9 Budget-friendly Ways to Renovate Your Space

Planning on selling your home? Or just desperately need a change? If you have time on your hands, here’s a list of budget friendly way to get you started on your renovations! 

• Paint Your Walls 

Painting your walls is one of the easiest ways to change the way your home looks and feels. Sometimes splashing a bit of trendy grey paint and getting rid of the 90’s beige/yellow helps ten folds in turning around your home. You may be surprised at how easy it is to paint a room yourself but remember preparation is key! Don’t rush in preparing a room to be painted, make sure you use painters tape to line up borders, trims and window frames. Use drop clothes on floors to make the cleaning process a lot easier. 

Pro-tip: Use an all in one paint so you don’t have to prime the walls as well as paint them. 

• Change Your Exterior Door 

If your front door is in relatively good condition, swap out the paint for a trendy, stylish, bold colour to bring it back into the spotlight. Right now black, or espresso exterior accents are especially popular in the contemporary look. 

If you feel like your front door would be better off being replaced, make sure the new door is tough enough to withstand rain, wind, sun and possible intruders. 

Pro-tip: Looking for the best of the best? Try replacing your old door with a fibreglass stained door with glass inserts. 

• Add an Accent Wall 

Adding an accent wall really changes the overall look of a room and helps liven up the furniture. Whether you decide to do that with a darker paint, removable wallpaper or even wood work, try to start something that you know you can finish! You wouldn’t want to take on a project too big for your means and leave it half-way through. 

• Updating Kitchen Cabinets 

Updating your kitchen may not be as frightening and heavy on the pockets as it sounds. If you have a tight budget and can’t afford to change your cabinets, you can get away with painting them or just changing their hardware brings a new look to your kitchen! 

Try painting your cabinets with a trendy colour to bring them back to the 21 century. Greys and navy blues with gold hardware are really hot right now. 

Pro-tip: If you want to take the kitchen reno a step further, switch out one or two cabinet doors with a door that has a glass insert so you can highlight your entertaining china. 

• Change Window Coverings 

Changing your dreary blinds to long and luscious curtains can bring out a room with minimal cost. You can find affordable curtains and rods at local stores like Walmart, and HomeSense. They require little work to install and instantly change the way a room looks. 

Protip: Install curtain rods about 2” above the window frame to make your windows look instantly larger. Remember to get curtains that touch the floor. If your budget allows, get double curtain rods and add sheer white curtains in the back. 

• Backsplash 

Backsplashes aren’t just limited to kitchens, adding them to your bathrooms really ups your interior design game! Installing a backsplash ensures that you can easily clean any splashes and splatters that are common to kitchens. 

Protip: If you want to DIY a backsplash but think that installing a traditional backsplash may be a bit out of your league, you can always buy pre-made single sheets that one simply has to cut to shape and stick to the wall. 

• Faux Island 

Adding a trendy movable island to an island-less kitchen can help bring the wow-factor that you’ve been looking for. Installing an island in your kitchen can really give you the extra cabinet space that you may have been lacking without remodelling the entire kitchen. If you’re looking for a low-budget island, go for one that has less cabinets and woodwork done to it. 

•  Add Wainscoting to Walls or Ceilings 

Adding pre-cut wainscoting to your walls or ceiling can bring in a lot of architectural details to a plain looking space. You can easily find pre-cut and finished trims from stores such as Home Depot or Lowes. If you want to save more money then try your hand at cutting the trims yourself. Remember to do your research before you begin!

• Shop Your House 

Sometimes just the thought of going out and buying accent furnisher, paintings, mirrors, and plants can have a DIY’er dred renovations. Not only are they heavy on the pocket, but getting the right product takes time and sometimes multiple visits to the store. 

Look at things in your house that you can rejuvenate and bring back to life. Sometimes changing a house plant’s pots and putting it by the window can really brighten up a room. Other times you may need to take the DIY approach and strip an old console cabinet, add some paint and voilà!