Upgrading your space is a significant move, especially when you’re planning to move and sell your home. It can improve your living situation, and even make your mood better. After all, a beautiful home is a happy home. But what if you don’t have the time, experience, or budget for extravagant home improvements?
A home improvement project does not have to break the bank or require months of work to make your home a better place to live in. There are so many often-overlooked areas in a house that one can focus on that won’t cost an exorbitant amount. With the right mindset, a good eye, and just a bit of elbow grease, you can also give your home a boost. Read on and see which home improvement projects you can do on a short timetable and a shoestring budget.
1. Give your space a fresh coat of paint.
A pop of color can easily improve a home’s appearance. If you’d like, you can opt to paint the exterior of your home or even some rooms inside. But if you’re short on time and budget, painting a few accents can already do so much. Painting your front door can spruce up your home’s entrance, and painting an accent wall inside can bring more focus into an area and brighten up that corner.
2. Add more plants.
Plants and flowers are an inexpensive way to improve your home’s landscaping, not to mention an instant mood booster. Go for flowers that can last the whole year round to get more out of your expenses, and contact local sellers for plants that only need to be re-potted so you won’t have to grow them from scratch. Honing your green thumb can also be another fun hobby. An extra bit of greenery is an easy way to upgrade.
3. Improve existing fixtures and parts of the home.
Look around and see which features of your home need a tuning-up: it could be your lighting fixtures, lamps, coat racks, or even your patio outside. Swap out old lighting fixtures for more modern designs, as a sleeker or quirky look can add that extra touch of character to space. You can also have your patio or deck’s coat updated. For this, you might have to consult a deck coating specialist to be sure (and so you won’t spend unnecessary amounts of cash to fix a botched deck).
4. Hang up (or make!) some wall art.
Wall art, whether it’s a vintage film poster or a large painting, is sure to add interest to an otherwise plain wall. Many local art and photography shops sell original prints and even full canvases of their pieces, so it’s a good option. You can also buy some cheap frames that can house your own art or photos and arrange them on a wall in a way that fits the space best. Wall art is also easy to replace, so when you decide you’d like to change it, doing so won’t make you break a sweat.
5. Repaint or replace old pieces of furniture.
An old side table can still be improved with a few touch-ups, like painting it a different color or switching out the handles to its drawers. The same goes for some parts of your upholstery– you can switch out the cases for your throw pillows and add a cozy blanket to drape over your couch. Alternatively, don’t be afraid to let go of furniture that no longer fits your vision for your home. You can still add little improvements without having to change the entire layout of a certain spot.
Improving a home doesn’t have to be too taxing on you or your wallet. It can be achieved by looking at improvements and repairs differently and finding ways to work with the time and budget you have. A little goes a long way, and in this case, small improvements can make a big impact visually. Just make sure that you’re not stressing yourself out too much and that you don’t bite off more than you can chew on the project you do go with.
When in doubt, feel free to ask some experts for their opinions. Doing a bit of extra research online can help, too, as many people also explore small home improvement projects and share their experiences in forums and blogs on the Internet. At the end of the day, go with the project that suits your current living space. Best of luck, and happy fixing!
