So you want to fix up your house and make it look like one of those homes in the real estate magazines, but do not have a lot of money? No problem! There are many things you can do to make your home look beautiful that do not cost a fortune. With a little elbow grease, vision and know how, you can transform your house into a showplace with relatively simple and affordable upgrades.
First of all, it is smart to get ideas about what you want to do to your property by looking through home and garden magazines, searching on the Internet or watching the home network channels. This way you will be able to see what you want in an outcome, before you start your projects.
Painting is always an affordable way to make a dramatic difference on the interior and the exterior of your home. It is important to select colors that will complement each other. All paint stores today have color charts that will make it easy to choose your colors.
On the interior of a home, it is usually nice to select a color for the walls that complement your décor and style. Once you have your wall color selected, choose a color of white or light crème for all the base boards, doors, frames, windows and woodwork. This will give a beautiful contrast that will be a visual treat to the eyes.
When painting the exterior, go with the era and architecture of the home. You may even want to take into consideration the houses around you and the entire neighborhood. Most people use two exterior colors, one for the walls and one for the trim. But do not be afraid to consider a third or even a fourth color.
It can be very helpful to drive in different neighborhoods to see what colors other people have used for their homes. You can also look at the color charts at your paint store, some of which have kiosks you can use to see what different color combinations will look like on an actual home.
You can also do other upgrades to the exterior, like installing shutters. A simple addition of shutters, just on the front of your house, can drastically make a difference and help create incredible curb appeal. In addition, installing one or two window awnings to the front of the house and putting up new attractive numbers for the address can also make a difference.
Cleaning your yards and doing some simple landscaping is another way to spruce up the exterior and to provide a greatly improved look to your home. If you want to add some color to your yard, there are many types of low maintenance plants that flower and use little water, such as bougainvillea and a variety of ice plants.
New shutters, awnings, simple landscaping and address numbers are just a few examples of improvements you can make to the front of your home, all of which can be surprising affordable, particularly if you do it yourself.
Getting back to the interior of your home, if your electrical outlets, switches and cover plates are old, it is relatively inexpensive to hire an electrician to replace them. Usually new white cover plates, switches and outlets will look the best, especially when your interior trim and woodwork is painted white or crème color.
Window blinds are another inexpensive way to dramatically improve the look of your home. They can be seen from the interior and the exterior. One example of new window coverings is the 2-inch horizontal blind. They come in different colors and textures, and are easy to install. Most of your home improvement stores sell them and will even cut them to size at no additional cost.
For the bathroom, there are many things you can do yourself that are simple and very affordable. After a fresh coat of paint, you can consider installing new towel bars with new towels that are complimentary to your color scheme, a new light fixture and a fresh new shower curtain. Even a couple of simple accent pieces, such as a candle to sit on top of the toilet and a wall hanging can add some beautiful ambiance.
By just uncluttering your home and doing a good cleaning, you can dramatically give a new look to your property and it costs nothing. When homes are uncluttered, they look more spacious and have a much better flow.
Usually the most expensive thing in remodeling and upgrading your home is the labor. So if you are able to do some or all of the work yourself, you can do fantastic upgrades to your home inexpensively. Some of the home improvement stores offer free classes in laying tile, installing fences, painting, gardening and many other handy skills.
You can get some additional and wonderful ideas for improving your yard and garden by talking to someone at any local nursery. If you have children, get them involved in beautifying your home. You can even have an old fashion painting party. You may not have many friends after the party, but you will have a freshly painted beautiful house to enjoy!
Trent St. Louis is a licensed Real Estate Agent and a member of the National, California and San Diego Association of Realtors. He can be reached at trent@tns.net or at his office in Hillcrest, The Metropolitan Group. DRE#01273643.
