According to statistics, 2020 was one of the biggest years in recorded history for home renovations. Thanks to long-term quarantines, free stimulus money from the government, and many people switching from an office job to working at home, homeowners had more time to work on their homes.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the housing market is on the rise, and the price of real estate has been steadily increasing over the past year. This means that even if you don’t care about remodeling your home for your own enjoyment, it’s a good investment that will be reflected when it comes time to sell your house on the market!

In today’s post, we’re going to take a look at the top 10 best home remodeling ideas that you can start tomorrow to create a friendlier, more modern, and more enjoyable living space. Isn’t it time you had something fresh in your life?

The 10 Best Home Remodeling Ideas For 2021

Remodeling your home doesn’t have to be super-complicated, and you don’t even need to be a professional builder. Today, you can do a quick search on Angie’s List and connect with high-quality, well-reviewed builders, carpenters, painters, stone masons, and technicians who can help you complete your dream renovation!

With that being said, here are the 10 best home remodeling ideas for the year.

1) Installing Bi-Fold Patio Doors

If you’ve been quarantined in the house or you’re working from home, one of the best things that you can do to create a better space for yourself is to replace your boring old porch door with a panoramic bi-fold door system.

Folding doors typically consist of 3 to 5 door panels that can be folded to the side accordion-style to open up the entire doorway. If you live in a climate with fair weather and a fresh breeze, then this is a great way to open up your home to the great outdoors! Even with the doors closed, you’ll still benefit from the extra sunlight and the open feel that’s bound to make you feel more connected with the outside scenery.

If you’re looking for a smaller project, you can install a small 3-door system in your existing patio doorway. On the other hand, if you want to completely revamp your home, then you can install a massive 10 to 15-door system that turns an entire wall of your home into a panoramic folding glass wall!

2) Opening Your Kitchen Wall

If you live in a home that was built between 1980 and 2000, there’s a pretty good chance that your kitchen is a bit dingy. For some reason, the style back then was to close the kitchen off from the rest of the house and make it feel like a dark, dingy appliance storage room.

Today, one of the most common home remodeling projects is to open up the kitchen to the rest of the house by knocking down a wall. Just make sure that you’re not knocking down a load-bearing wall of the home. An experienced builder or architect should be able to help you identify which of the walls in your home are load-bearing and which can be knocked down without a problem.

When you knock down a kitchen wall, you’ll create the illusion of more space and you’ll be able to turn your kitchen into a friendly, open area where your friends and family can congregate over food and drinks. Plus, who doesn’t want to keep up with the family movie or the latest game while they’re cooking?

3) Enclosing Your Back Porch

The CDC recommends that you avoid congregating in close quarters, so if you’re going to throw a house party, why not do it in the backyard? Enclosing your back porch is a great way to bring the party outside and encourage your guests to spend more time enjoying the fresh air.

A screened-in patio will prevent the bugs from biting you, while still allowing a fresh breeze from outside to flow into your home and patio space. You can throw a grill out there and add some accent lighting, tables, and chairs to create the ultimate part space.

Enclosing your back porch is a great remodeling project to accompany a bi-fold door install as well. This will allow you to fully open up your folding doors without having to worry about rain or bugs coming into your home!

4) Complete Your Basement

If your home has a basement, then it’s probably safe to say that it isn’t being used to its maximum potential. Dirty, dingy old basements with a flickering lightbulb in the ceiling are like something out of a 90s horror flick and should be promptly renovated and improved.

The best part? Completing your basement is usually fairly easy. First, you’ll want to add some more lighting to brighten up the space. Then, you may want to extend some water lines to allow for a small bathroom.
Then, you can paint the walls and ceiling, install some carpet or hardwood flooring, and maybe even set up some room dividers to create a separate bedroom.

Once you’ve completed the basics, you can turn your completed basement into a game room, man-cave, she-shed, movie theatre, cocktail lounge, zen garden, or pretty much anything else you could possibly imagine! It’s like adding a whole additional floor to your home.

5) Turn Your Garage Attic Into A FROG

Many homes feature an attic space above the garage. Most people either completely ignore it or use it to store old papers, clothes, and other junk that would be better off put into a storage unit or donated to your local thrift store. So why not turn the space into a FROG (Front Room Over Garage)?

Once you get the junk out of your attic, you can put down some plywood flooring, add some insulation and drywall to the ceiling, and install some lighting. Before long, you’ll have an entirely insulated and enclosed space that can be used as a spare bedroom, studio space, office, or hobby room!

If you’re concerned about the climate, then you can install a window A/C unit in the wall or purchase a small plug-in ceramic heater for the cold winters. As long as the FROG is properly insulated from the rest of the attic, the interior of the space should maintain a steady temperature.

6) Enlarge Your Tiny Closet

Tired of that extra-small half closet that’s wasting space in your bedroom or hallway? Why don’t you expand it a little bit and give yourself the walk-in closet that you always dreamed of?

Most half closets have at least one non-load-bearing wall that you can easily knock down and use to expand the closet space. You might sacrifice a bit of space on the other side of the wall you knock down, but the walk-in closet will be well worth it.

Once you knock down the walls, you can modernize the closet space by installing some LED lighting around the edges, utilize vertical storage space, and put some mirror panels on the walls to make it feel even larger.

7) Install A Kitchen Island

A lot of kitchens either don’t have a kitchen island at all or feature a non-impressive island that nobody even uses, to begin with. If you have the space, then you might consider installing a large kitchen island or expanding your existing island.

This will accomplish several things. For one, you can install cabinetry below the island, which can be used for storage. You could also add some stools and create an expansive breakfast bar where you and your guests can hang out, eat some hors d’oeuvres, and have a couple of cocktails.

Or, if you’re feeling super creative, you can install a stovetop into the island show you can showcase your cooking skills in front of an audience hibachi-style!

8) Upgrade To Smart Appliances And Lighting

Another simple yet effective upgrade that you might consider is upgrading your home appliances and lighting to a smart home system. If you’ve got some extra money, then you might start by upgrading to a smart, self-regulating thermostat, a smart refrigerator, smart washing machine, and smart entertainment center.

If you’re working on a budget, then you can turn all of the lights and electronics in your home into a smart system by installing “smart plugs” that turn average lights and plugs into smart devices. Simply plug all of your lighting fixtures or entertainment devices into your new smart plugs, and then you can control all of the accent lights in your house from your phone!

Both Google and Apple each have their own smart home apps that are free-to-use and can sync with a number of popular smart devices and appliances.

9) Add More Vertical Storage

If you ever have the chance to visit somewhere like Japan or Singapore, where living spaces are smaller than the U.S., you’ll notice that households make far more use of vertical storage space than the average American household.

For example, we’d be willing to bet that there is at least a foot of empty space between the top of your kitchen cabinets and the ceiling. This is all storage space that you could utilize to store extra snacks, pots you don’t use very often, or even the decorations you only bring out once or twice a year.

It’s not just kitchens either! Most people have loads of unutilized vertical storage space in their bedrooms, garages, hallways, and living rooms. So, why not clear up some of the clutter on the ground and on your tabletops and put it up high and out of sight? It will create a more open, modern feel in your house and get rid of some of the clutter at the same time.

10) Upgrade Your Shower

If you’re like many hard-working homeowners, then the few minutes you spend in the shower every day is your respite from the rest of the world. It’s your “you time” that nobody can take away from you or invade.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could upgrade your shower experience from an average household shower to a resort-like experience?
For starters, you could replace that ugly fiberglass tub with an actual ceramic tub. Then, you could line the walls surrounding the tub with a tile backsplash so you don’t have to worry about water getting in the walls. Then, you could replace that ugly old shower head with a large square-shaped waterfall shower head.

Last but not least, if you’re tired of your hot water constantly running out, then you can replace your old water heater with an electric water heater that will provide a never-ending source of hot water!

Final Thoughts

Whether you’re remodeling your home for your own enjoyment or to increase its market value, it’s an investment worth making. If you’re on a budget, then start small or try to utilize low-cost appliances and materials you find on Facebook Marketplace. Even just upgrading the lights in your home is a cheap, affordable upgrade that can make a huge difference.

If you’re working with a bit more money, then consider installing some bi-folds, enclosing your patio, and opening up your kitchen. The more that you can do to open up your space to more natural light, reduce clutter, and knock down oppressive walls, the larger and more inviting your home will feel!