With the crazy economy the way it is right now most people are not able to afford major renovations to their homes. Still, there are a few upgrades that you can make without hiring a contractor or spending a fortune.
Dark or dimly lit interior rooms.
New lights with the light switch in the wall can cost you up to $500 a light if you factor in the cost of wiring and the repair of the holes in the wall.
Inexpensive Solution – Buy floor standing torchieres. These floor lamps start as low as $ 45 at Lowes and you can add a wireless switch that adheres to the wall for $20.
Dingy Kitchen Cabinets
New kitchen cabinets can cost upwards of $10,000 to $20,000 dollars. The cost of refacing your old cabinets will usually start around $ 4,000.
Inexpensive solution – Paint your old cabinets yourself and install new knobs. The cost of this option should only run you between $100 to $300. Click here to read hints on painting your cabinets yourself. Below you can see a before and after of a kitchen where the cabinets were simply painted and new knobs added.
Before After
Above are just two solutions for inexpensive ways to upgrade your home. Share with us home improvement projects that you have done in your home or apartment that did not break the bank. We would love for you to email pictures to info@imperfectwomen.com that we could post and share with others.
Tags: home improvements, low cost upgrades, painting kitchen cabinets
Great suggestions! I’ve been thinking of repainting my kitchen cabinets as an inexpensive alternative to replacing them (not an option right now). They need a lot of work though; stripping lots of layers of paint off and sanding. None of the doors close properly and I’m missing knobs here and there. But you’ve inspired me!
I love the wireless switch! I am going to be checking into that pronto.
These are great tips. We recently had new Pergo flooring installed in our kitchen to replace the boring and outdated linoleum-like flooring. I wouldn’t call it an inexpensive, but I think we definately got bang for our buck. It has really opened up the room and made it seem bigger and more welcoming.
I have found that paint, new hardware and lighting can make a huge difference in almost any room. We painted our kitchen last year ($100), installed a new ceiling fan light ($80) and changed out all the handles on our cabinets ($150). Our kitchen looks completely different. In fact, everyone who comes over says they “love” all the new cabinets – LOL!
I’ve had some luck with buying furniture from craigslist, too. Purchased my son’s bedroom set for only $150 and it’s solid maple!
These are wonderful tips. I’ve mentioned before that I rent and of course, you don’t want to put a lot of your own money into a place you don’t own. A fresh coat of paint can do a lot for your kitchen. It makes it look clean and fresh. I had the worst cabinets at our home and the paint did wonders. There’s a great flea market nearby that I want to get new knobs for them.
I’ve had great luck at carpet stores using their remnants as area rugs or wall to wall. I have actually laid some of them, but a few I just cut to the area of the room and put them down over the existing carpet. It really makes a difference too. Even some of the used carpets are a good deal as they’re cleaned first. At one carpet store, I found the most beautiful used carpet for my daughter’s room. It has a gorgeous flower print, very nice. It had come from a church and the store took it to sell when they replaced it. It looks so much nicer than what was in there. I could have never purchased that quality of carpet new.