Easy and Inexpensive Home Updates

It can be expensive to do an entire overhaul on a home. Fortunately, remodeling your home doesn't necessary mean you have to strip it down to the bare bones and reinstall everything (and for the sake of being eco-friendly, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it.") However, there are plenty of simple, quick and inexpensive updates that you can do around the home to improve the look and keep your home up-to-date without shelling out thousands of dollars. Here are a few recommendations for easy and inexpensive home updates.

Lighting Fixtures

There are lighting fixtures in every room in the home. Updating a few of them can actually dramatically improve the feel of your home. Check out the light fixtures in your bathrooms, kitchen or dining room; as those might be the best choices for an update; however you can obviously replace the ones in your bedrooms as well.

My bathroom fixture recommendation: this 16 inch wide dual light bathroom fixture from Kichler's Caleigh Collection. For $72.00, you can swap out your old fixture for a sleek, modern new fixture. Plus, if you need two (perhaps for a master bathroom with dual sinks,) you can get both for under $150.00. It's a lot of bang for your buck, and LightingDirect.com offers free shipping to top it off. Not into the modern look? They've also got a more traditional four light fixture (30 inches wide) from the same company, just under a different collection.

My dining room fixture recommendation: for $161.99, this five light traditional styled chandelier is a great way to update an out-dated dining room fixture. If you're looking for a more modern chandelier, this three light chandelier might work better for you. It's got clean lines and opal glass shades, plus the heritage bronze finish brings the price down to $82.15.

Updating Bathroom and Kitchen Cabinets

It goes without saying that if your cabinets are still in pretty good shape, there's no need to replace them. Of course, it goes without saying that if your cabinets are ugly, well.. unfortunately, they're just ugly. However, if you're willing, painting cabinets a clean white (or any other color of your choosing) can be an easy way to improve or update the look of your bathroom or kitchen without shelling out a lot of cash. Not interested in painting? Consider replacing the doors only (yes, you can do that.) It's much cheaper and just as effective.

Aside from the cabinets themselves, there are other ways to update kitchen or bathroom cabinets. Simply swapping out the out-of-date knobs or pulls can also be effective.

My recommendation: for $0.65 each, this 1 and 1/4 inch cabinet knob comes in several different finishes (aluminum, dark oil rubbed bronze, flat black, polished brass, polished chrome, satin chrome and satin nickel) so you can find one to fit your taste and you can likely do your entire kitchen for under $20.00 and your bathroom for less than $5.00.