8 Cheap Ways to Make Your Home Look New

Hardly anyone’s home looks magazine-worthy all the time, but if you’ve noticed that your home is looking a little dingy or rough around the edges, it may be time to spruce things up. There’s no need for a major renovation, though. There are plenty of projects you can take on that will make a big impact on the appearance of your home but don’t require refinancing, or even dipping into your savings. Here are the 9 of the cheapest ways to make your home look brand-new again that you can do right now.

1.  Bleach the Grout.  If your bathroom is starting to look drab, bleaching the grout is a cheap and easy way to freshen it up and eliminate mold and mildew while you’re at it. Before you begin, put on a pair of rubber gloves and open any windows, then mix together five parts water and one part chlorine bleach, and scrub the stains away with a grout brush. You’ll be amazed at the difference!

2. Change a Light.  You’d be surprised how an updated light fixture can transform the whole look of a room. Swap out a gaudy chandelier or an old brass flush-mount fixture for a modern pendant or industrial-style lighting—a simple project that can cost as little as $50, including the fixture.

3. Change the Hardware.  Installing new drawer pulls or cabinet knobs is an inexpensive way to upgrade a kitchen or bathroom. And you never know: New hardware may even make you finally come around to those 1980s oak cabinets in your kitchen.

4. Install new Knobs.If all your home’s doorknobs are still stuck in the brass-fueled ’90s, a simple hardware upgrade will give your place a completely fresh look. Interior doorknobs cost as little as $10 to $30 apiece—a small price to pay for a quick improvement.

5. Paint.  Paint gives you the biggest bang for your buck when it comes to home design projects. In just one afternoon, a few coats of paint can take a bedroom from dark and cramped to open and airy, or transform a living space from boring to bold.

 

6. Deep Clean Furniture.  After years of abuse from dirty paws and dropped plates of spaghetti, upholstered furniture starts to look a little worse for wear. Luckily, depending on the fabric, all it takes to make your sofa look brand-new again is a bit of elbow grease, some gentle dish soap, and an upholstery brush—about $10 in all. Certain fabrics shouldn’t be cleaned with water, so always check the label first.

 

7. Remove Scuff Marks on Paint.  Even if a paint job is holding up well and you still love the color, the wall may have accumulated scuff marks that bring down the appearance of the entire room. To eliminate those black marks without damaging the paint finish, grab a toothbrush and some plain white toothpaste, then scrub and watch the scuffs disappear from your walls, leaving the room looking trim and polished. Alternatively, use a microfiber cloth or a Magic Eraser sponge to clean painted walls.

 

8. Clean the Baseboards.  Clean baseboards really brighten the look of a room. The easiest way to clean them is to wipe them down with a dryer sheet, which will both remove the dust and coat the baseboard with antistatic agents that will prevent the dirt from building back up. If you don’t have any dryer sheets, use a microfiber cloth instead.