How to Get an Expensive-Looking House
Are you thinking of selling your house? Do you want it to look more expensive before the buyers start coming round? Then this is the list for you. It’ll show you 35 quick, easy, and most importantly cheap home upgrades you can do to improve the value of your home. All you need is a little know-how.
Swap Out Dated Hardware
Replacing cabinet knobs, drawer pulls, and doorknobs with sleek, modern bits and bobs instantly elevates your home’s appearance. You’d be surprised at what a difference it can make to your kitchen or bathroom, and it really doesn’t put you back much at all.
Install Peel-And-Stick Backsplash
Peel-and-stick backsplash tiles mimic expensive materials like marble or glass but cost a fraction of the price. They’re so easy to install and they instantly update the look of your kitchen or bathroom. Pick out that matches the décor of the room.
Upgrade Light Fixtures
When people come round to see your house, they’re going to want to look up. So you’d better make sure your light fixtures are the best of the best! You can usually find good quality ones online that are still fairly cheap.
Add Crown Molding
Crown molding brings instant architectural interest and classic elegance to any room. You can find affordable foam or MDF molding that’s lightweight, easy to install, and paintable – so give it a try. You might be surprised at the difference it makes.
Paint Interior Doors
You probably don’t think much about your interior doors, but you should. Most interior doors are plain white, but painting them a rich color - like navy, charcoal, or even something wild like pink - adds unexpected sophistication and interest to your house.
Hang Floor-Length Curtains
Swapping short window curtains (or worse, bare windows) for long, flowing curtains adds drama and height to any room. Hang rods closer to the ceiling and let the curtains just graze the floor to make ceilings look taller.
Frame Your Bathroom Mirror
Upgrading your bathroom mirror can change the look of your whole bathroom, and it can be done so cheaply too. You can get a stick-on kit that will help you transform your mirror frame, and then you can paint it too if you like.
Replace Outlet and Switch Covers
Sometimes, outlet and switch covers start to turn yellow, and you don’t want that. Swapping them for clean, matching ones - especially in fashionable finishes like metal or black - makes a surprisingly big difference to a room. And they’re usually fairly cheap, as well.
Install a Faux Fireplace Mantel
Adding a faux fireplace mantel - even without a working fireplace - creates an instant focal point in your living room. You can find affordable mantel kits at your local DIY retailer or build one yourself with wood and molding. (Just make sure you know what you’re doing.)
Upgrade Cabinet Lighting
Adding under-cabinet LED lighting in the kitchen or bathroom makes the space look high-end and functional, like a fancy hotel. Stick-on LED strips are cheap, easy to install, and provide cool ambient lighting that highlights your bathroom fixtures.
Use Large Wall Art
Ever been browsing the internet and seen a large piece of wall art you like? Well, now’s the time to get it. Oversized art can make your space look like an art gallery, and thus more expensive. And a lot of large wall art is actually quite cheap.
Apply Wall Molding
Adding wall molding, wainscoting, or board and batten treatments creates great textures in your space, making it look more sophisticated. Use cheap MDF to outline rectangular shapes or vertical strips on a feature wall, then paint it a winning color.
Add a Stylish Entryway Rug
Is your entryway missing something? Maybe a rug would do the trick. It doesn’t have to be a really expensive one either… why not check out some thrift stores or eBay and see what you can find? Make sure it matches the paint and wallpaper.
Upgrade Your Shower Curtain
Plastic shower curtains often look cheap and (whisper it) tacky. Upgrade to a fabric curtain with a decorative pattern or texture. Not only does it look nicer, you might find yourself using the shower more as well.
Use Matching Containers in Open Storage
Open shelves and visible storage instantly look neater and more upscale when matching containers are used. You could use glass jars or wicker baskets, or you could go check out your local home store and see what options they have.
Paint Your Front Door
Painting your front door can add to what’s known as “curb appeal.” If you paint it a bright color, that might be the thing that draws attention to your house and makes you the standout of the neighborhood. And paint is inexpensive!
Hang Mirrors to Reflect Light
Never underestimate how important mirrors can be to a house. Strategically placed mirrors not only make a room feel larger but also reflect natural light, giving your space a brighter, more open feel. And you can find them at thrift stores!
Swap Out Old Faucets
Replacing old faucets with stylish new ones is a quick way to upgrade kitchens and bathrooms. Look for affordable options in brushed gold, matte black, or chrome – all the most popular styles at the moment. Just don’t try painting your faucets, that never works out in the long run.
Install Floating Shelves
Floating shelves are very, very in right now and they’re a great way to show off books or ornaments. Just keep the displays simple and balanced to avoid visual clutter and make sure the whole thing doesn’t come crashing down when you least expect it.
Add Dimmers to Light Switches
This is fairly easy to do yourself, or you can hire a professional to do it if you’re not sure. Adjustable lighting adds warmth and ambiance to your house, making rooms feel cozier and more luxurious.
Use Coordinated Bedding and Pillows
You know what makes a bedroom look instantly better? Matching bedcovers and pillows! But if you don’t have any that match anymore, new bedsheets and pillow covers won’t put you back very much. You might even be able to find some on eBay.
Get Rid of Coffee Table Clutter
Unfortunately, a lot of people use their coffee table like a dumping ground for random stuff, and it soon adds up into a big mess. Spend a day cleaning out your coffee table and making sure only the essentials have a home in there.
Replace Toilet Seat
There’s nothing worse in a bathroom than a battered old toilet seat. But that thing gets used a lot, so of course it’s going to wear down. Replace the seat with a nice, but inexpensive, new model and you might be surprised at how great your bathroom looks afterwards.
Add Some Greenery
Greenery doesn’t just have to be for the garden. Adding some nice plants around your home can bring the outside in and make your space feel fresher and more cozy. And you don’t have to break the bank for this, as faux plants can be very cheap.
Use a Tray for Countertops
So many people have countertops where everything is scattered about, and you don’t want that. Instead, get hold of a nice tray – maybe a nicely decorated or mirrored one – and put the items that are covering the countertop in that instead.
Paint Trim and Baseboards White
Over time, trim yellows or gets scuffed, so a fresh coat of semi-gloss white paint can dramatically improve the room’s overall appearance. It’s a task so easy you can do it yourself in an afternoon, just don’t forget to lay down a dropcloth first.
Hang a Statement Light in the Dining Room
A bland dining room light is no-one’s friend. What you need is a big, bold, statement light that transforms the room. Luckily, even chandeliers aren’t all that expensive these days, and a snazzy statement light will look amazing as you eat.
Use Decorative Towel Displays
People never seem to know what to do with their towels, but you do. Instead of mismatched, worn towels, opt for neatly folded or rolled decorative towels in a coordinated color scheme. Use a basket, wall hook, or towel ladder to display them.
Upgrade House Numbers
When a visitor comes to your house, one of the first things they’re going to see is the house numbers. If they’re faded or outdated, the visitor will judge. Get some inexpensive but stylish numbers from online and replace the old-looking ones.
Layer Your Rugs
If you have a lot of rugs, you should be layering them. Place a large, affordable neutral rug underneath a smaller patterned or plush rug. It looks instantly stylish and fashionable, and it doesn’t cost a lot of money either.
Create a Mini Gallery Wall
Do you do art? Do you like art? Then why aren’t you showing it off? Creating a mini gallery wall is easy, you just need a lot of cheap photo frames. You can put your own art in there, print pictures off the internet, all sorts!
Add Coordinated Dispensers
Soap dispensers that you get from the store don’t really look all that great in a bathroom. Instead, you should pick up some cheap soap dispensers (you can even get them at the dollar store) and use those for your soap instead. It makes your bathroom look so much more uniform.
Upgrade Closet Doors
Not happy with the way your closet looks? Then do something about it! Paint them, add decorative trim, or even replace them with curtains in a nice fabric. These are all fairly easy jobs that won’t cost you a lot of money.
Use Coordinated Storage in the Pantry
Just because not many people go into your pantry doesn’t mean you still can’t make it look nice. You should use coordinated storage in there – many people go for glass jars, for example. Make sure you label them neatly.
Get More Books
Books add a really elegant feel to a house. If you have a lot of them in storage, bring them out and arrange them around your shelves, coffee tables and so on. And make sure to put them in easy-to-reach spaces so you can still read them!
