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8 Ways to Update Your House for Little Money

I know many of you want to do some updating of your home but are afraid you will have to spend a lot of money! Many of these items can be done by you if you have the time and are handy with tools, paint brush and etc. Some items are beyond the scope of what many of us can do so we must rely on professionals. A good way to work with costs is to set a plan of action and prioritize your list to do the most needed things first and on down the list as you can afford. Understand that you still may have to live in the house as you are doing these things, so do not let the process drag out to long and disrupt your daily lives to much. Time factor may be a reason to have a company like Kaufman Homes who can do the job in phases and always does the job as quickly as possible with a minimum of living disruption.

Door knobs and hinges, cabinet knobs, plumbing faucets and hanging light fixtures.

10-15 years gold finishes were the trend with gold faucets, gold cabinet knobs and gold door knobs. While gold is nice, when new it proved to be trendy and was not as durable as other finishes. The new trends which seemed to be more durable and timeless are chrome, nickel, brushed nickel or bronze.

Painting walls, painting trim or both

For many years the stark white or almost white painted wood and cabinets was very traditional. Walls were usually painted a shade or two darker but yet still quite stark. Though this scheme was somewhat timeless in time it also seemed a little boring. The newer trends which, we believe are even more timeless are to just change the wall colors to darker warmer colors. You can also paint various rooms with different colors all on the designer themes and they usually all go well with the whiter or off white cabinet and trim paints. The next step is to repaint all the woodwork and or the cabinets a darker warmer color to go along with wall designer colors. These warm color blends can give a home a complete new feeling all without having to do any major remodeling. Combine the color changes with the above change of knobs, fixtures and maybe lighting and you have change the decorating them of a home.

Adding crown molding

Crown molding in selected rooms adds dimension to a seemingly boring room and is not a very costly item. Adding crown molding to a basic room where the colors on the walls and or the wood work have been changed will really give a new feeling.

Counter tops

Countertops have changed over the years from basic Formica, to ceramic tile and to corian. Now even more varieties of counter tops are available from designer Formica with special edges of Corian (Called Gem lock) to make a very sleek looking and yet not overly expensive surface. There are now more varieties of hard surfaces from various granite presentations, Caesar Stone or sile stone, designer concrete, or porcelain tiles usually on the larger scale of 1’ to 2’ sizes.

New floors

Floors have gone from hardwoods to tile, to travertine’s, and marble. There are now a variety of pre-finished hardwood floors, laminate floors and porcelain tiles that closely mimic travertine floors but are less costly to buy, lay and maintain.

Adding a gas fireplace

Replacing a wood burning stove with a gas fireplace or replacing a wood burning fireplace with gas designer logs can greatly enhance the warmth of a home and makes it easier to warm up the feeling of a room without the mess of a wood fireplace or wood burning stove. Gas fireplaces can easily be added to the outside wall of a room as these fireplaces can be direct vented out the wall to the outside.

New TV cabinet

The modern slim line light weight TV’s allows the homeowner much more flexibility to placement of TV’s. The old TV’s were big, clumsy and took up a lot of room in your TV cabinet.

New surface on deck

Wood decks are expensive to install and a lot of maintenance. There are different kinds of composite materials which are not any more money than cedar decks, do not need staining or sealing each year and are much less maintenance. Trex was the original composite deck that came out, but now there are many more products that are even better. Contact your contractor to help select the right product for you the one that will fit your budget and is the least maintenance.

Kaufman Homes and our Home Repair Services team would love to help you with whatever projects small or large you have for us. Please don’t hesitate to call 503-370-8390 to schedule an appointment.[/vc_column_text][dt_gap height=”10″][/vc_column][/vc_row]