Thinking about what you can do to spruce up your home…without shelling out tens of thousands of dollars? Let’s face it, home improvement can get very expensive, even if you’re doing some of it yourself. Here are nine ideas for creating a fresher, more polished look in your home without spending more than a few hundred to several thousand dollars. Many of these tips focus on the kitchen and bathroom because these rooms are critical to keep updated for your home’s resale value. Choose where you can afford to go high end and where it makes sense to stay on the inexpensive side. There are plenty of stylish options these days that don’t require draining your bank account.
1. Install a new kitchen backsplash. Tile is an obvious choice for a backsplash, but it isn’t your only option. Consider alternatives such as tin ceiling tiles, wooden beadboard, stainless steel, or even chalkboard or magnetic paint. Choose whatever complements your countertops, walls, and appliances.
2. Replace cabinet hardware. Handles and knobs not only get worn over the years, their shape, color, or finish can make your kitchen appear outdated. Bring a whole new energy to the kitchen just by switching out the hardware. Best of all, this is a relatively inexpensive endeavor. Be sure to measure existing knobs and pulls so that you can replace hardware without having to drill new holes in your cabinets.
3. Replace the faucets. Faucets that are ten to fifteen years old or more definitely can date a kitchen or bathroom. Replace your most frequently used faucets to introduce new shine in your rooms. Today’s faucets also can offer a whole new range of added functions.
4. Give your cabinets a makeover. Kitchen cabinets are one of the most expensive replacements you can make in a home. If a full replacement budget is out of the question, get estimates from a refacing company. These companies can remove cabinet doors and drawers, refinish the cabinet boxes, then add brand-new doors and drawers. They add a fresh coat of paint to make the entire set look brand new. While this isn’t a cheap financial undertaking, it’s likely to cost considerably less than a full cabinet set replacement.
5. Add architectural interest. It’s amazing how much interest you can add to a room just by installing crown molding, a chair rail, new baseboard, or wainscoting. If you can do it yourself, take precise measurements and have a home improvement store pre-cut the pieces to size. If you hire someone, the labor cost should not be very expensive for this type of work.
6. Give your appliances a facelift. If you can’t afford to replace your mismatched appliance, check with the manufacturer and see if you can order a different color facing panel in stainless steel, black, or white—whichever color matches the rest of your appliances. This is much less expensive than the cost of a new appliance.
7. Improve lighting. Take a look at lighting throughout your house to prioritize which rooms would benefit most from replacement. In the kitchen or dining room, a new fixture or fabric covered drum shade could freshen up a tired room. Pendant lighting over a kitchen island or bar is still in mode for adding style and interest. If the blades of a ceiling fan light are dated, you can often replace the blades or paint them for a more current look.
8. Clean or replace carpeting. Worn or dirty carpeting can create a dingy feeling inside the home. Professional carpet cleaning done twice a year (depending on your household) is usually enough to keep carpets in decent shape for more than a few years. For less than a couple of hundred dollars, you can brighten up your entire space. Or if you’re willing to put some elbow grease into it, you can rent a steam cleaner and do it yourself for much less. If carpeting is far too old and worn to be spruced up by a deep clean, replace it in the most treaded-upon rooms. You might choose a more durable fiber for these rooms to cut down on wear and tear. Or check out the pricing of flooring tile that is made to look like hardwood. This kind of tile comes in versions as low as three dollars per square foot.
9. Improve closet organization and functionality. If you live in an older style house, closet space is probably tight. Even if you have decent space, you may not have enough shelves to create proper organization. Choose from an array of module closet manufacturers who specialize in transforming any type of space into more functional units of everyday storage. Sometimes just the addition of strategically placed wire shelving is enough to improve functionality.