Tips & Tricks - Inexpensive Upgrades for New Homeowners

Apr 16th 2019

With creativity and a lot of elbow grease, renovating a house can be a much less expensive endeavor. Ordering items online such as an outdoor linear fireplace or cheaper tiles can make these improvements simple, even for the least experienced homeowner. With a few tips and tricks, anyone can update your new home with simple fixes and tricks, creating your dream house on any budget.

Paint
A fresh coat of paint does more for the aesthetic of a room than most other improvements. With leg light bars for sale online, the lighting can hit the new color and give the feel of a brand new space. Painting takes longer than most people budget out. The bathroom specifically takes a long time since there are so many elements that need to be painted around slowly.

The tub, mirror, toilet, corners, towel racks, switchplates, and so on need painter’s tape and a careful stroke to avoid issue. In most rooms, there are only a couple windows and the floor to consider. It isn’t too difficult to paint a bathroom but it’s important to understand how much longer it will take in the bathroom while budgeting time for your full painting project.

Update Bathroom Fixtures
Smaller details in the bathroom do more to affect the overall vibe of a home than homeowners often realize. Sink faucets, towel racks, storage furniture, and so on can make a bathroom look ragged when they are not properly taken care of. Depending on the bathroom, replacing the pieces or doing a deep clean can bring a bathroom to life. These items can be ordered online. However, it can be smart to measure them out and go to a store in person, even if you plan on making a cheaper purchase online.

Update Mirrors
Mirrors get looked at the most but often receive the least amount of attention in a renovation. While replacing an entire mirror can be expensive, the mirror you have now can be updated to match the rest of the bathroom. Adding a frame and giving a mirror a thorough cleaning can be more effective than replacing the whole thing in some cases. Raw mirror edges have less of a homey feel in any room of the house. Even if you are going for a more modern, minimalistic look, it reads as an apartment rather than a home. Also, adding small mirrors can be an inexpensive way to make a hallway look chic.

Outdoor Fireplaces
A fire pit or outdoor linear fireplace can make the backyard a super homey space. A firebox has a modern, sleek look, but an outdoor fireplace has the feeling of holiday cheer and togetherness. Families can get cozy with s’mores or heat up during the cold weather. Embers Living offers competitive prices for the best outdoor fire pits and places on the market. With daily deals and several brands to choose from, the customer service reps can answer any questions since each fireplace has its own benefits, depending on your home’s needs.

Tips for Staying on Budget
Whether you’re doing a huge renovation or just sprucing up your space, a budget can really get away from you. There are simple ways to ensure the budget you set at the beginning stays consistent throughout the design and installation process.

● Shop around. If you’re having someone install things for you, it’s important to shop around for the best manual labor prices the same way you look for material products. The services shouldn’t be too cheap or you’re risking a bad job. However, online reviews have made it easy to see how other customers feel. This can help find the best price point for the best work. Further, you can find a lot of materials online that will significantly cut down on costs. In many cases, it makes sense to find your own deals on materials then hire someone to install.

● Set a timeline. Time can be the biggest financial drain. The longer something takes, the more it will end up costing you. Set a timeline before you even begin shopping around. However, make sure you stay flexible about this timeline, since things will certainly come up as renovations begin. Simple upgrades to outdoor living can turn into finding out something is seriously wrong, but an established timeline will help you reassess and make the best choices along the way.

● Establish a budget. Even if you have plenty of money to put into a project, it’s important to establish a budget ahead of time. Check your resources and make a budget that is lower than what you can really spend. Once things get started, you’ll find yourself spending a bit of money here and there. It can be difficult to keep track of but knowing what money you have and setting it aside can lead to less surprises after the project has ended.

Feeling like you have a brand new lifestyle doesn’t have to come from an expensive move. Instead, update the smaller things in your space and reap the rewards of a better home in your own space.