 

I have had other property professionals jockey for location and interchange their advertising copy to be top of mine at the pillar but it's not made whatsoever gap, as much as I could identify. Do not be concerned about these things, simply get out the advertising there and abandon it. It might possibly have a little bit of time, maybe a few months to begin but vendors will phone. The moment you've got your classified advertisements conducting, then you need to begin working on your other advertising and marketing techniques straight away. If you simply go through one thought per week, in just a couple weeks or even a few weeks you'll have a substantially powerful property buying process.

Ads at the"Freebie" Papers

You may also run ads in the freebie newspapers in the regional area or the area that you need to run property investment deals. All these will be the"Thrifty Nickel", or anything they're termed on your area. We conduct both a column advertising and a screen in this paper and expend roughly $175.00 or so a calendar month to get all these advertisements. They pull seller prospects fairly well and have consistently rationalized the prices. Bear in mind these men are usually receptive to speaking terms in your prices and you'll likely receive a better rate if you commit to a more advertising arrangement.

Bandit Signs or Road Signs.

Bandit signs are fantastic. They are a few of the very best lead generating tools around. I've yet to put a bundle rather than be bombed with forecasts directly after I ordered my advertising. I simply don't place them out often. I might place a few to some half dozen or so a calendar month and those which continue and do not get removed continue to pull phone calls. In an average cost of less than $4.00 a signal, they're among the best property marketing and marketing values out there. Check the internet for sign makers for reduction signage expenses. I utilize 18 x 24 hints and place them in high traffic crossings round town I want to buy homes in.

I also place a sign in front lawn immediately after buying any home. I've bought several houses in the very same areas as a consequence of advertising this manner.

You may either use wood bets or the cord bets with your own signs. I enjoy the wood bets since they don't bend like the cable ones, moreover, they're more cheaper and you may find pretty much any reasonably sized pole of timber or bet at the regional hardware store for a excellent price. Only secure long spans and cut down to match. Then simply nail the indication to it together with the roof nails with the green or orange plastic shirts or you may use screws. There are numerous variations on what the wording on the signal can say. Remember that traffic will soon be moving so that you would like to keep your message brief and easy so that it might be read. Plus your phone number has to be large, big and easy to read.

If you hunt the signal advertisement material, you may discover it is same resemblance my newspaper advertising. I love to brand my advertisements because I feel that assists with identification that's most likely why the 2 guys found me as a Real Estate Professional..You wish to have comparison, thus a white sign with dark blue letters generally would be the best draw. Some people swear by black yellow or black on orange. I say it is not exactly what or how you state it rather only that you are out there advertising and putting out signals that counts. You will build a'brand image over time if you stay logical with your real estate marketing endeavors. When dealing with bandit signs, be sure that your local code enforcement laws are aware of them. In some areas or counties they can lax on them but a few miles down the road in another county or city, they can be super strict and will ticket you in a minute, pull the signs down and lead off looking for your next posters to go after you again. Some retail merchants in high tax areas can't put out any A board signage without having them sized and then fined.

Flyers and Bulletin Board Postings

Flyers and related collateral are another cheap way to get the word out that you are a real estate investor buy property, foreclosures or distressed properties. Just create a flyer with any one of the free on-line flyer software internet sites telling people that your are a real estate investor and how to get in touch with you. Make copies for few cents apiece and you have some really inexpensive real estate marketing and advertising. It really is that simple. Then place these flyers on every bulletin board in your Town or region you would like to buy your property, foreclosure or distressed home. . I also recommend that you place some of them in those plastic sheet shielders so the rain won't ruin them and put them up on phone poles around neighborhoods I like to buy property in. . While not as prominent as the bandit signs, on poles actually in the neighbourhood they still attract phone calls. I carry a file with me in my automobile and put them up whenever I stop at a grocery store or major discount shop or really wherever. Some of the other area to put them are:

· Laundromats · Taped to the inside of telephone Booths. · On the counter of any business organization that will let you place them at. · Bulletin boards at any local or major rebate store (lots of traffic) · Grocery store bulletin boards · Fax to Mortgage agents, call first · Fax to Real Estate Agents, call first and they may get a lot of these. · Take them Door to Door in target regions · Employment centre Bulletin board · County Courthouse or public office Bulletin board

These are just a few illustrations. Any place that will allow you to set one is a good place. You can never let too many people know that you are a real estate investor and are in the foreclosure market.

Imprinted and/or Promotional Items

Optimum Real Estate Investor Marketing Ideas - These no-lose ideas are sure to get you top hits on leads and calls for your Real Estate Investing occupation.

These are some of my favourites and most fun. While they are not the top producers of leads or the least costly, they will sure position you apart from the average investor.

Pen Knives - These tiny Swiss army knives are the neatest things. They are actually key chains etched with your content, mine being: WE BUY HOMES - All cash or take over payments within 24 hours! Call xxx-xxx-xxx I assure if you give one of these to somebody they will hold on to it it and if they conceive of selling, they will think of you. They are about $1.75 each.

Key Chains - I give these to all my buyers with the keys to their new house on them and leave them all over the place. They come in the shape of a house or #1 or whatever style you like and have your message on them. You can guess what mine says. Cost - about $. 25 cents apiece.

Pens - I use these all the time. Whenever I sign a sales receipt or anything I leave my pen. I cannot tell you how many outcries I have gotten off of these things and since I often need one, I always possess one to give away. My attorney even has a supply on his closing table. I possess two types printed. One for sellers says "We Buy Homes!" and one for buyers says "Everyone Qualifies". Cost - about $.26 cents per unit.

Coin Holders - These you hardly find anymore so everyone is surprised when I have them. I leave these things everywhere. Mine are bright yellow with blue letters and my message. Cost - about $.30 cents apiece.

I leave all of these promotional items everywhere, on the top of gas pumps, on end-cap displays in grocery stores and in department stores. I look at it this way, if I give away 100 pens, 50 knives and 50 coin holders a month, that is only a little over $100 bucks a month. That is still cheap advertising. And with the money you can make in a real estate deal, it is'no cost' advertising strategy. You may find at least one of these promotional advertising products in many significant promotion promoting maker, and you'll be able to find businesses on line also.

[makemoneyonlineprofit-blog]

Understanding (and Improving) Ecommerce Bounce Rate in 2019

https://120profit.com/?p=2688&utm_source=SocialAutoPoster&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Tumblr Every day, an ecommerce store dies at the hands of a high bounce rate. Because, if consumers are leaving, they ultimately aren’t buying. And if consumers were buying their product, ecommerce stores wouldn’t die. After all, the whole goal of an ecommerce store is to sell items online. If that’s not happening, despite your pretty website, brand name, and lead-generating ads, you don’t have much of an ecommerce store. But we have to go deeper. Why are people leaving your website without making a purchase? What is causing a high bounce rate or cart abandonment and how can it be fixed? Here are five ways you can personalize the experience to reduce bounces and reclaim sales. What is a Bounce Rate on an Ecommerce Website? Bounce rate is the percentage of people who leave your website after visiting only a single page. Here are some scenarios that count as a bounce on your website: Someone clicks the back button after viewing a single page. Someone exits their browser after viewing a single page. A user clicks to another website that takes them elsewhere after viewing only a single page on your site Current data puts the average bounce rate of ecommerce stores at 45.68%. (Image Source) There are two primary reasons that bounces hurt ecommerce stores. First and most detrimental, a bounce means that someone didn’t make a purchase. They left before you convinced them to buy. They visited just one page before running for the hills. And second, the higher the percentage of visitors who bounce on your website, the worse your rankings are. When people leave after viewing only a single page, Google takes note and demotes your domain authority. That’s a one-two punch that can kill practically any ecommerce store. To determine your bounce rate, you can use this formula: (Image Source) Grab the number of single-page visits to your website and divide by the number of total visits. What’s a reasonable ecommerce bounce rate benchmark for your website, you ask? Well, according to the latest data, somewhere between 30% and 55% is acceptable. (Image Source) But, in reality, an acceptable bounce rate depends heavily upon what kind of page people are landing on. Now that you are familiar with bounce rate, how to measure it, and why it harms your website, we need to discuss one more thing. Call it a hiccup in the bounce rate equation. This bounce rate equation doesn’t tell the whole story. Measuring your bounce rate is important for any website, but measuring it correctly is more important. Consider this, for example. Someone lands on your product page from a Google search. They browse the reviews of the product, the price, the quality, and the specs. Heck, they probably even have four or five other tabs open with different ecommerce stores sporting similar products. In other words, they’re comparison shopping. (Image Source) But despite their indecision, they’re interacting with your brand and considering your product carefully. They spend a total of four minutes on your product page. In the end, they decide not to purchase and click out of your website. Unfortunately, they still count as a bounce. A true bounce is when people arrive on your website and leave — usually within seconds. Which means that they felt they were in the wrong place. The “true bounce” is what we’re discussing in this article. We’re talking about people who come and go quickly on a single page, whether it’s because they’re comparison shopping or not. It’s also worth mentioning that your site-wide bounce rate won’t be very helpful for your analytics, especially if you have a lot of different types of pages on your website. What’s more useful is your page-level bounce rate that takes into account the type of content on each page. Blog posts almost always see higher bounce rates than your product pages. That’s normal. (It also depends on the type and quality of your content.) But however you measure your bounce rate, if you don’t get it under control, you’ll keep losing sales like a bag of water with holes in it. Now we’ll discuss exactly what you can do to improve your bounce rate, save sales, and build customer relationships. Your online store depends on people who buys your product. Here are five ways to give your website the best chance of converting finicky prospects. 1. Optimize your product pages. The product page is one of your most important assets. It’s the final barrier between a prospect and a customer. Prospects browse through reviews and specs, making a decision that marketers often play far too little of a part in. Consider this product page from Pura Vida Bracelets. Pura Vida does a nice job of putting their review section front and center. They also make the “add to cart” button stand out because it’s the only thing on the page that’s colored red. And finally, they use icons and short descriptions to emphasize the quality and consistency of their product. But does the color of their button really make a difference? ConversionXL did a study where they found that the color of a button makes little difference on its own. But when compared with the rest of the design of the website, it can make a difference. When it comes to displaying reviews on your product page, some marketers hide the review section of their products in fear that bad reviews will discourage prospects from making a purchase. But the reality is far more promising. First, so long as your product is something you can be proud of, people won’t leave many negative reviews. And second, reviews on a website increase conversions by an average of 20%. Finally, 77.3% of consumers said that reviews impacted their purchasing decision. (Image Source) Often, it’s the product page on your website that makes or breaks the sale. If you want to lower your bounce rate, then you need to keep your product page clean, include reviews, post an obvious CTA, and write compelling copy. In the end, you should probably spend more time on your product pages than you do almost any other part of the website. 2. Segment your email list. The more segmented your list of prospects, the more personalized the buying experience will be. List segmentation is when you group prospects based on their behavior with your website, emails, and products. Then, you send them offers that are in line with their interests. In other words, each prospect receives what feels like personal recommendations. Keep in mind, the concept of personalization doesn’t just apply to email lists, it also applies to website copy, live chat and messaging, and even customer service software. Personalizing through list segmentation makes a huge difference. Consider these list segmentation results mentioned by B2C Community, where 39% of respondents said that segmentation increased their open rate. (Image Source) In practically every regard, email segmentation gives you a better ROI. But why? Why are people less likely to bounce on your website with a segmented email list? Because you’re only sending emails that are relevant, and thus interesting, to them. Each person receives emails that they actually care about. No more spam and random offers. And the more segmented you make your email list, the better. Brennan Dunn starts by segmenting his email list by profession. This way, he can determine which product or service will be most appropriate to send each group. (Image Source) And while a lot of marketers would stop there, Brennan doesn’t. He takes it one more step and also segments his list by what type of content each group of people is most interested in receiving. (Image Source) If you treat all of your prospects the same, your bounce rate will only increase. But if you segment your list and treat each person like a person, your conversion and engagement rate will surge instead. Your website is only half the equation. The specific visitors and sources of traffic is the other half you need to align. 3. Make the purchase experience smooth. No one wants to get confused when they’re trying to buy a product from your website. If visitors can’t find the correct CTA or reviews or price, that’s motivation for them to leave. 11% of cart abandoners leave because the checkout process was too complicated. That’s a group of sales that you don’t need to lose. Generally speaking, the more hidden you make necessary components of the buying process, the quicker people will leave your website and buy from competitors. Banana Republic takes the clarity of the buying experience very seriously. They go so far as to explain exactly what just happened when a prospect clicks “add to cart.” You don’t want to lose a sale due to a lack of clarity on your website or your website loads too slow because of a high time to first byte. So err on the side of clarity, even if you think you’re being overly obvious. Some people need the extra explanation, and the people who don’t usually won’t mind. But sometimes it’s not your website that needs the clarification. There’s a common mistake that ecommerce stores make with the links on their ads: they use a product page advertisement to send users to the homepage of the website. (Image Source) That’s a massive mistake. People click on the ad because they’re interested in the product you’re advertising, not because they want to browse your website. Chances are, if you send them to your homepage, they’ll just leave. Instead, send product ads to the corresponding product page. (Image Source) The more hiccups involved in the buying process, the fewer people who will make it through. You want to simplify and clarify your process as much as possible. With more clarity and consistency, people will flow through the buying process instead of leaving because of an unnecessary hurdle. 4. Don’t nickel and dime your potential customers. This tip is simple. And yet, many ecommerce stores still make the mistake of hiding costs until the last second. That includes shipping costs, confusing discounts that actually aren’t discounts, or other secret ways of adding to the price tag. These only lead to cart abandonment and huge bounce rates: The main reasons people abandon carts while shopping online. Most businesses don’t do it because they want to trick their prospect. They do it because they think that the customer will be more likely to buy if they don’t see the true cost of the product until the very end. The reality is the opposite, as shown above. It’s better to present the true cost from the beginning. Even go so far as to include the shipping cost in the price and then advertise the product as having free shipping. You could also provide free shipping for orders over $100. That will increase average order values and incentivize people to buy more. Whatever you decide, don’t add extra costs at the end. 5. Use exit-intent popups. An exit-intent overlay is a popup that comes to the forefront of the screen when someone tries to leave your website. In other words, they are about to bounce, but your site throws one more thing in their way in hopes of saving a sale. Something like this, for example: (Image Source) Some people view exit-intent popups as a cheap and annoying way of trying to get sales. But the stats tell a different story. Exit-intent popups on ecommerce sites increase the conversion rate by an average of 20%. But what should your exit-intent popup say? There are a lot of different ways to do it. You can create something like the above version where you show the abandoner what’s new. You could also offer a discount. (Image Source) Or ask the person to join your email list. (Image Source) Or offer help finding the perfect product. (Image Source) Or offer free shipping. (Image Source) Whatever you do, add some flare to your exit-intent popup by offering something special to the person who’s trying to leave your website. The worst thing they can do is leave and never come back — a nightmare for any ecommerce store. But since they were already leaving, you have nothing to lose. An exit-intent popup gives you one more chance at capturing their attention before that happens. Conclusion Remember that you’re building a relationship before you ever make a sale. Every sale depends on one single overarching thing: trust. If a consumer doesn’t trust you, they won’t buy from you. To increase sales and decrease your website’s bounce rate, build a relationship of trust with your visitors. Use exit-intent popups, optimize your product pages, segment your email list, make the purchase experience smooth, and stop hiding additional costs. The more honest you are with prospects, the more they’ll buy from you. Not necessarily because you’re cheaper or even higher-quality than the competition, but because they like you. And likability is often what closes the sale. 120profit.com - https://120profit.com/?p=2688&utm_source=SocialAutoPoster&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Tumblr

[sherlocked-avenger]

8 Bathroom Updates You Can Pull Off In One Weekend

Tired of your outdated bathroom, but don’t want to break the bank renovating it? Lifestyle blogger Carrie Waller, of Dream Green DIY, spent one weekend tackling small updates in her hall bathroom, and it made all the difference. Take a look at these eight simple bathroom updates you too can complete in just a couple of days.

Simple Bathroom Updates

It’s no secret that updated bathrooms and kitchens provide the best return on your investment at resale, but what if you’re working with a small budget? Can you pull off enough of a makeover to make your buck go “BANG!” when it counts?

To answer this question, I spent a single weekend making a number of budget-friendly tweaks to our outdated hall bath in order to bring it into the current millennium. The good news? Our pint-sized bathroom now feels nice and new, and I didn’t have to break out a sledgehammer to get it done.

The Bathroom Before Updating

Before I jump right into the simple bathroom updates, though, here’s a quick tour of the space pre-update. We think—judging by the dated fixtures and finishes—that this bathroom was added on to our 1960s home sometime in the ’80s or ’90s.

The previous homeowners had left behind lots of little decorative accents on the walls and ceiling, as well as plenty of ugly built-in accents (think: fluorescent lighting, cheap faucets, flimsy towel bars). It all needed to go.

Even the cabinet hardware on the vanity and built-in dresser screamed for an update. Everything just felt retro, and not in a “cool,” on-trend kind of way. Instead, the room was filled top to bottom with scratched up old pieces of wood, metal, and plastic that combined to give the space the type of appeal that made us avoid opening the door at all.

First things first with our bathroom updates: I started by setting aside one weekend on our calendar to cross off all the items on my to-do list for the makeover. Then, after the products had all been delivered to our front door from The Home Depot, I pulled on my paint-covered jeans and an old t-shirt, and got to work tearing out and replacing things, one piece at a time.

1. Replace Old Towel Bars

I kicked things off by removing the old towel bars from the walls. Then I unpacked our replacement towel bar (from the Everly collection by Delta), laying all of the materials and instructions on the floor.

The manual directed me to the correct drill bit, which I used to pre-drill new holes in the wall. I then installed the included metal wall anchors.

To finish, I screwed the new metal plate over the anchors, and then I popped the new towel bar connections over the plate with the bar snugly sandwiched in between.

2. Add Coordinating Hooks and Holders

Since we decided to replace all of the mismatched wall hooks and bars with coordinating pieces from Delta’s Everly collection, I was able to follow the exact same install instructions all the way around the room.

The first towel bar took about 20 minutes to install as I worked my way slowly through the process step by step. I was able to install the rest of the pieces in a matter of minutes—less than five, to be exact—because, by then, I had the process down pat. My only regret after installing the new towel ring, hook, and toilet paper holder? That I hadn’t done it years ago!

3. Install Overhead LED Lighting

Another thing that needed to go immediately (if not sooner) was the old fluorescent light fixture.

To do so, I shut the power off to the overhead unit, unscrewed the old piece from the ceiling, and disconnected the wires. Then, I followed the same steps in backward order with our new fixture—a pretty brushed nickel flushmount light. I kept the instructions that came with the light close at hand for reference and troubleshooting.

After turning the power back on, the room was filled with bright, happy LED light.

4. Replace The Faucet

One thing that happened a little before this weekend makeover was the installation of a new granite countertop. We love the updated look, and certainly didn’t have the heart to re-install the old builder-basic faucet that had been put in place back in the 1980s. So, during my weekend bathroom update project, I followed the instructions from Delta to install a new brushed nickel widespread faucet.

The pretty new faucet added instant modern style to the space, and it also functions a lot better than the old single-handle model that we had used up until this point. If you aren’t able to do anything else in your weekend bathroom makeover, make this update your top priority!

5. Install New Drawer Pulls

Despite the small square footage of this bathroom, it actually sports a ton of storage. The vanity features two drawers and sizable space behind two sliding doors under the sink. You may have spotted the built-in dresser in the before photos—it’s situated behind the door to the bathroom.

In order to make the two match with the other accents in the space, I replaced all of the mismatched handles on both with new satin nickel cabinet pulls from Delta’s Everly collection. They say that handles are the “jewelry” of any space, and this quick update proves that a little sparkle can do wonders for modernizing a space, too.

6. Add Some Greenery

If you’ve gotten this far in your own weekend bathroom updates and things are feeling kind of sterile, it’s probably because you need to bring in some color and softness.

Balance out all of the hard tile and cold metal surfaces you’ve installed thus far with hints of greenery, like potted succulents and air plants. These low maintenance plants love humidity, so they should thrive, even in a confined space like a bathroom.

7. Lay Down A Rug

One of my personal favorite ways to add style and sophistication to a utilitarian room like a bathroom is with a formal patterned area rug. These do just as well in a bathroom as they do in any room of your house. Consider switching out that run-of-the-mill high pile, rubber-backed bath mat with a pretty oriental-inspired version.

Don’t forget to lay down a non-slip rug pad underneath to help wick away moisture and so that the rug feels nice and soft underfoot while you’re doing your makeup at the vanity mirror.

8. Hang Framed Art

Now for a few finishing touches—things like vintage framed art, a vanity accessory set, and new coordinating linens (we love bath towels that feature a slight pattern and fringed edges to step things up a notch!). By incorporating a handful of these types of decorative accents into your bathroom, the space will ultimately feel finished, modern, and cozy.

When I started this project on Saturday morning, I was surrounded by dated details covered with dust and ugly fluorescent light, but by the time I wrapped things up on Sunday night, our small bathroom was the prettiest room in our house.

I had high hopes that these bathroom updates would leave me with a space that I could be proud of, but the finished look goes way beyond anything I could have imagined—and I still can’t believe how inexpensive and quick it was to pull off. It just goes to show that, when it comes to home, a little love and elbow grease both go an extra long way.

Browse our Bath section for bathroom faucets, bathroom hardware and more for your bathroom update. You can get more bathroom ideas, too, here on The Home Depot Blog.

The post 8 Bathroom Updates You Can Pull Off In One Weekend appeared first on The Home Depot Blog.

from garage2 http://ift.tt/2vHNkTL via great info

[chocdono]

8 Bathroom Updates You Can Pull Off In One Weekend

Tired of your outdated bathroom, but don’t want to break the bank renovating it? Lifestyle blogger Carrie Waller, of Dream Green DIY, spent one weekend tackling small updates in her hall bathroom, and it made all the difference. Take a look at these eight simple bathroom updates you too can complete in just a couple of days.

Simple Bathroom Updates

It’s no secret that updated bathrooms and kitchens provide the best return on your investment at resale, but what if you’re working with a small budget? Can you pull off enough of a makeover to make your buck go “BANG!” when it counts?

To answer this question, I spent a single weekend making a number of budget-friendly tweaks to our outdated hall bath in order to bring it into the current millennium. The good news? Our pint-sized bathroom now feels nice and new, and I didn’t have to break out a sledgehammer to get it done.

The Bathroom Before Updating

Before I jump right into the simple bathroom updates, though, here’s a quick tour of the space pre-update. We think—judging by the dated fixtures and finishes—that this bathroom was added on to our 1960s home sometime in the ’80s or ’90s.

The previous homeowners had left behind lots of little decorative accents on the walls and ceiling, as well as plenty of ugly built-in accents (think: fluorescent lighting, cheap faucets, flimsy towel bars). It all needed to go.

Even the cabinet hardware on the vanity and built-in dresser screamed for an update. Everything just felt retro, and not in a “cool,” on-trend kind of way. Instead, the room was filled top to bottom with scratched up old pieces of wood, metal, and plastic that combined to give the space the type of appeal that made us avoid opening the door at all.

First things first with our bathroom updates: I started by setting aside one weekend on our calendar to cross off all the items on my to-do list for the makeover. Then, after the products had all been delivered to our front door from The Home Depot, I pulled on my paint-covered jeans and an old t-shirt, and got to work tearing out and replacing things, one piece at a time.

1. Replace Old Towel Bars

I kicked things off by removing the old towel bars from the walls. Then I unpacked our replacement towel bar (from the Everly collection by Delta), laying all of the materials and instructions on the floor.

The manual directed me to the correct drill bit, which I used to pre-drill new holes in the wall. I then installed the included metal wall anchors.

To finish, I screwed the new metal plate over the anchors, and then I popped the new towel bar connections over the plate with the bar snugly sandwiched in between.

2. Add Coordinating Hooks and Holders

Since we decided to replace all of the mismatched wall hooks and bars with coordinating pieces from Delta’s Everly collection, I was able to follow the exact same install instructions all the way around the room.

The first towel bar took about 20 minutes to install as I worked my way slowly through the process step by step. I was able to install the rest of the pieces in a matter of minutes—less than five, to be exact—because, by then, I had the process down pat. My only regret after installing the new towel ring, hook, and toilet paper holder? That I hadn’t done it years ago!

3. Install Overhead LED Lighting

Another thing that needed to go immediately (if not sooner) was the old fluorescent light fixture.

To do so, I shut the power off to the overhead unit, unscrewed the old piece from the ceiling, and disconnected the wires. Then, I followed the same steps in backward order with our new fixture—a pretty brushed nickel flushmount light. I kept the instructions that came with the light close at hand for reference and troubleshooting.

After turning the power back on, the room was filled with bright, happy LED light.

4. Replace The Faucet

One thing that happened a little before this weekend makeover was the installation of a new granite countertop. We love the updated look, and certainly didn’t have the heart to re-install the old builder-basic faucet that had been put in place back in the 1980s. So, during my weekend bathroom update project, I followed the instructions from Delta to install a new brushed nickel widespread faucet.

The pretty new faucet added instant modern style to the space, and it also functions a lot better than the old single-handle model that we had used up until this point. If you aren’t able to do anything else in your weekend bathroom makeover, make this update your top priority!

5. Install New Drawer Pulls

Despite the small square footage of this bathroom, it actually sports a ton of storage. The vanity features two drawers and sizable space behind two sliding doors under the sink. You may have spotted the built-in dresser in the before photos—it’s situated behind the door to the bathroom.

In order to make the two match with the other accents in the space, I replaced all of the mismatched handles on both with new satin nickel cabinet pulls from Delta’s Everly collection. They say that handles are the “jewelry” of any space, and this quick update proves that a little sparkle can do wonders for modernizing a space, too.

6. Add Some Greenery

If you’ve gotten this far in your own weekend bathroom updates and things are feeling kind of sterile, it’s probably because you need to bring in some color and softness.

Balance out all of the hard tile and cold metal surfaces you’ve installed thus far with hints of greenery, like potted succulents and air plants. These low maintenance plants love humidity, so they should thrive, even in a confined space like a bathroom.

7. Lay Down A Rug

One of my personal favorite ways to add style and sophistication to a utilitarian room like a bathroom is with a formal patterned area rug. These do just as well in a bathroom as they do in any room of your house. Consider switching out that run-of-the-mill high pile, rubber-backed bath mat with a pretty oriental-inspired version.

Don’t forget to lay down a non-slip rug pad underneath to help wick away moisture and so that the rug feels nice and soft underfoot while you’re doing your makeup at the vanity mirror.

8. Hang Framed Art

Now for a few finishing touches—things like vintage framed art, a vanity accessory set, and new coordinating linens (we love bath towels that feature a slight pattern and fringed edges to step things up a notch!). By incorporating a handful of these types of decorative accents into your bathroom, the space will ultimately feel finished, modern, and cozy.

When I started this project on Saturday morning, I was surrounded by dated details covered with dust and ugly fluorescent light, but by the time I wrapped things up on Sunday night, our small bathroom was the prettiest room in our house.

I had high hopes that these bathroom updates would leave me with a space that I could be proud of, but the finished look goes way beyond anything I could have imagined—and I still can’t believe how inexpensive and quick it was to pull off. It just goes to show that, when it comes to home, a little love and elbow grease both go an extra long way.

Browse our Bath section for bathroom faucets, bathroom hardware and more for your bathroom update. You can get more bathroom ideas, too, here on The Home Depot Blog.

The post 8 Bathroom Updates You Can Pull Off In One Weekend appeared first on The Home Depot Blog.

from mix1 http://ift.tt/2vHNkTL via with this info

[shiigreentii]

8 Bathroom Updates You Can Pull Off In One Weekend

Tired of your outdated bathroom, but don’t want to break the bank renovating it? Lifestyle blogger Carrie Waller, of Dream Green DIY, spent one weekend tackling small updates in her hall bathroom, and it made all the difference. Take a look at these eight simple bathroom updates you too can complete in just a couple of days.

Simple Bathroom Updates

It’s no secret that updated bathrooms and kitchens provide the best return on your investment at resale, but what if you’re working with a small budget? Can you pull off enough of a makeover to make your buck go “BANG!” when it counts?

To answer this question, I spent a single weekend making a number of budget-friendly tweaks to our outdated hall bath in order to bring it into the current millennium. The good news? Our pint-sized bathroom now feels nice and new, and I didn’t have to break out a sledgehammer to get it done.

The Bathroom Before Updating

Before I jump right into the simple bathroom updates, though, here’s a quick tour of the space pre-update. We think—judging by the dated fixtures and finishes—that this bathroom was added on to our 1960s home sometime in the ’80s or ’90s.

The previous homeowners had left behind lots of little decorative accents on the walls and ceiling, as well as plenty of ugly built-in accents (think: fluorescent lighting, cheap faucets, flimsy towel bars). It all needed to go.

Even the cabinet hardware on the vanity and built-in dresser screamed for an update. Everything just felt retro, and not in a “cool,” on-trend kind of way. Instead, the room was filled top to bottom with scratched up old pieces of wood, metal, and plastic that combined to give the space the type of appeal that made us avoid opening the door at all.

First things first with our bathroom updates: I started by setting aside one weekend on our calendar to cross off all the items on my to-do list for the makeover. Then, after the products had all been delivered to our front door from The Home Depot, I pulled on my paint-covered jeans and an old t-shirt, and got to work tearing out and replacing things, one piece at a time.

1. Replace Old Towel Bars

I kicked things off by removing the old towel bars from the walls. Then I unpacked our replacement towel bar (from the Everly collection by Delta), laying all of the materials and instructions on the floor.

The manual directed me to the correct drill bit, which I used to pre-drill new holes in the wall. I then installed the included metal wall anchors.

To finish, I screwed the new metal plate over the anchors, and then I popped the new towel bar connections over the plate with the bar snugly sandwiched in between.

2. Add Coordinating Hooks and Holders

Since we decided to replace all of the mismatched wall hooks and bars with coordinating pieces from Delta’s Everly collection, I was able to follow the exact same install instructions all the way around the room.

The first towel bar took about 20 minutes to install as I worked my way slowly through the process step by step. I was able to install the rest of the pieces in a matter of minutes—less than five, to be exact—because, by then, I had the process down pat. My only regret after installing the new towel ring, hook, and toilet paper holder? That I hadn’t done it years ago!

3. Install Overhead LED Lighting

Another thing that needed to go immediately (if not sooner) was the old fluorescent light fixture.

To do so, I shut the power off to the overhead unit, unscrewed the old piece from the ceiling, and disconnected the wires. Then, I followed the same steps in backward order with our new fixture—a pretty brushed nickel flushmount light. I kept the instructions that came with the light close at hand for reference and troubleshooting.

After turning the power back on, the room was filled with bright, happy LED light.

4. Replace The Faucet

One thing that happened a little before this weekend makeover was the installation of a new granite countertop. We love the updated look, and certainly didn’t have the heart to re-install the old builder-basic faucet that had been put in place back in the 1980s. So, during my weekend bathroom update project, I followed the instructions from Delta to install a new brushed nickel widespread faucet.

The pretty new faucet added instant modern style to the space, and it also functions a lot better than the old single-handle model that we had used up until this point. If you aren’t able to do anything else in your weekend bathroom makeover, make this update your top priority!

5. Install New Drawer Pulls

Despite the small square footage of this bathroom, it actually sports a ton of storage. The vanity features two drawers and sizable space behind two sliding doors under the sink. You may have spotted the built-in dresser in the before photos—it’s situated behind the door to the bathroom.

In order to make the two match with the other accents in the space, I replaced all of the mismatched handles on both with new satin nickel cabinet pulls from Delta’s Everly collection. They say that handles are the “jewelry” of any space, and this quick update proves that a little sparkle can do wonders for modernizing a space, too.

6. Add Some Greenery

If you’ve gotten this far in your own weekend bathroom updates and things are feeling kind of sterile, it’s probably because you need to bring in some color and softness.

Balance out all of the hard tile and cold metal surfaces you’ve installed thus far with hints of greenery, like potted succulents and air plants. These low maintenance plants love humidity, so they should thrive, even in a confined space like a bathroom.

7. Lay Down A Rug

One of my personal favorite ways to add style and sophistication to a utilitarian room like a bathroom is with a formal patterned area rug. These do just as well in a bathroom as they do in any room of your house. Consider switching out that run-of-the-mill high pile, rubber-backed bath mat with a pretty oriental-inspired version.

Don’t forget to lay down a non-slip rug pad underneath to help wick away moisture and so that the rug feels nice and soft underfoot while you’re doing your makeup at the vanity mirror.

8. Hang Framed Art

Now for a few finishing touches—things like vintage framed art, a vanity accessory set, and new coordinating linens (we love bath towels that feature a slight pattern and fringed edges to step things up a notch!). By incorporating a handful of these types of decorative accents into your bathroom, the space will ultimately feel finished, modern, and cozy.

When I started this project on Saturday morning, I was surrounded by dated details covered with dust and ugly fluorescent light, but by the time I wrapped things up on Sunday night, our small bathroom was the prettiest room in our house.

I had high hopes that these bathroom updates would leave me with a space that I could be proud of, but the finished look goes way beyond anything I could have imagined—and I still can’t believe how inexpensive and quick it was to pull off. It just goes to show that, when it comes to home, a little love and elbow grease both go an extra long way.

Browse our Bath section for bathroom faucets, bathroom hardware and more for your bathroom update. You can get more bathroom ideas, too, here on The Home Depot Blog.

The post 8 Bathroom Updates You Can Pull Off In One Weekend appeared first on The Home Depot Blog.

from together1 http://ift.tt/2vHNkTL via recommended

[ryancanedy]

8 Bathroom Updates You Can Pull Off In One Weekend

Tired of your outdated bathroom, but don’t want to break the bank renovating it? Lifestyle blogger Carrie Waller, of Dream Green DIY, spent one weekend tackling small updates in her hall bathroom, and it made all the difference. Take a look at these eight simple bathroom updates you too can complete in just a couple of days.

Simple Bathroom Updates

It’s no secret that updated bathrooms and kitchens provide the best return on your investment at resale, but what if you’re working with a small budget? Can you pull off enough of a makeover to make your buck go “BANG!” when it counts?

To answer this question, I spent a single weekend making a number of budget-friendly tweaks to our outdated hall bath in order to bring it into the current millennium. The good news? Our pint-sized bathroom now feels nice and new, and I didn’t have to break out a sledgehammer to get it done.

The Bathroom Before Updating

Before I jump right into the simple bathroom updates, though, here’s a quick tour of the space pre-update. We think—judging by the dated fixtures and finishes—that this bathroom was added on to our 1960s home sometime in the ’80s or ’90s.

The previous homeowners had left behind lots of little decorative accents on the walls and ceiling, as well as plenty of ugly built-in accents (think: fluorescent lighting, cheap faucets, flimsy towel bars). It all needed to go.

Even the cabinet hardware on the vanity and built-in dresser screamed for an update. Everything just felt retro, and not in a “cool,” on-trend kind of way. Instead, the room was filled top to bottom with scratched up old pieces of wood, metal, and plastic that combined to give the space the type of appeal that made us avoid opening the door at all.

First things first with our bathroom updates: I started by setting aside one weekend on our calendar to cross off all the items on my to-do list for the makeover. Then, after the products had all been delivered to our front door from The Home Depot, I pulled on my paint-covered jeans and an old t-shirt, and got to work tearing out and replacing things, one piece at a time.

1. Replace Old Towel Bars

I kicked things off by removing the old towel bars from the walls. Tthen I unpacked our replacement towel bar (from the Everly collection by Delta), laying all of the materials and instructions on the floor.

The manual directed me to the correct drill bit, which I used to pre-drill new holes in the wall. I then installed the included metal wall anchors.

To finish, I screwed the new metal plate over the anchors, and then I popped the new towel bar connections over the plate with the bar snugly sandwiched in between.

2. Add Coordinating Hooks and Holders

Since we decided to replace all of the mismatched wall hooks and bars with coordinating pieces from Delta’s Everly collection, I was able to follow the exact same install instructions all the way around the room.

The first towel bar took about 20 minutes to install as I worked my way slowly through the process step by step. I was able to install the rest of the pieces in a matter of minutes—less than five, to be exact—because, by then, I had the process down pat. My only regret after installing the new towel ring, hook, and toilet paper holder? That I hadn’t done it years ago!

3. Install Overhead LED Lighting

Another thing that needed to go immediately (if not sooner) was the old fluorescent light fixture.

To do so, I shut the power off to the overhead unit, unscrewed the old piece from the ceiling, and disconnected the wires. Then, I followed the same steps in backward order with our new fixture—a pretty brushed nickel flushmount light. I kept the instructions that came with the light close at hand for reference and troubleshooting.

After turning the power back on, the room was filled with bright, happy LED light.

4. Replace The Faucet

One thing that happened a little before this weekend makeover was the installation of a new granite countertop. We love the updated look, and certainly didn’t have the heart to re-install the old builder-basic faucet that had been put in place back in the 1980s. So, during my weekend bathroom update project, I followed the instructions from Delta to install a new brushed nickel widespread faucet.

The pretty new faucet added instant modern style to the space, and it also functions a lot better than the old single-handle model that we had used up until this point. If you aren’t able to do anything else in your weekend bathroom makeover, make this update your top priority!

5. Install New Drawer Pulls

Despite the small square footage of this bathroom, it actually sports a ton of storage. The vanity features two drawers and sizable space behind two sliding doors under the sink. You may have spotted the built-in dresser in the before photos—it’s situated behind the door to the bathroom.

In order to make the two match with the other accents in the space, I replaced all of the mismatched handles on both with new satin nickel cabinet pulls from Delta’s Everly collection. They say that handles are the “jewelry” of any space, and this quick update proves that a little sparkle can do wonders for modernizing a space, too.

6. Add Some Greenery

If you’ve gotten this far in your own weekend bathroom updates and things are feeling kind of sterile, it’s probably because you need to bring in some color and softness.

Balance out all of the hard tile and cold metal surfaces you’ve installed thus far with hints of greenery, like potted succulents and air plants. These low maintenance plants love humidity, so they should thrive, even in a confined space like a bathroom.

7. Lay Down A Rug

One of my personal favorite ways to add style and sophistication to a utilitarian room like a bathroom is with a formal patterned area rug. These do just as well in a bathroom as they do in any room of your house. Consider switching out that run-of-the-mill high pile, rubber-backed bath mat with a pretty oriental-inspired version.

Don’t forget to lay down a non-slip rug pad underneath to help wick away moisture and so that the rug feels nice and soft underfoot while you’re doing your makeup at the vanity mirror.

8. Hang Framed Art

Now for a few finishing touches—things like vintage framed art, a vanity accessory set, and new coordinating linens (we love bath towels that feature a slight pattern and fringed edges to step things up a notch!). By incorporating a handful of these types of decorative accents into your bathroom, the space will ultimately feel finished, modern, and cozy.

When I started this project on Saturday morning, I was surrounded by dated details covered with dust and ugly fluorescent light, but by the time I wrapped things up on Sunday night, our small bathroom was the prettiest room in our house.

I had high hopes that these bathroom updates would leave me with a space that I could be proud of, but the finished look goes way beyond anything I could have imagined—and I still can’t believe how inexpensive and quick it was to pull off. It just goes to show that, when it comes to home, a little love and elbow grease both go an extra long way.

Browse our Bath section for bathroom faucets, bathroom hardware and more for your bathroom update. You can get more bathroom ideas, too, here on The Home Depot Blog.

The post 8 Bathroom Updates You Can Pull Off In One Weekend appeared first on The Home Depot Blog.

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[dnodes18]

8 Bathroom Updates You Can Pull Off In One Weekend http://ift.tt/2vHNkTL

Tired of your outdated bathroom, but don’t want to break the bank renovating it? Lifestyle blogger Carrie Waller, of Dream Green DIY, spent one weekend tackling small updates in her hall bathroom, and it made all the difference. Take a look at these eight simple bathroom updates you too can complete in just a couple of days.

Simple Bathroom Updates

It’s no secret that updated bathrooms and kitchens provide the best return on your investment at resale, but what if you’re working with a small budget? Can you pull off enough of a makeover to make your buck go “BANG!” when it counts?

To answer this question, I spent a single weekend making a number of budget-friendly tweaks to our outdated hall bath in order to bring it into the current millennium. The good news? Our pint-sized bathroom now feels nice and new, and I didn’t have to break out a sledgehammer to get it done.

The Bathroom Before Updating

Before I jump right into the simple bathroom updates, though, here’s a quick tour of the space pre-update. We think—judging by the dated fixtures and finishes—that this bathroom was added on to our 1960s home sometime in the ’80s or ’90s.

The previous homeowners had left behind lots of little decorative accents on the walls and ceiling, as well as plenty of ugly built-in accents (think: fluorescent lighting, cheap faucets, flimsy towel bars). It all needed to go.

Even the cabinet hardware on the vanity and built-in dresser screamed for an update. Everything just felt retro, and not in a “cool,” on-trend kind of way. Instead, the room was filled top to bottom with scratched up old pieces of wood, metal, and plastic that combined to give the space the type of appeal that made us avoid opening the door at all.

First things first with our bathroom updates: I started by setting aside one weekend on our calendar to cross off all the items on my to-do list for the makeover. Then, after the products had all been delivered to our front door from The Home Depot, I pulled on my paint-covered jeans and an old t-shirt, and got to work tearing out and replacing things, one piece at a time.

1. Replace Old Towel Bars

I kicked things off by removing the old towel bars from the walls. Tthen I unpacked our replacement towel bar (from the Everly collection by Delta), laying all of the materials and instructions on the floor.

The manual directed me to the correct drill bit, which I used to pre-drill new holes in the wall. I then installed the included metal wall anchors.

To finish, I screwed the new metal plate over the anchors, and then I popped the new towel bar connections over the plate with the bar snugly sandwiched in between.

2. Add Coordinating Hooks and Holders

Since we decided to replace all of the mismatched wall hooks and bars with coordinating pieces from Delta’s Everly collection, I was able to follow the exact same install instructions all the way around the room.

The first towel bar took about 20 minutes to install as I worked my way slowly through the process step by step. I was able to install the rest of the pieces in a matter of minutes—less than five, to be exact—because, by then, I had the process down pat. My only regret after installing the new towel ring, hook, and toilet paper holder? That I hadn’t done it years ago!

3. Install Overhead LED Lighting

Another thing that needed to go immediately (if not sooner) was the old fluorescent light fixture.

To do so, I shut the power off to the overhead unit, unscrewed the old piece from the ceiling, and disconnected the wires. Then, I followed the same steps in backward order with our new fixture—a pretty brushed nickel flushmount light. I kept the instructions that came with the light close at hand for reference and troubleshooting.

After turning the power back on, the room was filled with bright, happy LED light.

4. Replace The Faucet

One thing that happened a little before this weekend makeover was the installation of a new granite countertop. We love the updated look, and certainly didn’t have the heart to re-install the old builder-basic faucet that had been put in place back in the 1980s. So, during my weekend bathroom update project, I followed the instructions from Delta to install a new brushed nickel widespread faucet.

The pretty new faucet added instant modern style to the space, and it also functions a lot better than the old single-handle model that we had used up until this point. If you aren’t able to do anything else in your weekend bathroom makeover, make this update your top priority!

5. Install New Drawer Pulls

Despite the small square footage of this bathroom, it actually sports a ton of storage. The vanity features two drawers and sizable space behind two sliding doors under the sink. You may have spotted the built-in dresser in the before photos—it’s situated behind the door to the bathroom.

In order to make the two match with the other accents in the space, I replaced all of the mismatched handles on both with new satin nickel cabinet pulls from Delta’s Everly collection. They say that handles are the “jewelry” of any space, and this quick update proves that a little sparkle can do wonders for modernizing a space, too.

6. Add Some Greenery

If you’ve gotten this far in your own weekend bathroom updates and things are feeling kind of sterile, it’s probably because you need to bring in some color and softness.

Balance out all of the hard tile and cold metal surfaces you’ve installed thus far with hints of greenery, like potted succulents and air plants. These low maintenance plants love humidity, so they should thrive, even in a confined space like a bathroom.

7. Lay Down A Rug

One of my personal favorite ways to add style and sophistication to a utilitarian room like a bathroom is with a formal patterned area rug. These do just as well in a bathroom as they do in any room of your house. Consider switching out that run-of-the-mill high pile, rubber-backed bath mat with a pretty oriental-inspired version.

Don’t forget to lay down a non-slip rug pad underneath to help wick away moisture and so that the rug feels nice and soft underfoot while you’re doing your makeup at the vanity mirror.

8. Hang Framed Art

Now for a few finishing touches—things like vintage framed art, a vanity accessory set, and new coordinating linens (we love bath towels that feature a slight pattern and fringed edges to step things up a notch!). By incorporating a handful of these types of decorative accents into your bathroom, the space will ultimately feel finished, modern, and cozy.

When I started this project on Saturday morning, I was surrounded by dated details covered with dust and ugly fluorescent light, but by the time I wrapped things up on Sunday night, our small bathroom was the prettiest room in our house.

I had high hopes that these bathroom updates would leave me with a space that I could be proud of, but the finished look goes way beyond anything I could have imagined—and I still can’t believe how inexpensive and quick it was to pull off. It just goes to show that, when it comes to home, a little love and elbow grease both go an extra long way.

Browse our Bath section for bathroom faucets, bathroom hardware and more for your bathroom update. You can get more bathroom ideas, too, here on The Home Depot Blog.

The post 8 Bathroom Updates You Can Pull Off In One Weekend appeared first on The Home Depot Blog.

Carrie Waller