Skip to content 
How Can I Improve My Home On A Low Budget?
In the winter most of us will slow down with home renovations. However, this is a good season to get a few upgrades done before the Spring. After the Christmas holidays the price of tools and materials go down a bit. In the summertime when most of us do home projects, there are hardly ever any sales. This is a good time to go shopping. Even if we do not start a project right away, check what is on sale now. The following projects are 8 low cost upgrades for the winter. They are perfect for upgrading your place on a low budget.
1. Change Your Sinks and Faucets
Change the old sinks in your washrooms throughout your home. This is a great cost effective upgrade to work on. I will be sharing with you how to do this soon. While you are at it, change the faucets as well. If you are changing approximately two sinks and faucets, you will spend under $300.00.
The price of a standard sink is $40.00. One grade higher is around $60.00. Faucets can range anywhere between $90.00-$250.00. Depending on how basic of a style you are willing to go, the price is based on your budget and taste. Upgrading from an old washroom sink to a new one will make a big difference.
2. Put Locks On Your Doors
Upgrade your door hardware. Change the hinges and have them match the door hardware. This will make your door look brand new. The price ranges anywhere from $20.00-$50.00 per door lock and the hinges are in between $15.00-$30.00 per door. Certain rooms in the house need a lock. For example, an office in a house needs a lock. That is where people keep their bills.
Not every room in a house needs a lock. Rooms that have personal items like jewellery, if not in a secure jewellery box, are good rooms to add a lock on the door.
3. Change the Lighting
Lighting makes a significant difference in our space. If you can change or upgrade the lights in your home, this is a great enhancement for your place. For those who cannot change the lights, invest in buying nice lighting, like lamps.
Creating some nice lighting makes a significant difference in our space. If you can change or upgrade the lights in your home, this is a great enhancement for your home. For those who cannot change the lights, invest in buying nice lighting, like lamps.
There are a variety of lights throughout your home which give off a warm comfortable ambience throughout the room. Lighting makes a huge difference and it does not cost much to do it. If you know an electrician, ask them to help upgrade your home, or pay. Changing the lighting of your home alone will raise the value.
The cost of lamps have risen. The styles and quality I am seeing online is not as good as it once was. The cost of lamps are between $75.00-$350.00 per lamp. However, floor lamps and table lamps are perfect for studying and reading.
Pot lights are nice and make a room look good, but are a bit too strong. They do not give off a nice warm hue around the room like lamps do. Pot lights look like we are showcasing furniture or jewellery in a store. If you are going to go with pot lights, put them on a dimmer.
We have pot lights in our home. I wrote about it in removing your popcorn ceiling. However, we also have a large lamp in the room that we use more than turning on the lights.
4. Upgrade Your Closet
Even though it takes some effort to do, upgrading our closet is a valuable low cost project. It is a good to work on in the winter, while we are at home anyway. If you have a small closet, make full use of the space you have and create a design that helps maximize the area. No matter how small the closet is, if there is room to upgrade it and make it more efficient, this is a well worth project to do. I will be showing you an example of how to do this at some point this year.
5. Change Baseboard Trim
Most people may not consider upgrading their baseboard trim. Many of us will not pay attention to it. However, if the trim is old and looking bad, it is a good idea to change it up. The cost is low and can easily be done in the winter. If you already have the tools, you can do this job. You will need a mitre saw, angle finder and a compressor with an 18 gauge nailer to do the work.
The work takes about a weekend if you are working on one floor level only. It will make a significant difference in your home. Unless you plan on changing your floors to a thicker material such as 3/4″ hard wood. Change that first before changing the baseboards. The height should match. Typically the floors are upgraded before changing the baseboards, but if the height is to remain the same, then it does not matter which one you do first.
6. Remove Popcorn Ceiling
If you do not mind a little mess and dust, you can change your popcorn ceiling. It will make a huge difference in your home and does not cost much money. This job is under $200.00, paint included in the cost. It takes a little time and labour. You will see a significant change in your space once you remove the stucco off the ceiling.
We have already done this on the main floor of our home. Check out removing your popcorn ceiling to see how we did it and what it took to get it done. Mind you, the job was done in the summer. However, this project can be done in the winter without hassle, just a lot of mess.
7. Renovate Floors
Whether it is moving from old carpet to new carpet or going from carpet to luxury vinyl plank, this is a great cost effective winter upgrade. In 2021 I shared a few posts on some of the floors we renovated. The results made by doing these changes are significant.
Instead of waiting until the spring or summer to do this job, do it while the weather is still cold. Another option is to install new tile. The cuts that are required for the tiles can be made with a wet saw which can be used inside the home with no dust.
In the picture above, we had three layers of flooring that had to be removed before placing new tiles. Not a good idea to change floors like the one above in the winter, especially kitchen. Instead if you are going to hire out the work, you might get a better deal from a contractor in the winter season because business is usually slower.
8. Upgrade Your Kitchen Backsplash
It is an easy upgrade to do for your kitchen. At first I thought it was going to be expensive and take a long time, but this is not the case. When you remove the old backsplash you may lose some of the drywall. Nevertheless, that can be replaced without costing much. The cost to buy the material for the backsplash varies based on the kind of tile you buy. It can range anywhere between $2.50-$10.00 per sq. ft. Check out the backsplash, lighting and valence upgrades.
Start making some low cost upgrades in the winter today. Shop around for the best sales and good quality products that will last for years.
January 7, 2022
Related Topics:
