Please let me give you an example of the relationship between home improvement & maintenance.  I have cats and when they were kittens they decided that certain spots on my rugs were litter boxes.  After much effort, and occasional loss of temper, I managed to get them to use the litter box but the damage to the rugs was done. I tried maintenance like cleaning and things like that but in the end I wound up cutting huge chunks of my fairly new rugs up to get rid of the smell and stop the cats from damaging more of the rugs.  My wife loves hardwood floors so now she has decided that since the cats have ruined the rugs, and my attempts to clean the rugs have not been totally successful.

A different example of the relationship between home improvement & maintenance is my back porch gutters.  I have my roof, which of course has gutters on it, and then my deck is all in my back yard.  I live in snow country so the snow can accumulate in the gutters if not watched.  I have been maintaining the situation for a couple years by getting a telescoping device that allows me to get the snow off my roof so it cannot get into my house by melting. But, it is obvious that this maintenance is temporary and home improvement by way of new eaves is necessary.  But this is the dynamic between home improvement & maintenance, you do maintenance for as long as you can and then eventually home improvement is needed. 

It is just a matter of getting a good and knowing when it is the right time to get on with some serious home improvements. Sometimes this can be as simple as installing an American pool table in your basement or spare room. Rather than cluttering up your storage rooms having a good quality slate bed pool table will provide a fun leisure alternative and may even increase the value of your home through the lifestyle it is associated with. You can find cheap pub pool tables for sale in auctions and classified ads and this can lead to a real improvement in lifestyle as well as your home.