Give the Woodwork in Your Old House a Facelift

Examine the baseboards in your old house. How do they look? If they're like mine, they are a bit beat up: dull, dented, scratched and scuffed. Yesterday I began prying the shoe molding and baseboards loose in the back entry area of my house so that I can strip, re-stain and re-polyurethane them. If you're looking to fill a weekend with a project, I guarantee this will qualify.

What difference does it make whether your baseboards look old or new? I can think of four reasons to tackle this project.

1. One day you're going to want to sell the house. I know most of us have walked into a home where the owners have resided for 50 years. If no remodeling has occurred, you already know the reaction the house condition elicits. You think to yourself, "This place is so neglected it needs a whole team of people to fix it." Needless to say, often when a home such as this is sold, the price is rock bottom. If you want your place to get a good price and look enticing, chip away at the small stuff now. I did this with my last home and by the time I went to sell it, my friend, a real estate agent, called it a "diamond."

2. Enhancing a physical space can boost your mood. If you've walked into a teenager's room, you understand the "I don't want to be here" feeling. There's just nothing soothing or relaxing about a messy room with no sense of order or cleanliness. The same is true with the other rooms in your home. A negative surrounding can actually zap your energy, while a bright, cheery space will allow you to feel just that: bright and cheery.

3. Working with your hands can elevate your happiness. The brain actually lights up in areas  that bring a sense of happiness when we perform certain tasks with our hands. Controlling a computer mouse is not one of these tasks, but gardening, playing piano and other creative endeavors that require fine motor skills are. (I've been looking for the actual study and can't lay my hands on it, but a psychologist presented on this topic at a conference I attended a few years ago.)

4. Your parents might visit. If there’s one thing that brings a parent a sense of security that their children actually know what they’re doing and have the skills to make it through life, it’s keeping your house in order. No, it doesn’t mean that you actually have your act together, but on the surface, you look stellar. And you can keep up that facade for the duration of a visit, I’m sure!

Fixing and improving all the little things in your home may seem tedious, but you’ll be surprised at how much you enjoy the outcome. The next time you walk by something that you know needs attention, decide to take some action on it.