Like many homeowners, you may often feel overwhelmed with the number of improvements you need to make to your home. It's hard to see the progress when you're focused on large projects that take months to finish. This week, try focusing on the little improvements that take no more than an afternoon to accomplish and still make a big impact on the resale value of your home. Here are 12 DIY projects you can add to your to-do list and check off in no time.

1. Paint an accent.

If you're looking for a way to liven up a room and don't want to spend a whole weekend painting, try adding an accent wall or spruce up an interior door. It's a small effort that's sure to make a big impact on the look and feel of the room. It's even easier to paint it back to a neutral color if you decide to sell your home in the future. Here's a list of our favorite bold interior doors and a few stylish ideas to accent a wall you likely haven't thought of yet.

2. Update your door hardware.

Replacing your outdated door hardware for a new style and finish is a great way to add a finishing touch to the decor in your home. If your home is full of an outdated finish like bright brass, try updating to something more classic like Satin Nickel or Aged Bronze. Maybe your style is more contemporary and your current door hardware screams traditional. Take the afternoon to get rid of the contradiction and finally bring your home decor together. If you're not sure where to begin when choosing door hardware, our style selector tool is a great place to start your process.

3. Install new lighting.

Just like the hardware in your home, the type of lighting you have installed can make or break a room. Replacing a light fixture may sound intimidating at first, but it's a job any do-it-yourself homeowner can accomplish. Just be sure to follow the manufacturer's instructions and follow one of many tutorials available online.

4. Add crown molding.

Adding crown molding and trim is a simple way to make your home appear more expensive. Crown molding creates a polished look that can take any mediocre room to wow-status in no time. Try prioritizing one room at a time, starting with the most trafficked spaces, for a quick afternoon project. Here's a great tutorial for installing crown molding from DIY Network to help you get started. 

5. Create open shelving.

Open shelving allows you to both stay organized and make a stylish statement without taking up too much space in the room. Show off some of your unique items like family heirlooms and flea market finds while also making it easier to access the items you use on a regular basis. Here's one of our favorite step-by-step tutorials for creating open shelving in a small bathroom.

6. Refresh your grout.

Overtime, the grout in your bathroom and around the tiles in your floors can build up with too much dirt, mildew, or even mold and become a stained mess. Cleaning up and refreshing your grout so it looks brand new is a great way to make your house appear more polished and taken care of. A simple search on Pinterest will turn up numerous tutorials full of tried and true grout cleaning methods.

7. Spruce up your hollow core doors.

Is your home full of cheap, hollow core doors? Replacing all the doors in your home is expensive and requires a lot of time to accomplish. Try sprucing up your hollow core doors with one of these budget-friendly projects. You'll be surprised at the end result!

8. Clean the unnoticed.

There are several items in your home that tend to collect dust over the years that unless you make a point to take a look, you may never notice. If you're listing your home for sale, these forgotten places could cause potential buyers to think you didn't care for your home as well as they'd like. Take some time this weekend to seek out and clean those often ignored spots like vents, outlets, hardware, back doors, gutters, fence, and lighting fixtures.

9. Upgrade your front door.

The front door is your chance to make the best first impression whether you have guests coming over or just listed your home on the market. According to this year's Cost vs. Value Report from Hanley Wood, replacing your front door has an ROI of 101.8% - the greatest return when compared to many common home remodeling projects. Try adding a splash of color to liven things up or choose a new energy-efficient model for a quick project that is sure to pay off. Don't forget to add a wow-factor with a stylish new handleset. Check out five of our favorite front door looks for inspiration.

10. Repair sidewalk and driveway cracks.

Take some time to identify problem areas before they become a major headache. A crack in your sidewalk or driveway can easily be repaired with a little concrete sealer. If you let them go unattended for too long, you could end up with a bigger and more expensive project.

11. Install new cabinet hardware.

Just like with your interior doors, updating cabinet hardware can take your kitchen or bath from outdated to modern in a matter of 30 minutes or less. If you're not sure how to choose the right hardware for your home, try matching the finish with existing lighting and plumbing or follow our guide to mixing finishes and create a more unique look.

12. Revamp your bathroom or kitchen tile.

If you're bored with the look of your kitchen or bathroom tile, try adding a unique touch with removable vinyl tile decals like Tile Tattoos®. This is an affordable way to try something new that will take no time at all to install and is easy to remove when you want to try something new.

What other projects can you complete in an afternoon? Comment below to let us know!

Locks, door handles, levers, knobs, whatever you call them, are high-impact details that are often overlooked in a home. We spoke with a two interior designers, J.D. Dick of Cabinetry Ideas and Tom Korecki of Thomas & Jayne Interior Design, to get the scoop on what the pros think of door hardware as it relates to a home’s overall style. Here’s what we learned:

On overall styling in a room or home - 

J.D.: I pay close attention to the client and their character. I like to encourage the growth of their style and their home’s design. I’m not afraid to push a client a little out of their comfort zone, as long as I maintain a core connection to who they are.

Tom: Every client is different; design is about reading the client well and then executing on what is right for them. I believe good design is timeless. Classic doesn’t always mean stodgy and old.

On mixing styles - 

J.D.: I often think about reinterpreting some of the looks from the past. There’s never really an original idea – things get recycled and revamped. A mix of contemporary and traditional finishes allows you to live in a space and develop your style without feeling that everything has to be perfectly matched. It’s more approachable.

 

Tom: I think when you mix it up, it gives everything a little more timeless feel. To me, a well-composed room, even if it was all done in one day, should look like it was done over time and acquired pieces. Having the same finish throughout can make it look more like one era only.

On selecting hardware as a finishing touch - 

J.D.: Door hardware can be the jewelry of the room. Too under-scale doesn’t allow the room to be all that it can be, while overstepping the boundaries can distract from the overall harmony in the room. It’s a pet peeve that often selections like door hardware are easily put on the backburner. A well-thought-out hardware selection is going to be worth the time because it’s a piece that’s could last for the life of your home.

 

Tom: I tell all my clients this: invest in good hardware, it’s the jewelry in the room. Matte Black, Polished Nickel, and Satin Nickel are three finishes that I use most often. Oil-Rubbed Bronze is also fairly timeless.

How door hardware completes a room's style - 

J.D.: Manufacturers like Schlage are important, because they look at the trends and offer designs that can work with those trends to create a cohesive statement. A dark finish is a great way to have a subtle pop against a classic white; sometimes that simple statement is so timeless.

 

Tom: I coordinated the hardware in the master bathroom because I think the nickel is complementary to the spa feel of the room.

 

If you're thinking of upgrading the locks in your home, now is the perfect time! To help you decide which finish is best for your home, be sure to check out our ultimate guide to door hardware finishes.

Minimalist home decor features like right angles, clean geometric shapes, and flat surfaces are beginning to peak in the modern home decor space. These popular features are rooted in the 1920s through 1930s Bauhaus style that was sparked by the Bauhaus art school in Germany - the most influential modernist art school of the 20th century. The Bauhaus design movement began with the goal of uniting art and design to focus on function as much as form to reunite creativity and manufacturing.

 

Here at Schlage, our designers have worked to create the perfect finishing touch for design purists that are interested in the modern look. Introducing: Upland Trim, Northbrook Lever and Collins Deadbolt.

Northbrook lever.

The Northbrook lever is imaginative and refined, offering a new view on minimalist design. This lever packs a punch of style with its unique detailing and inventive transition from square handle to round shank, illustrating a fresh interpretation of true Bauhaus design.

Upland trim.

The Upland trim offers a fresh take on simplistic design by focusing on the beauty of its shape alone. The Upland trim was specifically designed to work with the Northbrook lever, but also pairs nicely with the Century handleset.

Northbrook by Upland.

Northbrook by Upland is inspired by the clean lines and sharp corners of the Bauhaus design movement, making a strong, simplistic statement. This combo suites well with highly contemporary furniture and modern décor and allows homeowners to extend the modern styling of their home to their door hardware without paying the price premium that usually comes with such niche styles.

Collins deadbolt.

The Collins deadbolt stems from Northern Europe where styles like Bauhaus and minimalism flourished, giving it a modern, international flair. The strong lines and square shape of the Collins deadbolt embody refined elegance and provide this trim with a distinct, minimalist appeal. When paired with the Northbrook lever with Upland Trim in a Satin Nickel finish (featured below), the Collins trim takes on a modern, contemporary style.

Which design movement influences your contemporary style most? Comment below to let us know! And if Northbrook by Upland and the Collins Deadbolt are the perfect finishing touch for your home, be sure to share your photos with us on Facebook!