Spring has finally arrived, and the DIY project bug bit you square in the fanny. You’re ready to roll up your sleeves and spruce up the old homestead, but you must stay on budget. What are some affordable ways to upgrade your home?
The trick to increasing your happiness in your home is to think about what you want most. For example, maybe a full outdoor kitchen and inground, negative-edge pool are currently out of your price range — but your desire for them illustrates your need for more fun in the sun.
Once you know the vibe you want your property to evoke, there are scads of projects you can tackle on the cheap. Some are even free. What should you do?
Here are four affordable ways to upgrade your home.
Make It More Fun
Please don’t sweat it if you can’t afford a pool, especially if you anticipate selling your home soon. While some homebuyers love them, many consider them a deterrent because they’re too costly and time-consuming to maintain. However, there are scores of smaller landscaping projects you can tackle that increase your resale value and make your property more fun.
Outdoor living came into vogue during the recent pandemic as a safer way to socialize. If you can’t do a full outdoor kitchen, sprucing up your patio and adding a fire pit lends cozy appeal and a place to toast marshmallows. Are you sick of spending every weekend on yard maintenance? A one-time upgrade to xeriscaping saves money in the end and liberates you from your lawnmower.
If it’s fun you lack, make your interior entertaining, too. For example, you could have plenty of room for a pool table if you transform your basement into a game room. As long as it isn’t a dedicated living space, you don’t have to worry about legal requirements like secondary egress routes driving up costs.
Make It More Relaxing
Health researchers learn more about the adverse effects of stress every day. It affects every system of your body, worsening existing disease symptoms and spurring new ones. Self-care is the best remedy and what better place than home to indulge yourself? What are some creative ways to make your home a relaxing haven? Try these tips:
- De-gadget your bedroom: This home upgrade is free and can significantly impact health. Blue light from electronics and even those annoying power lights can disrupt sleep patterns. Keep this space for sleep and sex and invest in an old-fashioned wind-up alarm that won’t use red neon to keep you awake or let you down when the power fails.
- Add a meditation corner: Your daily yoga and meditation practice deserves a sacred space. It could be a corner hidden by a divider in a studio apartment or a special spot in your garden where you throw down your mat among the flowers.
- Keep it cool: Cool tones like light blue and lavender are relaxing. Furthermore, harsh blue lights occupy the same part of the spectrum as the sun, keeping you awake. Swap out those incandescents for sustainable LEDs in soft white or amber tones to instantly calm your nighttime mood.
Make It More Sustainable
You want to do your part to decrease your carbon footprint, but converting to solar isn’t going to happen until you need a full roof replacement. However, there are lower-cost upgrades you can make to your home to save energy, like the following:
- Use natural light: Warmer weather means taking down those heavy curtains. Consider a one-way film that enhances your outdoor view while protecting daytime privacy and letting the sun flood your home with light and heat, lowering your utility bill.
- Adjust your thermostat: You might not notice a 1-degree adjustment, but it will result in savings on your bill while reducing fossil fuel use.
- Install ceiling fans: While they don’t decrease the temperature, the circulating air makes you feel cooler. They’re a far more eco-friendly alternative to running the air conditioner.
Make It More Organized
Does coming home stress you out more than going to work? It could be because you open your door to something that resembles a federal disaster area. Here’s the deal with clutter: It overwhelms you with visual stimuli, increasing anxiety like a neverending to-do list.
Fortunately, getting organized isn’t tough with the right tools. This home upgrade falls into the cheap-to-free category. Pegboard takes care of those small tools in your garage, and inexpensive shelves and cabinets do the rest. You might even pickup old school lockers to hide your antifreeze, keeping costs low.
The closet can be a sticking point for some people — fears of “what if I need it later” can keep you from being ruthless with those piles of clothes that rightfully belong on hangers. Your solution? Make the event enjoyable by playing cheerful music and inviting your BFFs to bring over their old clothes for a swap. You’ll increase your wardrobe sustainably while resting assured that you can borrow back that pencil skirt should you need it for a job interview.
Affordable Ways to Upgrade Your Home
Spring fever has you in its grip, and you burn with passion for fixing up your homestead. However, your wallet screams, “Hold on a second, there, buddy, and consider your life choices.”
You can get your DIY fix with these affordable ways to upgrade your home. Improvements don’t have to cost much money to make a big difference in your overall enjoyment of your property.
