The main aim of a home improvement is to make it more appealing and well-suited for your needs. This means that by the end of a few projects, you should be happy with your home and enjoy both its function and appeal. In this case, you can be assured of having used your improvement dollars in the best possible way. You can look for ideas of home improvements on the internet, making sure to focus on those that agree with your needs, so that you can be your happiest whenever you’re home. If you have a geeky side, and you’d like to make sure that it reflects in your home’s chosen aesthetic, there are a few projects that you can work on, and some suggestions are outlined below.
1. A Star Wars-Themed Home Theater
If you’re a Star Wars fan, there are a number of details that you can add during your next home improvement project to reflect this. To begin with, a minor detail that you can use to create the right ambiance and set the stage is lighting. Choose multicolored bars of light that will look similar to the sabers and other elements that are popular in the film. Make sure that you add them to the right places so that they don’t interfere with the enjoyment of the film, especially if you use a projector. You should minimize the infiltration of light from the outdoors, both natural and artificial so that you have the perfect theater.
Get creative with the seating, making use of something like wooden cargo crates that you add some padding to so that they’re comfortable. This will be unique and affordable, and you can make any changes that you’d like to make without the hassle of lugging around heavy seating or even having to demolish built-in seating. Remember to get a good sound system and install acoustic panels that will optimize the quality of the sound in the theater and also do away with reverb and echo. The floor can be upgraded to a wooden one, or you can use a material like cork so that you have a comfortable and beautiful floor that helps with sound too.
2. Sci-Fi Murals
You can also make use of sci-fi murals on your home’s walls to add some life to them if they’re currently blank or have art that doesn’t appeal to the geek in you. This is a home improvement project that’s easy enough for you to manage by yourself as it involves shopping for the murals that you like and hanging them up. You can also find a few inspirations from the internet, which will work perfectly for you when you get them printed by a professional printer who can produce good quality. For the murals to have the best impact, you should hang them at eye level which will make them easier to appreciate.
You can choose artwork that has bold, vibrant colors, or stick to art that matches with the colors of other items in the house. Depending on the size of the space in which you want to place the murals, you can either add them all around or choose a single wall to use as the gallery wall for your geeky art. You don’t need to have an art theory PHD to come up with the perfect design that will leave your guests in awe. You can simply check what other people have done with their own art and make use of whatever appeals the most to you. Apart from hanging the murals, you can also place them on shelves and add wall paneling so that the entire project looks perfect.
3. Hidden Rooms and Passages
If you have the space and budget, you can make your next geeky home improvement project one that involves constructing hidden rooms and passages around your home. These will make your home a lot of fun, especially for game nights during which you can play hide-and-seek or something similar. You can even simply give guests a tour through your home, showing them the rooms and passages that they may never have known were there. This can make for an impressive conversation starter, not to mention that it adds to your home’s square footage.
For this project, you’ll need to work with professional construction contractors who can do a safe and appealing job for you. They need to be able to avoid damaging electrical and plumbing in the house while they create a space that you’ll be happy to spend time in and show off to your guests. Some ideas that you can use include turning a wardrobe into an entrance to another space, designing a false wall, or even using a mirror to conceal the entrance to the hidden room. A bookshelf would also work perfectly for this, as would a huge wall mural of your favorite fandom.
4. Vintage Arcade Cabinets
Few things come close to the appeal that vintage arcades have, so this is another great idea for your next geeky home improvement. Arcades can be fun and liven up any space in which they’re placed, so find the right spot and set one up. You can find an arcade cabinet on sale if you patiently search for one. If you can’t find one, you have the option of constructing your own. In this case, even if it doesn’t actually work, it will still serve the purpose of being an appealing addition to your home.
If you want one that you can use, look for one that you can set up and put to work, which is bound to bring some nostalgia to your home. To set up a functional arcade cabinet, you may have to install a board to secure the monitor and remember to leave some space that leaves the speakers exposed. Reapply laminate to make your piece look as good as new, a step that will prove to be well worth it for you. Go ahead and decorate the machine with graphics and characters from your favorite arcade games and the feeling will be complete.
5. An Astronomy-Themed Bedroom
If you’re into astronomy and you simply love everything to do with the cosmos, this is a home improvement project that you’ll love. You can give your bedroom an astronomy theme so that every single night, you feel that you are one with the stars. This is another project that will call for you to leverage lighting, as well as art and accessories. Depending on how big of a change you’d like to make, you may not even have to hire home builders. That’s because you can simply repaint the walls, and buy lamps that cast shapes or even stars around them onto the walls. Candles and dimmable lamps will help you create a warm, cozy glow that adds a mysterious feel to your bedroom.
6. Comic-Inspired Lamps
You can decorate your home and light it up by making use of something like comic-inspired lamps around the house. This won’t take a lot of actual work on the house since you’re simply adding ready pieces to the spaces you choose. That said, you could buy ready-made lamps or have a good metal artist that you know make some for you. Go as large and niche as you like, since these pieces will be impressive conversation pieces if they look good and match with the overall design of the spaces you use them in. The nature of this improvement project makes it easy to use it alongside other projects that you work on.
Make sure to invest in good quality so that you can keep the pieces with you for a long time to come. At some point in the future, you may be able to resale them for an impressive price if you like. You could also build a collection that’s going to make your home a marvel for fellow geeks who may visit. Whatever happens, it’s important for you to invest in good quality, so you can get one item at a time until you have as many as you want.
7. A Fantasy-Themed Garden
Your geek-inspired home improvements don’t have to be limited to the indoors because you can also design a fantasy-themed garden. For this improvement project, you may want to shop around for a landscaping contractor who can help you achieve the outcome that you want. To succeed at this project, the end result should be whimsical and magical, so start by choosing a theme. This theme will guide the details that go into the project, and it will depend on the kind of fantasy world that you’d like to create. Some details that could make the space fit the bill are things that will make the space look more magical, such as a fairy house or even a small waterfall.
For this, you can benefit considerably by working with an experienced professional who can envision what you tell them you want. That’s because you should be able to borrow some ideas from existing projects and also let your imagination run free. Experiment with various elements and see what you can come up with, leveraging the help of the professional to be able to actualize what you want in the best possible way. You can make use of either bold or pastel colors with success as long as you plan well for the project, keeping the final look that you want in mind.
8. Steampunk-Inspired Decor
You can take a more industrial approach to make your home geekier if this is something that appeals to you. For a steampunk-inspired improvement project, remember to think about colors, materials, and textures. These can all play a role in making sure that your home’s final appearance is professional, and that it appeases your inner geek. Work on this improvement project bearing in mind that once you put the foundation and basics in place, the rest may be easy for you to do.
To get the steampunk look, you will incorporate both industrial and Victorian elements. Dark colors and muted shades will take precedence, as will antique and refurbished elements such as furniture. There are many accessories that you can add to make sure that the space truly feels the part, including terrestrial globes, maps, small wood jewelry boxes, and even leather furniture. You may not have to hire a remodeling contractor for this project unless you decide to make changes to your home’s structure so that it embodies the improvements and decor that you add perfectly.
9. Custom Gaming Furniture
There’s a good chance that you’re an avid gamer or you enjoy a game every now and then. If this is the case, you can level up your gaming experience by getting some custom gaming furniture. This improvement project will help you enjoy gaming a lot more and also improve your home’s appeal. To begin with, you should invest in ergonomic chairs to make sure that you don’t end up with random aches and pains or even serious posture issues. You can get this furniture either brand-new from the shop or thrift it from a gamer who’s making an upgrade.
10. A Mos Eisley Cantina-Themed Bar
Finally, if your home has a bar, you can convert it into a Mos Eisley Cantina-themed one. In addition to using the relevant decor and layout, you can create a custom drink menu and make use of themed glassware. This will make the experience of sitting down at the bar one that’s more realistic. This will be even more so the case if you add decorations such as coasters and speakers from which you play cantina music. This improvement project is another one that could be quite easy to work on depending on the current status of your home’s bar.
With these 10 home improvement projects, you’ll have a much easier time feeling at home since your geeky side will have something to enjoy. Your home is also going to be more valuable, especially if you make use of good-quality elements and get a generally good job done for each project. Remember that it’s a good idea to plan thoroughly if you want to get the best outcome and avoid regrets and additional expenses in cases such as when you have to redo a single project.