When we bought our first home in 2010, we moved in with the furniture we already had. Over the next 9 years we talked about getting new furniture and making it feel like adults lived there. But it never happened. Not until we moved and bought our second home.
After decluttering and purging our first home from the move, I decided that I didn’t want to wait another 9 years before we finally made some changes.
I was determined and Hubby started seeing the dollar signs it would take to make me happy. Luckily for him, I am a frugal and environmentally conscious individual.
If you ever felt like the need for change in your space but was worried about the damage it would be on your wallet, I list 21 ways that you can update your home on a budget.
Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.
21 Ways to Update Your Home on a Budget
Tip 1: Rearrange the Furniture
This doesn’t require any money but will need time and sweat. The furniture arrangement of a room can make it feel open or closed.
Have you ever heard of the philosophy of Feng Shui? It is the harmony between a person and their environment and the arrangement of your furniture can affect the harmonious balance.
I’m not a Feng Shui professional by any means. But I really liked the articles written by The Spruce and I prefer for every space to have a commanding position and an open flow of energy.
It helped me decide which floorplans I liked when we were house hunting and how we would arrange our furniture.
Tip 2: Change the Pillow Covers
Buying new throw pillows every season for your bedding and seating areas can be expensive and not very environmentally friendly. Having a throw pillow for every season can also take up a lot of storage space in your linen closet.
Instead of buying new throw pillows, consider changing the pillow covers. It is an easy and affordable way to change the look of a space. A thrifty DIY hack is to upcycle a buttoned up shirt or sweater into a pillow case. Do you like experimenting with fun colors?
Try picking up some snuggle flannel fabric that comes in fun prints. If you’re looking for the farmhouse look, how about making pillow covers out of drop cloth fabric? They’re less than $10 at walmart.
I love changing out my pillow covers every season as it brings a different feel to a space.
Tip 3: Home Decor
Check your local thrift store for home décor, you might be surprised by the treasures you’ll find. You can also spray paint décor you find at the thrift store or décor you already have. Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, Ebay, OffersUp, and Letgo are online platforms where you can find more affordable goods.
I have found so many unique treasures at my local thrift store and for fractions of the price if it were brand new. Not only did I save something from going into the landfill, I saved a ton of money! I found a beautiful large Japanese moriage vase for only $15!
Tip 4: Wall Art and Frames
With a can of spray paint, picture frames can be changed to any color. If you’re going for a more rustic look, try using chalk paint and light distressing it. There are so many picture frames at the thrift store as well!
Do you have a canvas painting from that last paint and sip party that you don’t care for? You can cut out the canvas and replace it with a patterned fabric of your choice. That’s what I did with my paint night canvas and now I have a better wall art than what I painted!
Tip 5: Mirrors
Adding mirrors to the house can help brighten up a dark or small space. Mirrors work great in the entry or hallway. I personally leave them out of the bedrooms, but hey this is your home reno, do what you like!
You can check out your local second hand store or selling platforms to pick up decorative mirrors at an affordable price. Bonus! You’re helping reduce what goes in our landfills!
Tip 6: New Plants
Plants add another element to your home and some plants even have beneficial qualities. Before adding a plant in the home, make sure it has the necessary light and room to grow in your new space. If you have pets, it’s a good idea to check if the plant is pet safe.
Tip 7: Wall Treatment
Adding a wall treatment to your space can really step up the look. Wall treatments are an affordable option that give the big wow factor. They can be used on a whole wall or just half the wall at chair height.
Beadboard, wainscoting, shiplap, crown molding, and faux brick are some wall treatment options. Wallpaper can add a fun pop of color to your space! Check out the wide selection of wall paper on Overstock.com.
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Tip 8: Replace the Covers
Changing the covers of the couch or bed can change the color scheme of a space. Couch covers can provide a cozy look and feel. They can also cover up any stains or tears from normal wear and time.
Duvet covers are a more affordable option to change the look of a bedroom and can extend the wash time of your blankets. Check out this cute 3pc Bedding Duvet Cover from Dreaming Wapiti! It comes in 10 different colors and 3 sizes. We use a duvet cover for our room and it helps with not having to wash our main comforter as often.
Dreaming Wapiti, 100% Washed Microfiber 3pcs Bedding Duvet Cover Set, Solid Color-Soft and Breathable with Zipper Closure & Corner Ties (Pink Mocha,Queen), 3 Pieces
Tip 9: Switch out Curtains
Change the window curtains out for the seasons to give it a new look. You can also swap out the shower curtains.
Tip 10: Change the lighting
Lighting can change the mood of your space. You can also find lots of table and floor lamps at your local thrift store and online selling platforms. This doubles as a decorative piece as well.
Tip 11: Add or remove pieces of furniture
The size of the furniture can also make the space feel large or small. Try matching the furniture sizes with the size of the space. It will help small spaces feel larger and large spaces feel cozy.
Tip 12: Reupholster Broken and Outdated Furniture
If you’re feeling crafty and up to the challenge, you can reupholster your furniture. Buying new furniture can be costly and wasteful for your old piece of furniture. By Taking apart what you have and turning it into something new, you can create a whole new piece. You can start with something small and work your way up to something bigger.
I picked up this bench off of Facebook Market for $25 and fixed the seat. I created a unique piece of furniture that fits our décor and savaged something that was broken. I found a fabric I like from Joann’s and I used a decorative gimp trim to cover the stapling around the edges. This is the decorative grip trim that I used.
Tip 13: Use an Area Rug
Area rugs are a great way to bring the room together. There are so many different patterns, colors, and sizes. We had a small warm-colored 5×6 rug for over 10 years and it just blended it with our floor. It was also way too small for our sectional and felt out of place.
We finally upgraded to an area rug that fit the space and brought a pop of color to the space that was no longer lost in the wood floor. Overstock.com has some great deals on area rugs, check out their rugs here!
Tip 14: Paint the Tiles
Painting tiles is budget-friendly and trending for a lot of DIYers. I have seen so many black and and white painted tile makeovers on Pinterest and YouTube. Stencil tiles come in a variety of sizes to fit your tiles and come in all different designs.
I painted our kitchen backsplash tiles in 2019 when we didn’t haven’t it in the budget to replace the backsplash. It was a great alternative to reusing what we already had. This was the 6 inch stencil kit I used.
Tip 15: Paint Outdated Furniture
As with reupholstering old or outdated furniture, you can update your furniture with some new paint. It’s amazing what paint can do and you’ll notice a trend coming along. I really love the transformative abilities of paint and it’s a great way to add some color to your space!
WARNING: Painting furniture can become addicting and you may want to paint all of the furniture in your house.
Tip 16: Paint The Walls
There are more ways to paint a room than just to paint them all one color. You can use paint to highlight a certain area of a room by painting a room with two different colors such as an accent wall.
You can also use tape to create a new design and see the reveal at the end. Most recently, I came upon a home where the walls were painted with a mixture of colors and it looked like water painting.
Tip 17: Paint the Cabinets
Another DIY-friendly project that you can get done in a few days and have a new kitchen or bathroom. If you have weathered cabinets that need some new life in them, you can paint your cabinets. We painted ours and they turned out great! I share my 7 Secrets to Painting Cabinets Like a PRO!
Check out the beautiful Nuvo 1 Day Cabinet Makeover Kit that comes in Driftwood. I love the light gray color and the contrast against a white backsplash!
Tip 18: Paint the Countertops
Yes, you read that right. You can paint your countertops! They even make countertop refinishing kits that have everything you need to give your countertops a faux granite or marble look.
I painted our countertops when I updated our kitchen. I found all of the supplies separately and picked out the individual colors myself. I found an inspiration photo I was going for and tried to find the colors that matched.
If you don’t want to mess with buying all of the separate tools, check out Giani Countertop Paint Kit that comes in four different colors and has over 7,000 reviews. I personally haven’t tried them, but reviewers are saying it gives their countertop an authentic granite look and they were able to get it done in 3 days!
It is advertised to be a low VOC, low odor, water-based acrylic paint. It can be used on Formica, laminate, Corian, ceramic tile, butcher block, cultured marble and traditional granite. It also says it’s a one weekend project so you can have new cabinets in just two days!
Tip 19: Update with Contact Paper
Wall paper can also be seen as contact paper or self adhesive vinyl or films. Wall paper has come a long way from just being used on walls. You can really apply wallpaper on anything with a clean flat surface.
Decorative stainless wall paper can be used to cover kitchen appliances if you’re going for a stainless steel look.
If you love the look of glam and marble, how about a granite wallpaper that you can use for countertops?
Tip 20: Upgrade hardware on cabinets and drawers
I love looking at new cabinet and drawer hardware because it gives the piece a whole new look that is unique. You can update the look of cabinets or furniture. These are the new knobs I added to this free thrifted dresser I picked up on Facebook Market.
Tip 21: Wall tile stickers for backsplash
I personally haven’t tried this yet, but I’ve seen others use sticker adhesives to cover up their tiles. They are a harder sticker material that you can use to update your backsplash in your kitchen and bathroom. They might be an apartment-friendly way to update the tiles as well. Check out some sticker tiles here.
Which update will you try?
There are so many creative ways to update your home on a budget. You don’t have to wait until you have saved up hundreds of dollars to splurge on a nice piece of furniture or change up the look of your space.
A gallon of paint can go a long way when it comes to painting furniture or even your kitchen cabinets. Throughout this post I shared several tips that can help you save money and help the environment by shopping second hand at local thrift stores and online selling platforms such as Facebook Marketplace, NextDoor, OffersUp, Habitat for Humanity, Craigslist (be careful with this one), and others.
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So which update have you tried or have already done? Do you have more ways to update a home? Leave a comment below!
Wishing you a Little Peace of Happiness in your home update!
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