Fast, Cheap Ways to Refresh Rooms (Especially if You Want to Sell Them)
Does your living area have a case of the blahs? Maybe you’re tired of faded spots on sofas and chairs that betray where everyone sits. Your kitchen looks like it’s produced one too many spaghetti dinners.
Oh, and you might be in countdown mode to sell your existing home, so you can move to a new one.
Sounds like makeover time. You can’t escape cleaning and decluttering to get your home market-ready. But unless you’re selling it unfurnished, you must think about revitalizing its interiors to make it attractive for prospective buyers.
Then there’s the cost. A lot of us can’t or won’t drop big coin on a home-staging service. We don’t want to pay for costly renovations either, especially if nothing’s structurally or functionally wrong with our home.
The answer is selective spruce-ups. Read on for fast, cheap ways to refresh rooms in your home.
Paint them
For approximately $10-30 a gallon (depending where you shop), you can facelift an entire room. All you need are a few hours, minimal tools, and some patience. It’s the perfect excuse to wear throwaway clothes.
So let’s paint tired rooms new colors, or refresh existing wall colors you still love. Hint: if you want a new color, always go neutral (white, off-white, light gray, etc.). Prospective buyers might not agree that bright lavender is neutral.
Switch up what you paint. Paint ceilings the same colors as walls, or only one wall — behind a bed or entertainment center, for example — as a focal point.
New decorative pillows
The simplest changes often make the biggest impact.
Those stained sofa pillows that kids spilled drinks on probably need to go. Combined with a thorough room cleaning, new pillows in different or fun patterns can form a pleasing, up-to-date aesthetic across your seating areas.
Don’t limit the pillow punch to living areas. New pillow shams and decorative pillows on beds and window seats are just as splurge-worthy.
Removable wallpaper
Where has this option been for the past 100 years?
It’s such a decorative flourish, without the measuring, gloppy paste and need for ultra-precise application. It also can be faster than paint.
All you’ll need are a ladder and some scissors. And if you decide you don’t like it, down it comes with minimal time and fuss.
Switch rugs
Clean them first. Then try the runner in the downstairs hallway, or between your kitchen island and wall cabinets.
Shift bath mats from one bathroom to another. Does that rug in the home office work better in the guest bedroom?
If you’re happy with the big statement rug in your main living area, visit a home improvement or big-box home furnishings store and replace, in thrifty fashion, all the easily replaceable small rugs around the house.
Rearrange furnishings
Just try it! Leave the huge antique bookcases alone, but take a few hours on a weekend and move sofas, chairs, tables and lamps around. Experimentation might produce a more pleasing layout.
