7 Clever Tips for Keeping Your Freshly Renovated Home Looking New

A new home or a freshly renovated home is a wonderful experience of fresh smells, pristine surfaces, and first-time records. 

Walking across the threshold, you may feel that your gleaming new home could never be as beautiful as it is on that first day, but that's not necessarily true. With a little care and attention each year, your home can stay looking brand new for many years.

Believe it or not, the steps to keep your home design looking new are simple and easy to work into a busy schedule.

1. Wash Both Sides of the Windows

Cleaning your home, you may spray and wipe the inside of your windows, but what about the slowly building patina of dust on the outside of your windows. A little attention to detail and an outdoor squeegee are all you need to keep your home looking bright and clean each month.

2. Treat Scuffs and Stains Promptly

Accidents happen, and homes often collect little marks of family history in the form of scuffs and stains. But the faster you treat a stain, the easier it is to remove. You can often buff a scuff out of your paint and/or apply a few dabs of touch-up paint to make your wall perfect again. You can polish scuffed furniture, wax the occasional floor scrape, and stain-treat your carpets with immediate skill. This way, your home will remain beautifully blemish-free year after year.

3. Wipe Down Your Walls and Baseboards

It's easy to forget that your walls need cleaning as well as your counter and floors. Every couple of months, take a sponge with a bucket of warm water and a splash of Pine-Sol or similarly pleasant-smelling gentle soap. Dipping and wringing the sponge often, wipe down your walls and pay special attention to the upper corners and the lower baseboards where dust tends to collect. Change out the water each time it becomes murky - you will be amazed just how much dirt you pull from the walls - and how easy it is to keep your walls pristine with this method.

Pro Tip: Dust the walls with a Swiffer, or elastic a damp hand towel to the flat Swiffer head to wipe those high and hard-to-reach stretches of wall.

4. Dust Light Fixtures, Vents, and Ceiling Corners

Dust can build up above your head in the light fixtures, vents, and upper corners. Stop the creep of dinginess by getting rid of dust where it lurks. Get up on a safe step-stool or ladder and wipe down all your ceiling fixtures and vent covers. You may want to cover your hair, nose, and mouth with bandanas, as this is very dust work. Don't forget those ceiling corners and ceiling fan blades.

5. Annual Steam Cleaning for Carpets and Drapes

Having your carpets professionally cleaned every few years will extend their lifespan and fluffiness, but you don't need to bring in professionals. Rent a steam cleaner from your nearest department or hardware store for just one day. Then run the cleaner over your carpets until the extracted liquid tank is almost clear - milky instead of dirt-colored. 

Then use the attachment to treat your hanging drapes and upholstery as well. This is a wonderful way to keep your fabrics and carpets fresh and your home looking beautifully pristine for one Saturday of work per year.

6. Build a Habit to Tidy & Wipe As You Go

Of course, one of the hallmarks of a home that looks new is all the gleaming clean surfaces and organized furniture. You can maintain that look just by building a habit of tidying and wiping down surfaces as you pass through. Get in the routine of grabbing loose items off tables and counters and dropping them into organized boxes as cubes or baskets kept artfully on nearby shelves.

Keep wet wipes or surface cleaner and paper towels in each room so that if you see a smudge, you can wipe it away immediately. Those gleaming, empty surfaces will make your home feel like you just stepped into its magazine-worthy spaces for the first time, no matter how familiar you become with the beautiful space.

7. Invest in Your Exterior

Lastly, be sure to put a little time and thought into your exterior. Maintain the landscaping or transform it into a clean, beautiful new design. Keep the walk swept to spotlight those beautiful clean lines and occasionally brush or hose down your siding to keep the outside of your home looking as new and freshly built as the interior.

Renovating your home to a new, pristine condition is a wonderful way to enjoy your house more fully, enhance its beauty, and make the whole place feel new again. Your home can look bright and fresh for many years with just a little regular care and attention to detail. Ready to renovate your home so it feels like a brand new construction again? Contact us today!