1. Class Up Your Cabinets With New Hardware
Putting new knobs and pulls on your cabinets is a fast way to update a kitchen or bath. Keep this job simple by choosing cabinet hardware that fit the existing holes for your old knobs and pulls. Remove the old ones with a screwdriver, screw in the new cabinet hardware yourself.
Cost: Under $250
2. Give Your Fireplace a Facelift With Paint
Recharge a room with a painted brick fireplace. Choose a paint color that blends with the walls to make a room look larger for a sleek, modern look or choose a bold color that contrasts with the walls, so your modern painted brick fireplace is the focal point in the room. To do this project, clean the brick and apply a coat of stain-blocking primer. Then apply two coats of interior paint.
Cost: Under $250
Paint with a matte or eggshell finish will keep the natural texture of the brick. A higher sheen finish like semi-gloss will be easier to clean and give the fireplace a bolder, more modern look.
3. Grow House Plants
Bring the outdoors indoors with house plants. Put giant monstera plant or indoor palm tree in a lonely corner, hang pothos from a ceiling in a room with low light and let its vine spill toward the floor, or put a shelf of aloe plant, ponytail palm and other succulents on a stand by a sunny window. Choose house plants that are easy to grow so you don’t have to work hard to get the relaxing vibe that living leaves bring to a room.
Cost: Under $250
4. Swap Out a Shower Head
Upgrade your bathroom with a spiffy new showerhead. Get a rainfall shower head that mimics gentle rain, a massage shower head that kneads your muscles with water or a power spray shower head that will make your water pressure feel higher. It’s easy to replace a shower head because you just need a wrench, not a plumber.
Cost: Under $250
5. Let There Be Better Light
Shine some light into a room with an easy-to-install plug-in wall sconce. This fixture will give you the built-in look of built-in lighting without the hassle and expense of calling an electrician to install them. Attach a plug-in wall sconce to the wall with screws and plug it into an outlet. Hang a set of plug-in wall sconces on either side of your bed, install a single bold plug-in wall sconce over your bed or in a dark spot in the kitchen.
Cost: Under $250
6. Make Your Foyer Fashionable with a New Light
Ditch your ceiling mount fixture for something more stylish. Choose foyer lighting that’s dramatic and eye-catching. If you have tall ceilings, hang a pendant light. For lower ceilings, go with a cinematic semi-flush mount light. If you have a small foyer, a ceiling light intended for use over a kitchen island or a dining table can work. An electrician can install a new foyer light in about an hour.
Cost: Under $500
7. Say No to Dull Doorknobs
You touch your doorknobs all the time, so make them stylish. You can buy a matching set of doorknobs that includes the hardware for as many as 6 interior and exterior doors. Think outside the builder’s grade box and go with aged bronze finish doorknobs, glass doorknobs on a satin nickel base or shiny brass.
Cost: Under $500
8. Create a Stir With New Ceiling Fans
Replace your old, wobbly ceiling fan with a new one. Choose a fan that adds style to a room, not just air movement. Or choose a giant fan with a 6-foot diameter that cools down a room, fast. Replacing a ceiling fan is simple. An electrician can do it in about an hour.
Cost: Under $1,000
9. Dine at a New Round Dining Table
Swap out a big, rectangular dining table that seats six to eight people with a smaller, more intimate round dining table for four. Think 36 to 48 inches in diameter. Your space will look fresher and larger. If you had a giant chandelier hanging over your old table, keep it. The drama and scale will give the place a glam casual vibe.
Cost: Under $1,000
10. Buy a New Front Door
Make your house more welcoming by replacing your old front door with a new one. The cost of a new door plus hiring a pro to measure the space and install the door will run $850 to $900. Replacing a front door makes a dramatic change to your home.
Cost: Under $1,000