While building a home addition or completely remodeling your home may be your ultimate dream, that may not be a practical option if you are on a tight budget or planning on selling and moving soon. Still, there are plenty of things you can do to increase the value of your home without putting too much time or money into the project. Some of the these changes will significantly increase the value of your home as well, so you’ll get more for your property once you’re ready to sell.

• Make the most of your yard. No matter how small it is, there’s always space for a great lawn and at least a single lawn chair. If you can afford the space for flower beds, go ahead and build them around the edges. Otherwise, get a few large potted plants and group them in a couple of areas around the yard.
• Repaint the rooms. Get rid of white and beige walls, which are often the staple of a rental house. Instead, choose pastel colors such as yellows, blues and pinks that give the rooms personality and warm. Avoid crazy colors and patterns, as this can play against you when trying to sell a home. Before painting, patch any holes and sandpaper the walls if necessary.
• Declutter the house. It makes rooms appear larger and cleaner and gives potential buyers the feeling that the house is big enough to fit anything.
• Clean the carpets and rugs and wash the curtains. If you can afford it, replace them. This is especially important if colors are faded or material is stained.
• Refinish kitchen cabinets if you can’t do anything else. Paint the doors a light color or replace them to change the look of the whole room without any major changes.

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Some small changes or additions can turn a plain house into the stuff of dreams. Whether you’re going for romantic cottage or charming country styles, sometimes it’s the little touches that can make all the difference.

Picket fences scream cottage, even if you live in the middle of the city. Stick to white if you want something obvious or mix pastels and bold colors for a major impact.

Turn your porch into an outdoor room. Use vintage furniture (from benches and chairs to a hatch) as much as possible to add character. Choose weather-resistant materials and don’t be afraid to buy things at garage sales or discount centers –After all, these items will stay outside and probably end up damaged after a while. Add touches of color and charm by using pillows, eye-catching accessories and lots of potted plants.

Hang stuff from the walls. Old pots and pans, dried flowers and vintage collectibles (such as mirrors, watering cans or other small items) all scream cottage charm.

Take the doors off the shelves. This works particularly well in the kitchen. Get rid of a few cabinet doors and use the open space to display cookbooks, vintage cooking utensils or well stacked china.

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If you can’t afford to completely redo a room, there are still things you can do change its look and feel. Most of these changes will cost you under $50 and some will cost you nothing at all.

• Paint the room. Choose a contrasting color to the one you had before, so it’s truly noticeable. If you can’t afford to buy paint for the whole room, paint one wall in a vibrant color and make that wall the center of the room.
• Change the curtains. A lively, flowery curtain will give the room a completely different feel than heavy drapery would. Play with options or choose whatever is on sale.
• Cover the floor with a rug. Simple rugs can be found at discount stores for as little as $20-30. Don’t worry about covering the whole floor either. Just place it in the center of the room or in the area you want to accentuate.
• Move the furniture. Simply changing things around will make the room feel different. You can also switch pieces of furniture with something from other room or use a side table as a nighttable or vice versa.
• Hang art on the walls. You won’t be able to afford a one-of-a-kind painting for $50 but places like IKEA sell posters ready-to-frame that look like the real thing.

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Whether you’re getting ready to move and want to increase your home’s value or just moved into a new house and are desperate to remodel, you may be weary of tackling any changes in the kitchen. Traditionally, kitchens are more expensive to remodel than any other room because changes usually require structural reconstruction, including moving gas or water pipes, electric cords or built-in furniture (such as cabinets).

However, there are some simple changes that can be made in the kitchen that will significantly increase its value, as well as changing the look and making you feel like you just invested thousands.

Give Cabinets a Facelift. Paint them if they’re wood, or replace the doors for new ones in a different style. Glass ones are great if you’re the organized type and want a modern look. Otherwise, go for something with texture, such as shutter-like doors or something with molding. You can also replace the cabinet hardware and choose knobs that are brushed metal or

Get Rid of Fluorescent Lights. They make the room look dated and yellowish. Install track lighting if you can afford to pay a professional, or buy a couple of floor lamps and place in opposite corners. If you have a large table, create a centerpiece by grouping several candles and placing them on a tray in the center of the table.

Replace the Floor. You don’t need to spend a fortune or even hire a professional to change your floors. Instead, buy self-adhesive vinyl flooring at the local home improvement store and simply place it on top of your current floor. While each product comes with its own instructions, it’s usually just a quick process of no more than a couple of steps.

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If you’re moving to a new house that is larger than your previous residence, you may suddenly find yourself with less than enough furniture to fill all rooms. If budget is a consideration and you can’t simply go out to buy whatever is missing, there are some decorating tricks that can help you make a room feel “fuller” and more inviting.

Space out the furniture. While you may be tempted to place the armchairs and the sofa next to each other, that would probably leave a lot of empty space in other corners of the room. Instead, use a coffee table to complement the sofa but place the armchair in a different area, combining it with a side table, a large potted plant or a dividing screen to create an additional sitting area.

Use rugs. They create a feeling of unity among the furniture placed on it or nearby.

Add a few touches to increase the apparent size of the furniture. For example, a vase with flowers placed on a table can make the furniture seem taller, and a painting on the wall can make the walls feel less “naked.”

Paint the room more than one color. Choose a soft tone for three of the walls and a darker one for the fourth one. If you choose colors that complement each other, this will create a soft focal point, giving the feeling that the walls are drawn to each other.

Above all, don’t overcompensate the lack of furniture by placing lots of knickknacks on each corner. Rather than making the room seem fuller, that will only make it seem more crowded.

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Upstaging refers to the idea of making your home look as “presentable” as possible so it will impress potential buyers and make the most of each room, downplaying its faults and exalting its positive aspects.

The first step in staging a home is to make sure everything is absolutely clean. This may mean hiring somebody to help you go through the rooms, shining metal pieces, picking up dust bunnies from the corners and making sure there are no weeds growing in the garden. While you may think these are small details that buyers can take care of by themselves eventually, they can actually have a negative impact on how the house is viewed and how much they are willing to offer for it.

The next step is to get rid of anything too personal. Visitors don’t need to see your laundry, family photos or dog toys laying around. The less of your personal possessions in a room, the more they can imagine themselves actually living there.

Once the basics are taken care of, it’s time to replace whatever is obviously broken or dirty. Old shower curtains and dead plants are the most obvious items, and, surprisingly, the ones that home owners often miss. Tighten up cabinet doors, replacing broken handles and making sure the bathroom mat looks new can also help. If something looks too old or in obvious bad condition, either replace it or take it out of the room and hide it out of sight.

Finally, put out some fresh flowers or light a vanilla candle (according to experts, the favorite scent but also one that is not intrusive) to get rid of any lingering pet smells. Don’t forget to open the windows to air out the place.

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Done well, decorating with a single color can help put together a room that would otherwise not match. Monochromatic decorating can work anywhere, for anybody, but it would be especially useful for those with mismatched furniture or knick-knacks. For example, imagine you picked up your table and chairs at different times at the local second-hand store. While some would consider this “kirsch” others would prefer a more even look. Now imagine sewing small pillows to cover the back or the seat of each chair? The chairs now have something to tie them together into a more “united” group. Take this one step further and create a larger pillow for the sofa or kitchen curtains to match, and you have the beginnings of a put-together room.

When it comes to decorating with a single color, you don’t to actually paint everything on the same exact hue. If you pick blue, for example, you can use different variations, from light blue to turquoise to royal blue. The slight variations will help improve the personality of the room and will make it look more like a personalized space, rather than a theme room. So, for example, you can make the duvet of the bed dark blue and the top light blue with small dark flowers. Then match the curtains to the smallest section of the bedding, so the room doesn’t feel overwhelmed.

Another great way to use a single color when decorating is to use complementary colors for small details. For example, let’s say you made yellow the base color for your kitchen. Adding some touches of orange or red can help punch up the energy of the room. If you want to pinpoint all the attention to a specific item or corner of the kitchen, use blue or black –They provide the best contrast against yellow.

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Can’t afford to pay a decorator? Not enough money to buy all new, top-of-the-line items to completely change the look of a room?

1. Visit your local flea market or thrift store and see what you can find. If your local shops are too small to sell furniture or large household items, use them as a source of linens and then hit garage sales to find good second-hand furniture.

2. Look for items online. Websites such as Craigslist.org and Freecycle.org allow you to trace free (or almost free) items in your area. You need a car to go there and pick them up, and probably some time to clean and refurbish the item, but it’s probably still worth the effort.

3. Scout your neighborhood. During recycling nights, many people will put outside perfectly good furniture, free for the taking to the first person who stops by.

4. Reuse things in unexpected ways. Rugs can turn into wall decorations if hanged and small side tables can double as night-tables. There are very few rules when it comes to decorating, and ultimately, the place should look good just to you.

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When redecorating a home, it’s always important to keep in mind who will be living there. If there are kids in the house, not only it’s important to remember that during the actual planning stage, but also while you’re working on the room. To make the most of your new room and to avoid accidents and problems, try the following:

Have the kids leave if at all possible. Having a three-year-old walking around tools and open cans of paint is a recipe for disaster. Ask a loved one to take over babysitting duties for a while so you can at least get through the most basic renovations without having to look over your shoulder all the time.

Keep dangerous tools out of reach. This is especially true of anything electric, but don’t forget small items such as nails or items such as wood pieces (which can have splinters) and metal items in general.

Always keep thinking about what the final design will look like, even during the initial stages of the remodeling. This will allow you to incorporate safety measures, such as rails or drawer stops, in the design.

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Who said you need to spend thousands of dollars to give a room a facelift? While some expenses are mandatory, you still can change the whole look of a room just by rearranging what you already have. Here are a few tips on doing that successfully:

1. Go “shopping” in another room. A small side table, a quirky chair or a mismatched rug can all help change the look of a room.
2.Rearrange the furniture. Don’t just move it around but instead find ways to change the focal point of the room by facing the couch or the dining table a different way.
3. Use things in an unexpected way. A bookcase can easily turn into a room divider and a screen can be used to create a separate office in what would normally be just a living room.
4. Can’t afford to replace the couch? Use a throw or a nice afghan to cover it up, either completely or just across the back. Use a contrasting color as well, so the impact is greater.
5. Get one or two large potted plants. Resist the temptation of turning the room into a jungle. 6. 6. Instead, get a large palm or fern for a stronger impact without overwhelming the furniture.
7. Hang a picture on the wall. This is a lot cheaper than you may think. If you have an old calendar you love, just frame your favorite pages and hang them on the wall in groups. Otherwise, places like IKEA sell cheap prints that are large enough to draw attention by themselves.

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