Budget Home Improvement Ideas. While it is tempting to shop for furniture, appliances and accessories on a whim, we want to encourage you to be practical. While an investment might entail purchasing a whole new sectional sofa set or buying out the entire low price floor display of flatware – how about some quick and easy budget upgrades that can inspire your next home improvement project?
As an avid DIYer, you’re already well on your way to saving money. But with the right planning, your whole room can be transformed with a single project that only costs you a few hundred bucks.
Easy Home Upgrades You Can Do on a Budget
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We have plenty of upgrades under $500 that offer a wide range of benefits. Some of them even save you money in the future. We recommend checking out our home improvement ideas below.
Refresh Your Rooms With Paint
Over time, paint stops covering your walls like it used to. Unfortunately, there is no rejuvenation setting on the paint can. That’s why many people look to DIY home-improvement upgrades. Painting is a popular option because it allows you to change your room’s reality by rearranging patterns and furnishings.
The downside is that painting isn’t as easy as picking up a paint brush and having at it. There are specific steps that need to be followed for your best results. However, we have instructions for you on how to paint like a pro in one weekend from start to finish with our step-by-step instructions from the first scratch of the pole sander all the way through to the end of feathering of the brush.
Add Crown Molding the Easy Way
Crown molding is on most home remodeling lists because it adds charm and value to the room, not because people enjoy spending Saturday mornings trying to get the corners just right. Luckily, there’s a simple way to beat miter-saw frustration.
Trimroc molding is a lightweight polystyrene foam that can be cut with a handsaw. It goes up in a flash when put in place of joint compound. No complicated cuts or tricky angles—joints disappear completely with a dab of wall color. So in just an afternoon, you can take anything from an ordinary room to an elegant space—with plenty of time left for everything else too!
Install a Low-Cost Stair Runner
What is the best way to get a good grip on slippery stairs? One TOH reader, Jaime Shackford, was faced with this dilemma. After being quoted $2,500 for carpeting her oak staircase which was dangerously slick, she had a much more cost-efficient idea: try DIY runners.
Using just two off-the-shelf woven runners ($125 each) and supplies from a home center, she made sure her stairs were non-slip by upgrading them to meet regulations.
Install a Dishwasher to Conserve Water
The older your dishwasher, the more you have to pay for utilities. It’s time to invest in an Energy Star-qualified dishwasher and save yourself more than $30 every year on electric bills and almost 500 gallons of water. If you never had one before, then using 40 percent more water by scrubbing dishes by hand is the biggest cost saver!
Rewire a Vintage Entry Lantern
Many hanging lanterns from the first half of the 20th century were humble by design, looking as if they had been crafted by blacksmiths rather than machines. They were popularized by tastemakers at the time, such as Gustav Stickley and the Roycroft crafters, who felt that these rustic lanterns exemplified a back-to-basics design sensibility.
Renew Old Flooring With Paint
Sara and Andrew’s master bedroom floor was tired-looking. It was in need of an updated look that matched their modern personal style. But revitalizing the floor wasn’t an affordable option for the young couple on a tight budget.
To match their blue walls, the duo decided to paint a light-checked pattern on their floor using beige and white, two colors that complement cool tones.
Make Shade and Add Privacy With Interior Shutters
Sunlight streaming through windows can be an annoyance at times. One reason is that your neighbors have more evening hours to peek in your brightly lit living room. You have the option of installing shades, but swinging wood shutters would add a flair to any home.
Interior shutters were favored for many years (especially in the southern United States) and are still a great way to add architectural detail and avoid heat or cold air from intruding into your space. Shutters can be installed on any window because they attach to a thin frame that sits inside or outside the window casing.
Give Kitchen Cabinets a Flawless, New Finish
Your cave-like kitchen is often so dark because the cabinets have sucked all the light out of the room. But it doesn’t necessarily need to be that way! Just by cleaning off those old cabinets, sanding them down, and painting them with new paint, you can turn your dreary kitchen into a brighter space. All you need is some cleaner, sand paper, paintbrushes, and a little elbow grease. What you don’t need is a whole lot of money; doing this will cost you a fraction of what even the cheapest new cabinets would cost.
