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with a new coat of paint to freshen up a room. If you own your home or have permission from your landlord, painting is an inexpensive way to brighten everything up and make it look newer. Take everything out of the room that you can and cover the floor with a drop cloth. Then, cover the wall in 1-2 coats of primer, let those dry, and go back over the walls with your chosen paint color.  Light colors will make a room look larger, so avoid very dark colors in a small room. Cool colors like blue and green are relaxing, so they’re a great choice for bedrooms. Warm colors are very inviting, so they’re great for living areas and kitchens.  You can even get creative by painting one wall a different color or by adding stripes, chevrons, or chalkboard paint to your walls. If you love the look of wallpaper but don’t have room in your budget, use a stencil to paint a pattern on your walls instead! If you have dark trim or wooden doors, you can paint those too for a fresh, updated look. Dated or ugly light fixtures can bring down the look of a room, even if you don’t consciously pay attention to them. If you can find a good deal on a new light fixture, changing it yourself is usually pretty easy. Just turn off the power to the room at your circuit breaker, remove the old light fixture, and rewire the new one. Take care to match up the negative and positive wires, then attach the new fixture to the ceiling with the provided brackets and screws.  Don’t feel that you necessarily have to buy new light fixtures. Sometimes, all it takes it a good cleaning or a coat of spray paint to bring new life to the light fixtures you already have. Adding a new shade or cover is inexpensive and can quickly update the look of older fixtures. If you don’t feel comfortable working with wiring yourself, it might be worth it to save up and have an electrician do the job. Bookcases provide a lot of practical storage, so even if you’re not in love with yours, it might be best to keep it. Luckily, you can give it new life by covering the back walls with colorful contact paper, wallpaper scraps, or even fabric. This will brighten up the bookcase and will provide a nice contrast to show off whatever you’re displaying on the shelves. You can also paint your bookcase, if you’d like. Paint it a different color from the walls to make it stand out, or paint it the same color if you want it to look like it’s a part of the wall. to your walls. Architectural trim, also called molding or decorative trim, can make a room look expensive, but it doesn’t necessarily cost a lot. Try installing it around your ceiling or floors, on your cabinets, or around your windows to create an upscale look on a budget.  You can even find stick-on molding, making this project easy and cheap! To mimic the look of moldings, add trim 6 inches above your floor trim and paint the gap to match the trim. This will give you the look of architectural trim for less than half of the usual price. Carpeting and rugs create a cozy, warm feeling, but replacing your carpet can be very expensive. Instead, look for sales on area rugs that match your theme or color palette for each room. If buying a new rug is too expensive, visit a flooring store and ask if they have vinyl remnants. These are pieces of vinyl left over from previous projects that are too small to re-use, but are often large enough to use as an area rug. To personalize the look even more, paint a design on the remnant with acrylic paints and seal with concrete sealer. Look for large mirrors at secondhand shops and home improvement stores, then install them wherever you need more space. Mirrors help create an optical illusion that a space is larger than it really is, so wall mirrors are a great touch in smaller rooms or narrow hallways. In addition, the mirrors will reflect any light that’s in the room, making it look brighter.  If you like the shape of a mirror but not the frame, try painting it! If you have an unframed mirror in your bathroom and can’t afford a new one, you can frame your mirror in by attaching moldings around all four sides.
Paint the walls Change the light fixtures in a room for a quick upgrade. Cover the back of a bookcase with contact paper to give it a new look. Add architectural trim Add rugs to bring warmth to a room. Hang mirrors to make a room feel larger.