7 Cheap Ways to Increase Home Value Over a Single Weekend

Here are seven cheap ways to increase your home’s value over a single weekend.

Your front door is the focal point of your home’s exterior and sets the tone for the entire viewing experience. A weathered, fading door can subtly signal neglect, whereas a vibrant, freshly painted door suggests a well-maintained property.

Pick up a quart of high-quality exterior grade paint in a bold but classic colors like deep navy, charcoal gray, forest green, or the classic red. Spend Saturday morning sanding, priming, and applying the first coat. By Sunday evening, you will have vastly improved your home’s curb appeal for the cost of a single can of paint and your time. Price for this can be anywhere from 40 to 100 dollars.

Old, tarnished, or plain plastic handles and pulls can instantly date your kitchen and bathrooms. Replacing them with modern hardware is one of the easiest ways to give these high-value rooms a contemporary facelift.

Check out finishes that offer universal appeal, such as matte black, brushed brass, or satin nickel. To keep this project simple, measure the distance between the existing screw holes (the “centre-to- centre” distance measurement) before buying replacements so you don’t have to drill new holes and patch old ones. The price for this upgrade is usually about 50 to 150 dollars, depending on the quality of handles, and at most should only take a couple hours.

Buyers are increasingly looking for efficiency and modern convenience. Upgrading to a few foundational smart home devices adds high-tech appeal and can even lower your utility bills.

Focus on installing a smart thermostat or a video doorbell. Both devices can be easily wired in an hour or two using basic tools and your smartphone. Presenting a home that features energy-efficient upgrades signals to buyers that the property is forward-thinking and cost-effective. Pricing for this can depend where you buy your supplies, but is not overly expensive and can take 2 or 3 hours.

Landscaping yields some of the highest returns on investment, and you do not need a professional crew to achieve it. Messy, overgrown flower beds drag down a home’s value, while crisp lines and dark contrast make it pop.

Spend a weekend afternoon pulling weeds, pruning overgrown shrubs, and defining clean edges along your walkways and garden beds with a basic edging tool. Finish the job by laying down a thick layer of dark brown or black mulch. The contrast instantly makes your lawn look manicured and healthy. Include a variety of different colored flowers to make your home look well cared for. In 3 to 6 hours you have added a newer look  for a price tag of 40 to 100 dollars.

Harsh fluorescent lighting or dated brass chandeliers can make even the cleanest spaces feel drab and uninviting. Swapping out key light fixtures—such as the dining room fixtures or the entryway light—can dramatically change the look of your home.

Look for affordable, modern fixtures at local hardware stores or online clearance outlets. While you are at it, replace mismatched lightbulbs with energy-efficient LEDs in a warm white temperature (around 2700K to 3000K) to ensure your rooms feel bright, cohesive, and spacious. Always remember to turn off the power at the breaker panel before starting any electrical work. Pricing for this upgrade can be about 100 to 250, depending on where you live on the planet.

A spotless home inherently feels more valuable. Nowhere is this truer than in the kitchen and bathroom, where moldy caulk and stained grout can completely ruin the view of expensive tile work.

Instead of replacing the tile, buy a grout saw to scrape away stained, crumbling grout and apply a fresh layer. For areas where the grout is structurally sound but discoloured, a grout paint pen can whiten lines in less than an hour. Finish by recaulking around the bathtub, sink, and backsplash with a good quality caulk to deliver a crisp clean lines to your tiles that buyers love. Pricing for this should be around 50 to 100 dollars, and consume a couple hours of your time.

Standard, builder-grade bathrooms often feature large, completely unframed sheet mirrors glued directly to the wall. They get the job done, but they lack personality and can look cheap.

You can elevate the entire room by building a custom frame directly over the existing glass. Buy inexpensive MDF or wood molding, cut the pieces to fit the perimeter of your mirror using a miter box, paint or stain them, and secure the frame directly to the glass using heavy-duty mirror adhesive. It creates the look of an expensive custom vanity mirror at a fraction of the price. If your handy with saws and tools this should be an easy fix for about 50 dollars or a little more.