All humble improvements look different. We all face things that bug us each day about our home, but may feel daunted about trying to fix them all at once. This is why the the Humble Upgrades approach is so effective – it breaks the large and discouraging concept of home improvement down into digestible morsels. Every now and then I will post simple and creative solution to something that annoys me in our house – these are the small uglies.
I challenge you to find something faded, broken, or just ugly in your house and think about an EASY fix, and then make that your next project. A quick fix can sometimes equal a great reward. In my case, I just needed shiny silver tape to make a simple adjustment that gave my refrigerator back its new look!
I call this project The Handle. I was introduced to this small ugly when my refrigerator handle weirdly and inexplicably began to fade, giving it a very unappealing look. So this became my next simple project!
So what did I do? First, I was horrified because I love our fridge and it has always been good to us. It was a bit of a splurge and we want to keep it going for a long time. When the old door handle broke off, we ordered a replacement part but it came with a far inferior paint job where the silver coloring would just smudge away from fingers touching it. Yuck! So I thought hard about what I could do to improve the situation without spending a lot of time or money. I looked closely at the issue and realized I just needed to bring the silver color back. Paint would not work well here. But tape would! Yes, I fixed my expensive refrigerator with tape, and it really came out pretty good!
What I used:
I purchased some simple 3M Silver Aluminum Foil Tape from Amazon. The cost was less than $3 for the roll, and I knew I would have extra for future repairs.
I also ordered a Precision Hobby Knife for about $6.00 so that I could get a nice clean cut just on the raised and messy part of the handles (both freezer and fridge). This is a great tool you can always find more uses for!
The key takeaway for you here as you plan your own upgrades is how sometimes you can do very little for a BIG result!
The Side-by-Side
From grimy and yuck to shiny and neat! I love it! The handles still look great and have stood up to a husband and my two sons. So far so good!
OK so what's next? It is so fun to have a project, and even better to enjoy the rewards of your hard work! Go back to Home and see some other fun ideas!
