You can practically have a new home without buying a new one or spending a fortune. But, if you don’t have a lot of money, can you still decorate and have your home decked out the way you want to?
Of course you can!
Photo by Scott Christopher Homes – Discover living room design ideas
If your current home decor is dull and boring, but your budget causes you to be hesitant to spend the money to completely redecorate, don’t despair.
There are some great ways to give your home a nice updated look without much hassle involved.
Painting & Flooring
There are a number of things you can do to update your home. The two things that make the biggest improvement and the largest return on investment are painting and flooring.
Painting: Painting a house is the cheapest decorating method of all, whether it’s outside or inside. All you have to do is throw down some drop cloths and spend some time painting. You can give your home an amazing look in just hours by picking out colors that warm and enhance living areas.
House Tour of a Modern Home Interior with a Unique Look (howtobuildahouseblog.com)
Make sure to choose colors that are neutral and rich if you are looking to sell your home. Painting will make your home look sparkling and very appealing to a new buyer if your home is on the market for sale.
Make sure to use earth tone colors that will ensure that it will match with any lifestyle and it will never go out of style. You can even add some trim to make a room classier. Make sure to remove all wallpaper and keep it simple and elegant.
Flooring: It is a good idea to update the carpet and the carpet padding. This alone will give any home a face lift and it will also increase the value of a home. New carpet always makes a house look better and cleaner, and it is an easy and relatively inexpensive update.
However, when you replace existing carpeting, laminate or flooring with hardwood, that is a good investment. Most home buyers are attracted to wood floors because of how beautiful and how warm they make the room feel.
You can do many styles of flooring yourself. You might want to take a free class at Home Depot or Lowe’s or even get a book or DVD on how to lay tile for instance, but it’s totally doable. The money you save is incredible since floor covering is one part of the cost to get a new floor while labor is the kicker that will break your budget.
Cabinets & Closets
Cabinets: You can update your kitchen doing simple things such as reface the cabinets with new doors and drawers.
Another option, a cheaper option is to refinish your cabinets or to paint them for a different look. There are paints that go on over previously painted surfaces without any stripping or sanding necessary. You can go for a particular color or you can go for a ‘distressed’ wood look which is quite beautiful.
If you choose to replace the cabinet front doors, paint the sides and rest of the cabinet and then put on the new front doors and you will have new cabinets.
Closets: There is no better way to change the look and feel of a room than to add stylish closet doors to it. You can replace your wooden door with frosted glass to create a contemporary or modern look or you can replace your wardrobe, linen or pantry door with a floor to ceiling mirror door to make the room look larger.
Or you can only repaint your closet door for a great new look.
Furniture & Art
Consider how you would like the room to feel. For example, more open, larger, safe, cozy, or organized. Place the largest pieces of furniture in first, such as the sofa. It is a common mistake to push all the furniture against the walls, and have too much empty space in the middle. Try to avoid this.
Maybe you should check outlet stores for great prices on furniture. If you have an open mind about décor and how you can mix and match, you’ll end up further ahead moneywise. Consider the space you have and buy accordingly.
Keep in your mind that less cluttered always looks better and having a few beautiful pieces is always better than having many mediocre pieces.
Economically is to check garage sales, ads in the paper, Craigslist and even eBay for great buys in furniture.
Same goes for art or pictures. Consider framing posters. Hang all pictures at eye level as if you were standing in your room.
Add accessories
Before doing that be careful not to clutter the area. The best decorating plan is to start with one room and work that room until it’s completed and then move on to the next room and so on.
Nothing can spruce up your living space like green leafy plants and floral arrangements.
Add curtains. How much light do you want in the room? Is there a beautiful view from the window? Perhaps a valance and mini blinds are all that is needed. Capture more light. Hang a mirror so that it faces a bright window. A sheer curtain adds privacy, but still allows light.
Pick up accent pieces like vases or plates for display at garage sales, bargain basement stores. If you have a good eye for color and know your décor, it’s amazing the little things you can pick up for colorful accents.
You should change all the fixtures to give the bath and the kitchen that new look. You can also replace the shower door and the aluminum tracks.
Conclusions
You will be happy with the new look of your home if you follow all or some of these tips on how to give your home a face lift. Since you spend so much time in your home, the money spent will be well worth it. You will love your new home without buying a new one or spending a fortune.
