Updating a home to your own taste and style, particularly one you’ve recently moved into, is something most of us want to do in order to put our own stamp on it.  When my husband and I moved into our first owned home together, over four years ago, it took a long time for it to start feeling like my home.  That’s because every single room was decorated to the old owner’s taste and it was not my style at all. 

I felt like I was living in someone else’s home for a long time!  Every room was painted a different colour, from peach to navy blue, and every carpet was a different colour too, from orange to sky blue.  The whole house was mismatched, old and worn. 

We’ve totally transformed the house from top to bottom, though we still have a long list of things to do.  But at this present time you wouldn’t recognise the home from when we moved in.  It finally feels like our home.

Doing up an entire house certainly pulls on the purse strings!  There are some clever ways to cut costs though and I will share with you below some we’ve done, some we’re yet to do and some I should have done!

Here are 9 ways to begin to update your home on a budget:

1.     Do it yourself

My first point has to be a reminder to DIY.  Doing as much of the work yourself as possible will save a small fortune.  You may have to learn some skills, but this is easily done thanks to the internet and free video guides. You can probably train yourself in almost anything nowadays.  The cost of hired labour can be extortionate, way more than the materials, so you really will save a pretty penny.

2.     Paint the front door

New doors are expensive, but if yours is wooden then a lick of paint can totally transform the entrance to your home.  Add a new knocker and number and it will feel like a brand new door!

3.     Remove the carpet on the stairs

If the carpet on the stairs is old and tired, but the quote for replacing it seems a little steep, then why not opt for a wooden staircase instead?  I’m currently trying to convince Ben that we need a white wooden staircase.  Just Instagram them and you’ll see they look amazing!  Rip off the carpet, sand down the stairs and add several layers of hardwearing suitable paint.

4.     Paint the skirting boards

Replacing an entire home of skirting boards is time consuming and can be quite expensive.  Plus if you choose wood, like we did, you may end up with warped boards that aren’t perfect.  If the skirting boards in the house aren’t damaged then simply upgrade them with a lick of paint or alternatively sand them back and re-stain.  In some cases a re-stain is all they need to freshen them up.

5.     Add some rugs

Hate the flooring, but it’s too costly to replace?  Replacing an entire home of flooring is a huge undertaking.  We replaced all the flooring in our home and at quite a cost too.  Luckily hubby did the job himself with my assistance (the first batch anyway, when I wasn’t heavily pregnant) and this saved us thousands on hiring layers to do it for us.  We went for oak style laminate and it’s easy to lay yourself with the right tools, some patience and the click in boards.  I appreciate this is a he expenditure still for some, so go wild with rugs if you can’t bear to look at the existing floors and need a cheaper way to cover them up.  You can get such huge rugs now they’ll pretty much cover the entire floor if you choose the right size.  This should be much cheaper than having a new carpet fitted or hard flooring lay.

6.     Repaint the house

Perhaps the most obvious and cheapest way to update the look of the home:  change the colour or at least spruce up the existing colour.  If the walls are looking a bit tired and weary then a fresh lick of paint could really bring things back to life.  For a total change then choose a new colour altogether!

7.     Change your worktops with paper

Yep, contact paper.  Use contact paper in marble, for example, to totally upgrade your kitchen worktops without ever removing the existing set.  This high gloss super sticky paper can be used for a multitude of uses around the home to update floors, walls, kitchen sides and more on a tight budget.

8.     Save the kitchen cabinets

I hated the kitchen when we moved in, but a lick of paint, new tiles and new worktops was all it needed.  We saved a small fortune by keeping the existing cabinets as the doors were fine and a neutral colourway.  See what you can salvage to prevent the costly expense of an entire new kitchen, do what you can yourself and reap the benefits.  If the doors are wooden then you can even paint them for a new look.

9.     Add new knobs

Once you’ve painted your kitchen cabinets, then reimagine them with some updated knobs and handles.  The same can be done on all the interior doors quite cheaply to give them a slightly more updated look.  Handles aren’t too expensive.

I think that should keep you busy for now!  Once you start reusing and reimagining the space, you’ll begin to think of so many ideas to affordably do up your home.  Keep an eye on my blog for lots more ideas to update your home on a budget.