Everyone wishes the best for their homes. They want to take good care of it to ensure its longevity, beauty, and comfort. But managing a place with hundreds of daily use items and fixtures is not an easy feat. One day you fix something, and the other day something else may catch your attention. Like this, the home improvement process can feel like a perennial job, which doesn’t pinch you much as long as the requirements are economical.
The real challenge begins when a renovation exercise becomes unavoidable, and you don’t have a budget to spare on this. Although this decision largely hinges on the house’s overall condition, there are a few hacks to save yourself from the trouble of expensive renovation for a significant time. Here is a quick look into them.
Wood contact paper
A typical house will have different types of tables and countertops all over it. And wood can be the standard surface for them for its ability to generate warmth in the ambiance. With use, anything would lose shine and develop a sign of wear and tear. Changing even one piece of furniture can be costly than refurbishing its look and feel with a matching contact paper, which is easy to avail and use. If it doesn’t spread evenly in the first attempt, you can pull and reset it once again.
Someone with acute probing eyes can only tell the difference between this and natural wood. Hence, you can save a few extra dollars through this and accumulate the sum for larger future upgrades to reduce the renovation or repair pressure.
Kitchen faucet
The sink area gets the highest traffic throughout the day for catering to a variety of kitchen chores. Many households give it a status of a focal point too. Maintaining this section of the house is not simple. You have to clean your sink, faucet, and other neighboring areas regularly to prevent them from soil, dirt, grease, and water spots. Sometimes, even daily care may not produce satisfactory results if you use these features heavily. In that case, a replacement can be a better technique. For example, you can consider installing a new fixture for the sink. It wouldn’t burden you so much. Simultaneously, the pleasant impact of the new fitting will be visible in the entire nook.
Slipcovers
Sofa and couches can soon appear dull, with their color and texture getting affected. But you cannot remove big-ticket items for minor deformities unless you have enough savings in your account. In that scenario also, it doesn’t make sense to toss away a thing when you can quickly fix it with something affordable without hampering the quality. You can pick velvet slipcovers, for instance. You get them in different dimensions for sofa cushions to enhance their look in a snap. Some of them come with nonslip straps to ensure they don’t slip or move away, whether it is a leather surface or something else.
DIY brick staining kits
Some homes love the idea of exposed brick walls for exuding vintage and industrial charm. But replicating the same effect on other parts of the house can be challenging because of the risk of mismatch of colors. You can avoid this with brick dyeing kits that offer various stain colors. You can pick the matching one to repeat the magic in other areas. And the best thing is these kits can be compatible with mortar, block, brick, and stone walls. So you don’t have to worry about the original texture of your surface also.
Ceiling medallions
Do you feel disappointed when you look at the recessed lighting on your ceiling? Add medallions if you want to transform the look of that area where your lighting fixture sits. It can be easy to install, and its decorative touch will be impossible to ignore. For a low price, you can hope to create some bigger influence on your décor in a positive sense.
Wood polish and conditioner
It can be tiring to look at the same distressed-looking cabinets and wood paneling day in and out. You can think of hiring a contractor to get this refinished. But the cost of this can run into thousands of dollars. The result may also not be desirable. The cabinets and paneling can still look coarse. Also, it may not eliminate the possibility of fresh damages to the furniture if your pets jump and scratch them or you use them heavily. Since revisiting the same solution can be difficult for the cost sensitivity, as an alternative, you can look for wood polish and conditioner that erase all the issues to give your furniture a spotless look.
Application is hassle-free. You can use a paper towel to put it on the surface and wait for 20 minutes to allow it to do its magic; wipe the surface with a clean towel in the end. If you buy this product, look for something that contains beeswax and orange oil. These ingredients help preserve the health of your wood. You will not have to deal with dryness, fading, or cracking issues.
Window films
Privacy can be one of your biggest concerns whether you live on your property or in a rented one. If it’s your home, you can install drapes to avoid this. But it may not make much sense when you are not in your home. So instead of compromising with your primary need, you can turn to window films as an option. Cover your windows with any design of your choice to live your life without any outside interference. It doesn’t cost much. Besides that, it is a peel-and-stick solution. So you don’t have to spend much effort on this to secure your mental peace.
All these are mostly cost-effective and instant upgrade ideas for your home. You can work around them to avoid larger expenses for a long time. Once you have budget and time, you can think of venturing out in the other direction. Until then, these tiny changes can keep your dwelling in the best shape and form.
