DIY Upgrades for Your Home: Interior Doors, Lighting and Fans, Ceilings, Floors and Paint

Despite a cooling housing market, dream homes are still elusive to many. You can, however, adapt your less than perfect environs to suit your needs. So while you can’t transform a track house into a Victorian, if you do find yourself residing in a quintessential 1970’s home, all is not lost. With just minimal building savvy and a modest budget, there are several ways to transform your home into the one you want. Here are five reasonably quick and affordable do-it-yourself projects to update your home and increase its value:

1) Interior Doors

One high-impact project that costs little is installing new interior doors. These can be bought at any discount hardware store. Hollow core doors are the most affordable option, starting at around forty dollars; but depending on your budget, you may want to splurge and go with solid wood doors. You can dress up your new doors by carefully choosing stylish hardware. Nowadays there are dozens of doorknob styles to choose from in just about every budget.

2) Lighting and Fans

Brightness affects how people perceive spaces, so make sure that you have adequate light in your home. You’ll definitely want to ditch any dated fixtures and fans. Recessed lighting and sconces can handle many of your lighting needs. Be sure that the fan you choose doesn’t dominate the room. Sleek proportion is important.

3) Ceilings

Look up – pay attention to your ceilings. After all, ceilings are inescapably present in every room. Do you have unsightly acoustic “popcorn” sprayed on your ceiling? If so, you’ll want to get rid of it. Before scraping the popcorn off yourself, make sure you send a sample to a lab to find out if it contains asbestos. (If it does, you will want to consider hiring a professional.)

4) Floors

Lose dated or dingy carpeting. If you install them yourself, laminate or even hardwood floors, are cost-efficient alternatives that can really change the look of your home. Laminate flooring starts at under two dollars a square foot, and you can find hardwood starting at around three dollars a square foot. If the area is small and it’s in your budget, spend a little extra to get better quality flooring.

5) Paint

Perhaps the cheapest and most time-proven fix you can give any home is a new coat of paint. A splash of color can instantly update your home and change the mood of any room. Be bold. Not every wall needs to be the same color. When in doubt, pick colors from the same paint chip – they’re sure to complement each other.

Who knows, with a little hard work you may be able to sell your home for a profit and eventually buy your coveted Victorian, or whatever style you’re looking for.