Home Improvement Tips for Any Economy

With the way things are looking, there might not be much real estate moving these days. But, it’s not always going to be this way. So if you are hunkering down and planning to stay in your house for another year or two, why not try to make the best of it?

For only a few dollars out of your pocket at a time, you can make the changes on your home that it needs. You can actually get your house ready for when the upturn takes place and you’re back into a seller’s market. Just look around your house and take some notes. Then, use your imagination like I always urge everyone.

You would be surprised how easy it is to make most of your home improvements. There are only a handful of things you shouldn’t attempt without a qualified contractor. For everything else, all you need is a passion to do it yourself and the desire to have a little fun.

For instance, faux finishes are fun ways to put texture on the walls. You can make them look like stone, metallic, cloud, marble, old leather or crackle and aging. Some of the simplest techniques make all the difference. Sponges, rags and crumpled paper are great applicators that produce the beautiful texture. Two different shades or completely opposite colors can be mixed to create the illusion. Get artistic and start painting your walls.

You don’t have to do it all at once. Remember that. You can do a room at a time or even a wall at a time if you want. You’ll have enough time to make it around the house, so just get enough paint for a small project and leave it at that. Go week by week or month by month and you’ll have it all finished before your house goes on the market.

Another good example for rather inexpensive improvements on the home is to walk around and take a look at your fixtures. Light fixtures, door knobs, faucets and the like can all be changed for very little if you know where to look for great deals. Light fixtures and door knobs for the most part are relatively cheaper than faucets. Door knobs are definitely less expensive.

However, light fixtures can be rather appealing. You can find yourself losing sight of the mission and buying very expensive light fixtures if you aren’t careful. Yet if you look around, you can even find some nice chandelier selections that won’t dent the bank account too much. And the other light fixtures around the house are far less expensive. Once you finish work on the light fixtures and the door knobs, focus on the faucets.

Every few months, pick a different room starting with the kitchen, then the bathrooms and then other sinks throughout the house. Handles and inserts can be bought for less than a happy meal. But, the faucets themselves are quite a bit more expensive. If you are aggressively looking, you can have every faucet around your house replaced in style for less than a few nights eating dinner out in a nice restaurant. Some people don’t think about the small things. But, they are just as important as fixing a hole in the wall.

Home improvement efforts aren’t always about knocking out walls and taking months to finish. I fixed a sidewalk in a day one time. I’ve put some of the most complex landscaping together in a day’s time as well. It doesn’t take long if you focus and put your back into it. When the work is done and you get to see the finished project, you could not feel prouder of yourself. Well, at least that’s the way it makes me feel.