Top 10 Big-Impact, Low-Cost Remodeling Projects

Small improvements can have a big impact on adding thousands of dollars to the value of your home. Here are 10 top home improvement and remodeling ideas that won’t bust the budget:

1.     Spruce Up Kitchen Cabinets

For regular exterior cleaning, a simple solution of dish soap liquid and warm water will remove most smudges, dust and mild grease build-up. For heavier build-ups of grease and dust, apply a commercial cleaner – perhaps one with orange oil designed for use on wooden cabinets. Test first in a hidden spot. For interiors, work from the top down. Remove shelf lining if necessary. Vacuum the cabinets out before washing them with warm water and a mild detergent. To attract potential homebuyers, think about installing rollout organizing trays, so when they peek inside they’ll feel they will have ample room for all their kitchen extras.

2.   Give Cabinets a Face-Lift

If your kitchen cabinets need more than soap and water and TLC, remove the nicks and scratches, recondition with oil and install new hardware, all for under $1,000. Another solution, costing between $1,500 and $4,000, is to replace the cabinet doors and door fronts. Complete cabinet re-facing can run as much as $12,000. Re-facing is a fast and relatively inexpensive way to give your kitchen a fresh new look. Oak cabinets one day can be cherry the next.

3.   Tile or Re-Tile

With beautiful, colorful tiles that can be purchased for $1 to $2 each, you can make a kitchen backsplash or bathroom sparkle in no time. For just the cost of labor, unless you’re a do-it-yourselfer, which will bring down the cost even more, you’ll create a clean, crisp and inviting look.

4.   Add a Breakfast Bar

If your kitchen and family room run together, simply add a breakfast bar to give each room its individuality without compromising the open space you crave. An oversized granite breakfast bar with chairs might run about $500.

5.    Install Granite Tile Instead of a Granite Slab

Granite countertops can run $5,000 or more. Twelve-inch granite tiles covering the same surface run about $300. This improvement is a high impact alternative for a fraction of what a granite slab would cost.

6.   Revive the Bathroom without Retiling

For between $1,000 and $2,000, you can add a new medicine cabinet ($100 to $150), light fixtures (about $100), a faucet ($50 to $75) and a vanity ($200 to $300). Rather than replace the tile, lightly scrape the existing grout, then re-grout. Buffing out the leftover haze will make the tile look brand new. If there’s money leftover, install glass shower doors.

7.    Add a Room without Adding Square Footage

Create an extra room out of existing space for the cost of putting up a wall. Fill in an archway or close off a half-wall to gain that extra room. Instead of listing a 2 bedroom with den and a dry bar, convert the den and dry bar into a third room with a closet.

8.   See Rooms in a Whole New Light

Brighten bathrooms and kitchens with new light fixtures for little money. An electrician can swap out dated track lighting with canned lights on a dimmer switch for about $700. Another light touch is adding pendant lights over a kitchen island or peninsula.

9.   Replace the Garage Door

In many homes, the garage door is the single-biggest architectural element people see from the street. For about $500, a newly installed garage door will give your home a great-looking new exterior.

10.                      Paint

Paint with neutral colors. Neutral colors suggest open space and roominess. Add bigger, broader baseboards, too. For that little extra cost, it will make a big statement about the permanence and quality of your well-cared for home.