What? Five bucks wont' get
me very far. Right?
So not true! Check it out:
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| This stuff works wonders |
Soap & Water
Soap, water and a little
elbow grease is the cheapest way to improve your home. Wash windows and doors, hose down cobwebs and
dirt off your house and outbuildings, scrub your porch or deck, clean up grease
stains in your driveway, clean your outside light fixtures, wash down patio
furniture.
Weed killer
Pull weeds and spray your
gravel areas, cracks in your sidewalks and driveway or anywhere else you find
weeds tend to take hold.
Paint
My favorite home
improvement item by far is paint.
Especially spray paint in all its wonderful colors and textures. It is amazing to me how quickly you can
improve the look of something simply with a fresh coat of paint.
Caulk
A fresh bead of caulk along
windows will seal them up making them much more energy efficient. Remove old caulking from your tub or shower
and replace it with new caulk to prevent water damage and give it a fresh clean
appearance.
Foaming Sealant
A can of this goes a long
way to fill in gaps and add insulation where needed. Make sure to use the proper type of expanding
foam around doors and windows.
Plant A Tree Or Shrub
Keep your eye out for sales
or end of season clearance prices on trees, shrubs and perennials to add to
your landscaping. It doesn't take long
for a small shrub to grow large and fill in a space. A little patience can be a big money saver
when it comes to landscape planting.
Plant Flowers
Nothing brightens up a
front porch like a pot filled with an assortment of. A pony pack of four plants usually runs
around $1.50 on sale so you can get a dozen plants for less than $5. Add some in and around existing shrubs for a
pop of color.
Grass Seed
Grab a small bag of sun and
shade perennial grass seed and fill in any bald spots you may have in your
lawn. Keep it well watered until it
sprouts and takes hold and you'll see great results in no time.
Fabric
Like paint, fabric is a
great way to give something a fresh new look.
You can buy enough fabric, especially if you watch sales, store coupons
and bargain bins to recover a pillow or cushion, make a curtain or valance, sew
a table cloth, etc. The possibilities
are endless.
I have a ton more ideas so I'll be coming up with more posts later
on to help us get the most bang for our home improvement bucks. So stay tuned!
Dana, your $5.00 advice is right on target !!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm a firm believer in spray paint and the small pots of paint you can buy at Lowes and Home Depot. I painted Little One's dresser using two of the same color of those little sample pots. The hand me down now looks new and fresh.
When I bought my house, the clawfoot tub was clean (?) but not as "clean" as I wanted it to be. I got out my Barkeepers Friend and scrubbed the heck out of that tub. NOW it is clean and WHITE and no more stains.
I'm a seamstress and always on the look out for fabric bargains. All the curtains and throw pillows in my home were made by me. Did you know you can buy a $5.00 twin, white, top sheet at Walmart and use it as the lining for homemade drapes ??
Always, always check the sad looking plants at Walmart, Lowes and Home Depot. I bought four perennials at the end of season last year for $2.00!!! With a little TLC they flourished and bloomed again this year. Guess who did a happy dance ?
I would also suggest shopping at estate sales. The items for sale are good quality, in working condition and priced well. I bought a lawn mower, with the owners manual and a bunch of garden tools for about $100.00. As a first time home buyer and single mom this was a such blessing.
Thank you for sharing your ideas and I'm looking forward to reading more.
Vanessa B
Vanessa you are so right. Barkeepers friend is great for making glass top stoves shine and bringing back the luster of a stainless steel sink. I made my daughter's curtains with a twin sheet but if I needed a liner that would be great too. I'll keep it in mind. I wish I had time to go to estate and garage sales. They sound like a lot of fun. You've really found some great stuff at them too.
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