For many of us, our home is the place where we can express ourselves creatively. Whether you are decorating or remodeling your kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, living room, basement, or office space; there are some important considerations to make before moving forward with your ideas. A few things that need to be considered when planning a home renovation project are budgeting for supplies and labor costs as well as how much time you have available to work on the project. If you’re looking for an interior design idea that will get rave reviews from family and friends this year but don’t want to break the bank then consider these affordable projects:
Painting walls can give them an entire facelift in minutes! It may not be what people think of when they think “remodeling,” but painting can change the whole look and feel of a room in no time flat. Plus, it’s way cheaper than hiring someone to come in and redo the entire room. You can pick up paint at your local discount store for under $20, but if it seems like too much money you always have the option of using leftover paint from other projects.
Another quick change that doesn’t cost much is replacing door handles and cabinet knobs. It surprisingly makes a huge difference! And hardware isn’t expensive either; most places will charge about $5-$10 per piece depending on the size. This works well for updating old kitchen cabinets or antique dressers you may want to repurpose. Or just go ahead and update all your furniture while you’re painting!
Light fixtures are a pretty easy thing to change up in your house because they’re usually very standard sizes. You can get inexpensive ones for under $20, but if you want to add a really dramatic touch try going for something more expensive. To give an entire room a new feel it might be worth spending over $100. It may seem like a lot of money at the time, but that’s still not as much as getting someone else in there to change all the lights!
Adding mirrors is a quick and easy way to breathe new life into a room. Not only do they reflect light, making the area appear brighter/more open, but they also look beautiful. Mirrors are pretty inexpensive too, so they won’t break the bank either.
Mirrors should be hung above furniture or windows to accentuate them. You can hang one mirror in the middle of the room too, but this will make the space look smaller (particularly if there’s no other focal point). If you’re hanging a mirror over your couch/sofa, make sure that it’s directly opposite another window or light source – this way, when you look into the mirror, you’ll see more.
Carpeting is not that expensive but it adds a certain feel to a house. If you have an old shag carpet that’s got seen better days, consider giving it an update by getting rid of the worn areas and replacing it with new carpeting in those spots. You can do this yourself, or hire someone else to come in and do it for you if you’re worried about screwing up. Either way should cost under $500 for a large room!
This works well if your home is equipped with the old pull-chains for your light fixtures. They’re usually out of style now, so updating them is pretty simple and cheap! This works well if you have an outdated look in one or two rooms, or you’re trying to update the entire house. Some examples of when this is a good idea can be when it can be especially risky for your electric problems if they are in outlets.
Updating old outlets with new switches and plugs won’t work for everybody because they may not permit that much electricity into their homes. This likely fix will allow you to control which lights come on when without having access to chains hanging from your ceiling.
Shelves are a great way to save space, but also add interest to a room by displaying decorative items or framed photos. You can use floating shelves which are inexpensive, or more expensive ones that are built into the wall itself. Expensive shelving gives a nice “finished” look to a room but is not necessary for every area of your house.
Adding a new pendant light to your room is a cheap and easy way to make the room look fresh and updated. You can find several different styles of these at most home decor stores, as well as lighting supply stores. If you’re not sure where to start with choosing one that would go best in your space, ask an employee for some help or take a picture of your current light fixture or space for reference. Keep in mind that more than one pendant hanging over your table might look cluttered.
If you want to upgrade the whole exterior appearance of your house, replacing old doors and windows is probably your best bet. It looks like a large job, but it’s really not that complicated! Just measure out the area you need to change and then go online or check-in with places like Home Depot for prices on new ones. I’ve found quotes as cheap as $120 per door! So if you have multiple doors on your house you could have them all replaced for less than $500.
Accent walls are great if they match the overall color scheme of your room already. If you want something more unique, painting two different colors works well too! But an accent wall can be done by hiring someone else to do it or doing it long after you’ve moved in. Either way it is not necessary to make your home look better, but adds a personal touch if that’s what you want!
Window treatments are often overlooked when redecorating but they do add a lot of style and interest to a room. And they work pretty well to block out light too (not to mention reducing energy costs). You can get cheap ones online or at places like Target for under $100. Or more expensive custom-made ones from stores like Pottery Barn if you have some extra cash lying around!
