Spring Spruce Ups

Spring invites sprucing up, but budgets don't necessarily invite it. When your heart wants some fresh colors and subtle decorating changes, don't let your bank account stop you. For a few pennies, a fresh look can welcome you.

Fresh Paint

The most basic room refresher is a fresh coat of paint. Wall paint fades over time and dulls. Fresh paint makes a notable difference. However, you don't have to change your entire room color, which might be costly. Instead, opt for smaller changes or a simple refreshment.

With a quart of white paint and a brush in hand, refresh the window sills, molding, and baseboards. White paint makes an amazing transformation with a fresh coat on top that no amount of scrubbing can do. For a subtle change, change white molding to a soft cream, or go more dramatic and make the molding darker than the wall color.

Update the Dated

The most nagging element of a home is often outdated cabinetry in the kitchen. What causes the nagging is the fact that kitchen remodeling is expensive. Yet, there are some quick fixes that might altogether eliminate the outdated look, and there are some that might be temporary improvements until the final renovations can be made.

For the handy homeowner, cabinet doors can be replaced. Built in cabinet units are a basic box structure with front door panels. It's these panels that go out of style. Replacement doors can be purchased or made, but the total cost may cause second thoughts. Another idea is to cut square plywood pieces that are slightly smaller than the doors. Use wood glue to secure these to the front of your doors. Then, sand and paint.

Painting once again can save a room. Dark wood cabinets with a heavy grain can be painted a refreshing lighter color. When we moved into our home, we had dark brown cabinets and yellow bottle glass panels. After painting the cabinets eggshell white and the accents a pale honey yellow, the bottle glass didn't look as outdated. It was a pleasing look until we could afford new cabinets.

Head for the Hardware

Home improvement shows say it all the time, "Update the hardware." It's a piece of advice worth repeating. Investing $30 in new knobs for a dresser can make a complete transformation. Often, older furniture is solidly constructed but poorly outfitted in unique and once quirky knobs. Replace these knobs with sleek new knobs.

One idea, courtesy of Lowe's, is to back the knobs with painted washers. Purchase or find large washers and paint them to match your room (patterns are fun and plain looks sophisticated). This can help hide damage behind old knobs as can backers available in the hardware section of the store. This also allows for quick changes for the room if you decide to eliminate the quirkiness later.