One of the top wishes of most homeowners is to be able to bring a breath of fresh air into their homes every once in a while and make their houses even more inviting for both themselves and their friends. What can beat that feeling of content when you enter your home and face a loving, heart-fulfilling, cozy retreat waiting for you? Unfortunately, revamping the space is wishful thinking for many people mainly due to the lack of money required to go for sweeping change. The good news we share today is that there IS a way to transform the feel of your interior and exterior space with just a few hundred bucks. Need inspiration? Check out the following value-boosting upgrades that will not only save you money in the future but also be soft on your wallet right here, right now!

1. Change the Colour of the Walls

It is unbelievable how a simple change in colours can dramatically affect the feel and look of a space. Give your walls a colour burst, adopt a minimalistic décor and go for virgin white or add depth with a coat of paint. To save even more money, and if you fancy DIY projects, you can paint them yourself. You may also get the kids involved (if old enough) and have some fun during this home improvement project. And, if you are not very good at painting walls, you can learn a few tricks from experts (there are many video-guides on YouTube)!

Overall cost? Less than $200.

Extra Idea:If refinishing your floor is not an option, and speaking of paint, you can spend around $100 and renew your old flooring with a couple of coats of durable floor paint to add personality to a room.

2. Add Crown Molding

Add value and charm to your home by adding crown moldings. Although it might sound like a job for a pro (if you can avoid the nightmare of trying to get the corners right, why won’t you, right?), there are new materials to help ease the worries and frustration. You can consider Trimroc interior plaster molding, which is a lightweight foam from polystyrene coated in hard plaster. It allows you to use a handsaw and cut super smoothly. Plus, it goes up with a joint compound pretty quickly. That way, you can hide ragged joints and forget all about tricky angles!

Cost? Between $120-$150.

3. Add More Privacy and Control Light with Interior Shutters

If your windows allow sunlight to stream through them to the point it gets rather annoying than pleasing, installing shades will save the day. They will not only let you choose just how much light you want to enter a room, but also keep prying eyes away. Wood shutters are a great window treatment option and many homeowners’ favourite for their aesthetic appeal and the historical detail they add to a space. However, there are also synthetic and bamboo shutters to please all tastes. As for their installation, it is not a big deal because they attach to the frame around the outside of the casing or the frame that sits inside the opening of the window. Hereare some amazing shutters and some ideas to help pick the right window treatment for your space and decor!

Cost? Less than $200.

4. Give Your Kitchen Cabinets a New Finish

Instead of opting for new cabinets to upgrade the kitchen, why don’t you just clean them up and apply new paint? It is a weekend project, and you will only need a paintbrush, sandpaper, and a strong cleaner. Of course, all this is doable if the doors and frames of your cabinets are structurally sound.

Cost? Much less than the cheapest kitchen cabinets you can find (around $200-$250).

Extra Idea: If you want to instal a traditional tile backsplash but can’t afford it, the next best thing is to put up a backsplash made from an inexpensive, solid surface material. Just one sheet of it will be enough. They come in a huge variety of patterns and colours and can be easily shaped, cut, and glued. Perfect for the amateur DIYers!

Cost: Less than $50/square foot.

5. Insulate The Green Way

Cold floors and chilly rooms in the winter months, as well as steamy hot spaces in the summertime, is not the ideal environment to wake up and live in for none of us. With cork floor, though, you can change all that without too much trouble and effort. Cork is stylish, durable, and a lot easier to install than traditional wood flooring. You can also find products that do not need nails or glue; they just snap together. They sit beautifully over your existing flooring, as well as concrete and plywood. You can find such materials in engineered panels. It is a one evening project.

Cost: $3-$8/square foot plus around $1/square foot to install (if you decide to hire someone else do this for you).

6. Revamp your Deck

If your deck is getting old and you feel that the condition of the wood is not all that great, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and, with less than $100, bring life back to that old thing. Don’t believe that neglected wood can be revived? It may be so. However, what you CAN do is bring it to respectability. Start with power washing the deck and then hand-scrub it. Once you are done, it will look refreshed. Finish with a semi-transparent protective coat to provide sufficient protection from the elements and enjoy!Now, if you want to expand your works to your beautiful bakyard, here are some tips to create your own zen garden without too much effort!

Cost: Around $100.

7. Add Decorative Brackets to Your Stair

Not only will you add architectural interest to the interior of your home, but also turn focus on the central piece of many foyers – the stair. What is interesting, and common, in almost all stairs is that their exposed side is usually ignored. Although the stair gives an excellent opportunity to impress and be creative, many homeowners overlook that part of the home when considering to revamp of their interior. With balusters and the addition of decorative stair brackets (wood or other), you have a cost-effective way to make your stair look way more elegant. Installation is very simple too. All you need is nails and adhesive.

Cost: less than $200.

Home-Revamp Tips to Help Save Money in the Future

• Replace aging, cracked or brittle caulk in the bathroom (sink, tub or surrounding tiles) with a fresh bead of caulk. That way you close all doors for mildew to grow and prevent water from corroding the wallboard and framing. Don’t forget the joints of the shower stall. The application is no rocket science and you won’t need more than $10 to buy the necessary materials from the nearest hardware store.

• Another way to prevent mold growth in the bathroom is by installing a vent fan. It will help remove nasty odors, reduce fogged-up windows, and prevent the growth of mildew. It is a health-promoting investment worth making given that mold spores are responsible for asthma and other health problems. A decent fan won’t cost you more than $150, and you can install it yourself with minimum effort.

• Buy a dishwasher to save money on water and put a water filter to cut cost on expensive bottles.

• Install a programmable thermostat. It will help you save around $200/year from your cooling and heating costs as the thermostat will change the temperature setting inside your home automatically. There are models that only control heat and cost between $20-$30 and models that handle more functions, such as humidifying. In the latter case, you will probably need to contact an HVAV contractor, who sell and install such models. However, you may also do the installation yourself.

• Speaking of energy savings, installing ceiling fans (it is relatively simple) will make a great difference in the amount of money you keep in your pockets every year. A good idea is to replace an old light fixture with a ceiling fan. That way, you skip running new wiring. The cost? About $170.

Do you have any other money-saving ideas to revamp a home? Need some interior design tips from experts of their kind? What did you do last time you wanted to refresh your home? Have you found a great product that makes the life of every DIYer easier and simpler? Do share with us in the comments below!