Renovating a home can come with a high price tag if you’re not budgeting and deciding which updates bring the best return on investment. After selling our updated first home in just 4 years, we bought an even bigger house that needed a lot of updating. We plan to sell our second home after 4 years while doing the much-needed work to produce a profit by following the same strategies we did in our first home. If you enjoy updating your home, want to increase your home value or just want your home to look better, here are 10 Cheap Home Hacks That’ll Make Your House Look So Much Better.

Update Door Handles

The first thing we like to do when buying a new home is changing the door handles on the entryway doors. This ensures only you have the keys and you can opt for a universal key lock. Updating doorknobs throughout the house is a bit time consuming but it provides a few benefits for an ROI. It also creates consistency throughout the home.

Not only will all the hardware on the doors match, but you can match ALL the hardware throughout the home (faucets, cabinet knobs, light fixtures etc). I recommend picking one type of hardware and keeping it consistent throughout the house.

Photo by Nick Tiemeyer on Unsplash

Update Electrical Outlets

Updating electrical outlets and light switches is just as time-consuming as changing door knobs but brings an easy ROI. Updating electrical outlets helps you keep consistency (same look and color throughout the home) and allows you to update old or non-compliant outlets.

If you aren’t familiar with how to change an electrical outlet, check out YouTube or take some classes to learn the proper safety for electrical work. I changed my first outlet recently and although it was easier than I thought, I’d rather the hubby stick with tasks like that since he is a lot more experienced than I am.

Photo by Yung Chang on Unsplash

Paint

Painting is the easiest way to update any space in your home. You can paint the walls, ceilings, trim, baseboards, cabinets, built-ins, and furniture to improve the look of your home. Paint supplies are minimal and can drastically change the look of your home. Be sure to check out my popular post, How to Choose Interior Paint Colors and 7 Amazing Bedroom Paint Color Combos for inspiration!

Use Peel & Stick Wallpaper for an Instant Update

Peel and stick wallpaper has become very popular recently since not everyone has access to tools to build their own Shiplap walls (thanks Chip and Joanna) or wants to tile an entire wall with subway tile. I love tiling but if I could slap up some wallpaper and call it a day, that would make me, the hubby, and my wallet happy!

You can find peel and stick wallpaper online at Target, Amazon, Home Depot, and more! I’ve linked my favorite peel and stick wallpaper and the ones I’ve used personally below.

Add Molding

Adding simple molding or framework in your home takes little effort and creates dimension to a room. We added a chair rail to our dining room to make it look more formal and a molding frame around our builder grade bathroom mirror to give a finished look.

Add Hardware to Cabinets

If you have basic builder grade cabinets and drawers, chances are they don’t have hardware other than the hinges. Depending on your choice of hardware and number of cabinets, the cost is minimal with a high ROI. Adding hardware to your kitchen cabinets will instantly update the room.

Photo by Aaron Huber on Unsplash

Update Light Fixtures

One of the first projects we completed in our second home was to update the light fixtures. We installed recessed lights in the kitchen and main level hallways. Then we updated the dining room chandelier, the breakfast table pendant, and added a beautiful chandelier in the stairway. We replaced the ceiling fan light fixtures in the family room and the master bedroom and the lighting in the bathrooms. Each light fixture replacement cost anywhere between $50-$150 each but completely updates each room. Bonus if you can match your hardware and light fixtures.

Photo by Adrián Tormo on Unsplash

Update Window Coverings

Window blinds and curtains in many homes are usually neglected. At least, in both of our homes, they were awful when we bought them. In our second home, the blinds were torn apart and falling off the windows. There weren’t any curtains on a single window. Blinds can be expensive depending on the style you choose, but curtains can be cheap to make or find at your local thrift store or Ikea. We eventually replaced all of the blinds in our home and added curtains to every window.

Photo by Brandon Morgan on Unsplash

Paint the Front Door and Update Hardware

Paint can transform even the smallest spaces, like your front door. Our front doors and shutters were hunter green when we bought our house. We immediately painted them a matte black and it made our home look much richer. We also replaced the front door handle and metal kick plate to match. If you have a storm door, replace the hardware and investigate if you can paint it (or replace the whole storm door if you can afford it).

Photo by Landon Martin on Unsplash

Update Faucets

Updating sink and shower faucets ties into updating the rest of the hardware in the home. Try to keep the color/metal consistent with faucets, lighting, door handles, and cabinet pulls. When we bought our second home, both shower handles were broken and needed to be replaced (I’m not sure how the previous occupant showered!). Sink faucets cost between $25-$200 depending on how fancy you want them to look but otherwise are an easy, affordable upgrade.

Photo by Neil Cooper on Unsplash

Declutter and Minimize Belongings

Lastly, if you want your home to look better, decluttering every room works wonders. If you’ve ever been on the home buying side, you’ve probably seen a few homes that were “staged” with minimal decorations or personal items. Those are the homes that tend to sell the fastest. If you desire to have a better-looking home, try reducing some of the items in your home and it will make a huge difference! If you need help getting organized, grab the Simplify Your Home in 30 Days cheat sheet bundle!

Download this CHEAT SHEET bundle to help you declutter, organize, and simplify your home in 30 days! The bundle includes 21 pages of printable forms, cheat sheets, and checklists to help you FINALLY get organized.

How to pick the right paint colors

Have you ever had trouble picking the right paint colors for your home? Choosing the right paint colors for your home can be overwhelming. There are so many different “whites” and “grays” these days, how can anyone know they are making the right paint color choice?

That’s why I put together the best tips on How to Choose Interior Paint Colors in this post.

Every home is different… the entryway in our first home was much different than the entryway in our second home, and both of those were very different from the entryway in our third home! So I chose a different paint color for each entryway in all three of our homes. Not to mention, from the time that we bought our first home, to the time that we bought our third home, home paint color trends changed drastically. The colors that I used back then were no longer a trendy color and well, I just didn’t like the brown-ish tan that was in our first home, haha.

So if you need help choosing paint colors for the rest of your home, head on over to this post to see my paint-picking tips and what has worked for me in all three of our homes 🙂 My post with how to choose paint colors for your home is one of my most popular posts and readers have benefited from reading it before heading to the store to buy paint that ends up not working out.

I also have some ideas for choosing paint color combinations for bedrooms (with themes!)

Paint Versus Peel & Stick Wallpaper

You can find peel and stick wallpaper online at Target, Amazon, Home Depot, and more! Updating your home with peel and stick wallpaper might be faster than painting.

The cost to wallpaper depends on if you find a sale, how much you need to cover space, and other considerations. In my experience, it’s cheaper to paint, however, I splurge on the wallpaper in our home when the cost to paint is greater.

How to Declutter and Minimize Belongings

If you need help getting organized, grab the Simplify Your Home in 30 Days cheat sheet bundle!

Download this CHEAT SHEET bundle to help you declutter, organize, and simplify your home in 30 days! The bundle includes 21 pages of printable forms, cheat sheets, and checklists to help you FINALLY get organized.

Tour Our Homes

–>Tour our First Home here????

–>Tour our Second Home here????

–>Tour our Third Home here????

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