I recently had some guests over for dinner.  When I gave them the obligatory "house tour", the ladies remarked that my home was "just like a model [home]"

But it's not what you think.  I am not writing this post to brag about my so called "model home", but to tell my readers about an inexpensive home improvement that will surely remind buyers of a model home when the time comes to sell.  (Is it still called "curb appeal" when it's indoors?  I doubt it...)

Also, this is probably my favorite home improvement we've ever done-- and we've done a bunch.

But I digress. 

My husband recently purchased some speakers from Amazon.com to mount in the ceiling.  (Yes, Amazon does electronics too.)  If you are interested, you can click on the speakers above to see exactly what he bought. 

His original intention was simply to add surround sound to our living room, but he ended up wiring our entire home for sound.  We have no kids, so our house is relatively small at 2000 sq. feet. 

When we had our guests come to visit a few days ago, we had some light jazz playing quietly all throughout the house.  That is what prompted the model home comment.  I have to say, it really is impressive, especially considering its cost and time involved.

We needed eight speakers to thoroughly wire the house for sound.  As I mentioned, he purchased the speakers from Amazon.com.  Eight high quality speakers are only $300 at Amazon; and we thought that was a good deal.  We used two for "surround", put two more in the hallway, two in our bedroom, one in the tiny laundry room and one in our home office.

From Amazon:  The high-efficiency design allows the HFW6R to operate on as little as 10 watts of power, but it isn't sheepish -- this speaker can handle the heft of a wide range of home theater and stereo receivers (up to 100 watts).

These speakers should be all that ever you need, unless you want to have the volume high enough to summon the police.  But really, my husband forced me to watch Star Wars with him as soon as they were installed and the surround sound was very loud and dramatic and impressive.  I was actually able to tolerate the movie and everything.

Installation is fairly simple.  He cut holes in the ceiling and just popped them in.  (Other than dust falling on his face, it seemed to go pretty quick.)  He then went up into the attic and ran the wires from all eight speakers down the living room wall and into a "plate."  There is only one very obvious place for a TV / stereo set-up in my home, so the next buyer will simply plug right in and have incredible thoughout-the-home surround sound.

The reason I said that this was a $700 home improvement is only because I was being conservative.  It actually only cost us $300, plus my husband's time. 

We also called around to find out how much professional installation would be and it ran about $60 per hour.  Since my inexperienced husband did it in about six hours, I figure a pro could do it in a lot less time.  But even if the professional also took six hours, that would be $360 for him or her and $300 for eight speakers. 

That's about $660.

Also, it should be noted that adding only two speakers for movie surround sound would be an excellent improvement in and of itself.  That would only cost you $75 (for the speakers) and about $120 for installation.  So...about $200 to turn your living room into a movie theater. 

I promise, you will love this if you do it.  Watching movies at home is so much better!  ...as long as Michael doesn't make me watch Star Wars again.  I get it:  Use the force already.

P.S.-- Yes, I know that an appraiser will not add any value to a home that is wired for sound.  However, this tiny improvement will definitely impress potential buyers.