10 ways to improve your house on the cheap

10 ways to improve your house on the cheap

Even if you don’t own your house you can improve it with a few minutes work and these tips start from £0!

1) Lighting

LED strip lights or LED bulbs can transform a room, for instance behind the TV, below the kitchen counters or around your bed.

Also consider lighting outside your house, it is a fact that a well-lit house is less likely to be broken into.

2) Paintingpainting

Over a weekend you can completely change a room, here are some tips:

  • Check your local tip/dump/recycling centre as lots of places will encourage people to leave paint for others.
  • Wrong paint… lots of stores allow people to take paint back if they’re not happy or it doesn’t match the existing paint but it can’t be resold as new so they reduce it to clear. Try local DIY stores but failing that try the larger chains.
  • Remember to use a primer for dark coverups – Primer is cheaper than dark/posh paints and using it helps the paint spread more evenly on the surface, meaning you will use less of your expensive paint to get the job done. 1 coat of primer + 1 coat of paint will be cheaper than no primer and multiple coats of expensive paint.
  • Be careful of the cheap paint, often the cheaper stuff will require multiple coats, won’t be as durable or won’t last as long. Obviously, don’t just spend money for the sake of it but maybe try some sample pots to compare.
  • Always keep old paint but keep it labelled (room name + amount of coats + paint name) and dated. Remove paint from the lid and the grooves of the lid – Use clingfilm to cover the paint (or just the lid) for added protection from dry paint falling into the paint. Make sure the lid is properly sealed.
  • Actually, calculate how much paint you will use/need to cut down wastage. This calculator will help.

3) Furniture repaint or replace

Repainting furniture is cheap way of giving your room a facelift and turn something you hate into something you’re proud of – learn the basics of this with our article about how to Paint kitchen appliances, you can use the same techniques on all sort of things.

Replacing furniture with other people’s ‘rubbish’ is a great way to save money + tons of people throw away perfectly good things as they’re can’t be bothered to sell. Sites like Freecycle and Facebook local selling pages are great places to look. Just remember the risks of buying from Facebook Selling pages

4) Stop hair down the plug holeshair

This drives us insane + makes us feel sick when cleaning, especially if it’s a flat mates hair!

By using a decent stopper you can prevent the hair actually getting stuck, just remind everyone that they should clean it after every use. If you have a problem with this then also consider a small bin inside the shower or just outside the door.

 

5) Reduce the risk of a house fire + buy fire extinguishers

Please read this article: 10 ways to prevent household fires

6) Grab some plants / seeds and growplants

You can grow tons of indoor plants for either food or just to brighten your house, most plants will improve the air in your house as well.

7) Implement a few of these ways to protect your valuables

Please read these articles: How to try and protect your valuables & learn how criminals are using social media

 

8) Buy some artwork or make your own art/inventions

9) Keep on top of maintenancemaintenance

A leaking tap is a lot easier to fix than a tap pouring water everywhere, also houses that are well-maintained sell quicker!

10) Reconsider what you’re standing on (the floors)

  1. 94% of US real estate pros recommend spending some money on floors.
  2. A few well-placed nails can stop squeaking floor boards.
  3. An easy clean kitchen floor can be picked up for a few hundred quid & can transform a home.
  4. Investing in rugs instead of full carpets can save you a fortune if you’ve got hard floors in your lounge / on your stairs etc.

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Image credits: Hair

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