Three things you can do on the cheap to make your house shine!
Hello Lovely Savers! The air is starting to get a little brisk in the evenings and the leaves have an EVER SO SLIGHT tinge of orange mixed in among the green… which means fall is almost here!
If you are anything like Handsome Man and I, you are scrambling to get your outside projects done before the season is upon us. Or maybe you live in a state where Summer actually lasts as long as it’s supposed to, we are not so lucky.
Today I wanted to share a few things that we did to SUPER update the curb appeal of our house, all on tight budget restrictions.
1. The Front Door. The front door is the focal point of the home. It is literally the first thing people see and it is a blank space for creativity. Our front door was painted this burgundy red before we moved in (and not super well).
It was fine for a while but I wanted to dress this home up. I wanted something light and welcoming and bright against the dull grey of the house. 1 gallon of porch and floor paint later, and voila!
You can see the steps I took to paint the door here.
Total Budget for Update: $100
Front Door Project: $35
Total Left: $65
2. The Windows. Now OBVIOUSLY if you are on a budget you are not about to spring for brand new windows. And luckily, with our home, we don’t need em. We LOVE our big window right in front, it lets in a ton of light into the living room and was a big selling point for us. But, if your trim is peeling or looking dingy, maybe its time for a clean up job. Our windows were in pretty good shape, but they had these (same color as the door) burgundy shutters.
I didn’t mind the shutters, I think they frame the window nicely! However, they needed an upgrade too. We kept the same shutters and spray painted them a dark blue to contrast against the grey and teal on the door. The spray paint was really cheap, but as a disclaimer I did need more than I thought I would, and Handsome Man made some extra trips to Menards for me.
Total Budget: $65
Window Project: $25
Total Left: $40
3. The Yard. So… I’m sure I’ve complained before about our yard. We saw the house during an open house in May- Before anything in MN grows back from the winter. We BOUGHT the house in June. When EVERYTHING WAS GROWING LIKE CRAZY. See, the lovely woman who lived here before us, didn’t like to mow. So instead, she decided to just plant hastas and ferns and day lilies…. EVERYWHERE. I still can’t talk about the number of ferns we had to dig up… traumatizing. That being said, that was last year’s project, this year we just wanted to stay in control of the plants. We cut the front yard “prairie” way back and dug out a ton of the pants in front of the window. Other than a new shovel, we only spent money on some grass seed which we plan to put down this fall to over seed what is already there. With some manual labor, and DIY attitudes, we saved a ton of money and the house looks way better already. And not like it sits in the middle of a jungle. We still have a ways to go, but neighbors have already stopped by to compliment how much better it looks! I wish the pictures below actually did the transformation its due justice.
Total Budget: $40
Yard Work: $20
Total Left: $20
So whether you are a home owner, renter, getting ready to sell a home, or looking at buying a home, these are just a few ways you can spruce up the front without breaking the budget. They are also really easy projects even for brand new homeowners and DIYers. We sure aren’t done with everything we want to do to the house, but for under $100, we have done pretty good so far!
Thank you so much for all of your support, lovely savers, I love sharing my tips and tricks for money and how to deal with everything in between. Please join the Facebook Group: Sugar and Savings- Budgets and Saving Money to be a part of our community of other lovely savers. We share our thoughts, and plans with money, and we celebrate each other’s wins! And each month I go live to answer YOUR questions about personal finance!
Until next time, wishing you all Sugar and Savings,
