Easy (and Cheap) Home Upgrades That Make a Big Difference

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It happens to everything we acquire in life: The initial excitement wears off. Your house is a great example; after a while, you simply get used to living there, and all the little details that made you fall in love with the place fade into the background. Then one day you wake up and your beloved house feels kind of old and tired.

One solution is a huge renovation project, but just thinking about the time, expense, and effort involved can make you feel old and tired (also: broke). You don’t, however, need to rip everything out of your house to make it feel fresh and new again—there are a lot of small changes that cost little money, require little effort, and have a lot of impact.

Kitchen cabinet hardware

When people consider ways to refresh or upgrade their kitchens, they often jump to sizable renovations like painting or replacing cabinets. But changing out the hinges and pulls can have a dramatic effect on the look of your kitchen cabinetry—and its function. Depending on the size of your kitchen, replacing the hardware can cost as little as $150.

You could also consider painting your existing pulls—changing from a metallic finish to a matte black, for example, can have quite an impact for the cost of some primer and a can of paint.

For a real upgrade, switch out the basic hinges on your cabinets for soft-close hinges. These can make even cheap cabinets feel luxe, and will be legitimate life-changers if you’re often startled by a spouse, roommate, or child slamming a kitchen cabinet with unnecessary violence.

Doors

The doors in your house have a subtle but powerful effect on how you perceive the space. Cheap, hollow-body doors can make a house feel cheap, and a shabby, basic entrance door conveys a sense of boring neutrality and anonymity to your home. Replacing all those doors can be expensive, but you don’t need to—just like your kitchen cabinets, swapping out the basic hardware (hinges, handles, and latches) for upgraded versions is affordable, easy, and completely changes the visuals.

Painting your entrance door a bright, bold color can change how your home is perceived, upping curb appeal and even increasing your home’s value. For some extra cheap impact, add some magnetic doorstops to hold your doors open when you’re bringing in groceries or carrying stuff from room to room.

Toilet seats

Chances are you don’t think about the toilet seats in your house very often. But an old, discolored, basic toilet seat makes your entire bathroom experience feel old and basic. Upgrading to a new one is a fresh start that revamps your toilet for about $50 (and gives you the chance to give it a deep clean). Making your new seat soft-close will also add an element of quiet luxury to your daily routines. And, heck, for a few dollars more you can get a heated seat with a nightlight that could quite possibly change your life.

Light fixtures

For some reason, we often regard light fixtures as permanent and unchangeable. But if you have some basic big-box store “boob” style lights in your house, simply changing them to something with a smidge more style can elevate the look and feel of the entire place for cheap. For an extra boost, change your light switches to dimmer switches so you can set a mood in every room, instantly adding luxury to your space.

It’s also worth adding light where it’s lacking. Some adhesive undercabinet lights in your kitchen not only improve its usability, they can add ambiance and make your kitchen feel upgraded for less than $20. And adding some motion-sensor lights to any closet or pantry will make the space feel fancier, while also making it easier to use.

Bathroom trim

We spend a lot of time in our bathrooms, so the environment there is a big part of how we feel about our home in general. If you’re comfortable in the bathroom, you’ll carry that sense throughout your day. You don’t need a full-on bath remodel or new tile to make your bathroom feel more luxurious. All you need to do in many cases is replace the existing trim with fresh, new, modern versions. Swapping out the towel racks, toilet paper holders, and other trim pieces will have a dramatic effect on the look and feel of your bathroom for very little money.

And while you’re at it, if you have a shower curtain, consider adding a curved curtain rod. Curved rods instantly make a cramped shower feel more spacious—and they cut down on those horrifying moments when a slimy, wet curtain wraps itself around you like some sort of sea monster.

New faucets

If you feel like your kitchen and bathrooms are a bit tired and dated but can’t put your finger on why, look at your faucets. Are they the same builder-grade ones you’ve had for years? Or were they part of a dramatic remodel that happened 15 years ago? Faucets are one of the easiest things to change out in your home, and one of the easiest ways to introduce a dramatic new design element to a kitchen or bath without gutting them. If you want a brand-new feel, go for something very different—replace a single-handle faucet with a bridge faucet, for example, or do an overhaul of the finishes in either room. If you’ve been living in a satin nickel world for a while, a switch to stainless or gold might wake up your senses and make your home feel new again.

USB charging outlets

Something many people get blind to in their homes is the mass of extension cords, charging cables, and power strips they’re using. They solve the immediate problem of providing power where it’s needed, but having a home filled with them looks messy and subtly makes you—and everyone else—feel that your house is old, because it can’t provide the charging that modern life needs.

Replacing your power outlets with new ones that incorporate USB charging ports will help modernize your house and clear away at least some of the cables snaking their way through your life without breaking the bank. Cheap and relatively easy to install, having these all over the place means you can plug in your phone and other devices any time you think of it, without having to run an extra cord or power strip from the wall to the couch.