Normally, we roll our eyes at the idea of house renovations, because they bring about a lot of bills, unforeseen damages and mess that cost even more to fix or clean up, and the thought of seeing workers in your home all day and renovation noise already makes you stressed. That’s why we’ve compiled six out of numerous steps for personal home improvement this fall, which are also coincidentally as inexpensive as they can get. With minimum changes, you can get the most out of your living space, believe it or not.
The first step – prioritize
The first thing to do is to go around the house and see where your priorities lie. Do you want to renovate for functionality, or for appearance? A bit of both? Because depending on that factor, your choices and budget allocation will be wildly different. This can also be a fun step, because you can include other family members and friends and turn it into a fun project.
A new coat of paint just before winter
A little higher on our inexpensive list is giving your deck a fresh coat of paint. Curb appeal is a huge deal, especially if you live in a suburban neighbourhood. While you’re at it, you can apply a coat of water repellent to all wooden surfaces on your porch and door, to ensure they don’t get damaged as winter rolls in.
Price: ranges between 400 and 900 AUD (including manual labour, but you can make it cheaper by doing the job yourself)
Replace the door or repaint it
Since door replacement is a little on the pricier side, you can always decide on simply repainting it. Depending on the kind of material your door is made of, the amount of detail and, size of course, the price can ran vary a lot. Check for chipped paint, possible leaks in doorway sealing (letting the heat out/cold in) and the quality of your locks, as they tend to wear out during the years.
Price: between 95 and 205 AUD
Upgrade your storage
Moving onto the interior, adding cheap shelving inside your closet will save you a lot of clutter. What’s more, while you organize your clothes and shoes inside, you can also declutter space and throw away things you no longer need. These space organizers come as cheap as they can get, and the amount of clutter you’ll get rid of will freshen up your space greatly.
Price: between 20 and 28 AUD for each organizer
Seal gaps for insulation
As boring as uncreative as it sounds, checking your home for gaps in insulation is a huge factor in keeping your bills low during the fall and winter months. Like many companies dealing with home renovations in Brisbane advise, it’s a significantly cheaper investment in the long run to seal all gaps for insulation, than to fret expecting heating bills every month.
Price: depends on the company you hire and the amount your work that needs to be done
Tiny changes in the kitchen
Believe it or not, your kitchen can look as good as new with just a few touch-ups. Freshen up your cabinets by repainting them to match the kitchen walls or stand out from them. You can also replace some of their doors with glass ones to show off your utensils and crockery. You can also acquire countertop paint that achieves that much-loved marble effect, without buying actual marble countertops or islands. A little secret we’ll also share is to hang some artwork onto the kitchen walls to draw people’s eyes. And if they’re kids’ drawings – all the better! Who says the kitchen can’t be a pleasant hangout area as well?
Lastly
Don’t limit yourself to just these six pieces of advice. Scour the internet on sites like Pinterest, home improvement forums and customer testimonials to see which services are the cheapest, and which ones you can do on your own. What we’ve pointed out as important fall renovations concern your front porch, preparation for the winter, decluttering your space and adding simple little details to your interior. Try it for yourself and see how much of a difference just a few changes like these can make.