Sometimes in order to get motivated to make changes to your Philly home, you need to start small with a do-it-yourself (DIY) project that’s both inexpensive and requires little time. But when you invest any amount of time in a DIY home improvement project, you want to make it something that will significantly improve your home’s appearance. Here are a few high-impact projects that you can complete for under $250 in just one or two weekends.

Repainting Your Moulding and Baseboards

Take a good look at your moulding, baseboards, and edging around your home. Do they look old and worn beyond cleaning? If so, one inexpensive project that you can complete for under $250 in your home is to repaint them all. Rarely, if ever, do you need to replace your baseboards or moulding — in most cases they just need to be restored with a fresh coat of paint. You might even decide to change the color to add new vibrancy to the room. Take care to use paint shields and proper brushes to prevent splattering on your walls and flooring. And while you’re at it, why not replace your electrical outlet frames with more decorative frames that match the new color of your baseboards and moulding?

Replace or Install New Light Fixtures

If you do something as simple as change a light bulb to a higher or lower wattage, you’ll notice a significant difference in the way your room looks. A brighter light reflects and brings out the furniture and decor of the room, while a dimmer light makes it seem more relaxed and tranquil. Updating the light fixtures in your most lived-in rooms will improve each room’s appearance at a cost that fits right into your do-it-yourself budget. If your project requires advanced electrical work, play it safe and hire a professional to take care of that part of the job.

Install New Kitchen Flooring

If you have a small or standard sized kitchen (about 100 square feet), you can quickly give it a makeover with a budget of around $250 by installing fresh linoleum flooring. Over time, your old linoleum becomes greasy and blemished to the point where cleaning it doesn’t make much of a difference. All that’s needed (in addition to the supplies) is some “elbow grease” to move items out of the kitchen and pull up the old floor covering. In some cases you can simply lay the new flooring material over the old. The great thing about linoleum or vinyl flooring is that it’s relatively easy to install compared to individual tiles, yet has a very similar look.

Now that you have the ideas in mind for your inexpensive DIY home improvement project, the next step is to spend some time at your local home store and grab the supplies you need. You may be surprised by how close you are to that $250 budget when you finish making these easy enhancements to your Philly home.

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