Inexpensive DIY Projects to Help Sell Your Home
You don't have to undergo major home renovations to add value to your home before putting it on the market. Sometimes minor updates around the house can have a huge impact on how quickly your home sells and at what price. Homebuyers want to know they are getting their money's worth when searching for their new home. These inexpensive DIY projects could be just the updates your home needs to sell.
Paint & Surface DIY Projects:
Update bedrooms & main areas with neutral paint
Appeal to a larger range of home buyers by updating the rooms in your home with neutral paint colors. Although painting can be time consuming it can have a huge return when selling your home. Pick neutral colors that are trending right now, like light grays, to give your home an updated and current feel. Home buyers will be thrown off by bright paint colors and outdated wallpaper, so this DIY project is one of the most important to complete prior to putting your home on the market.
Remove popcorn ceiling texture
Popcorn ceilings are outdated, and today’s buyers will want to see smooth and updated ceilings in their home. The texture of a popcorn ceiling can be removed in a few simple steps. First, you'll want to make sure that the ceiling is asbestos free if you live in an older home. Next you should prep the room by removing all of the furniture and covering the walls and floor in plastic tarp to protect it. Then you will spray an area of the ceiling with a misting garden hose attachment. Once the texture has had a chance to absorb the water in the area you've started with, you can begin scraping the surface with a ceiling texture scraper and putty knife. Finally, after the surface is scraped smooth and sanded, you can paint the ceiling a neutral color like white, cream or gray.
Decor DIY Projects:
Upcycle furniture pieces
Make a statement in your home with upcycled furniture. For example, you could buy an old dresser and paint it with a bright paint color to add to your front entry way. This is a great way to bring a pop of color to an impactful area of your home. Home buyers want to see updated decor, so this type of trendy statement piece could make a great first impression on potential buyers.
Update hardware around the home
One minor, inexpensive DIY project is to update all of the hardware around your home. First you should get new and modern drawer pulls for the kitchen and bathroom cabinets. Next you should remove brass and other outdated door handles and hardware and replace them with new modern handles. This DIY project can give the appearance of an updated, cohesive space, and completely transform the look of a room in your for-sale home.
Update throw pillows with new fabric
No-sew pillows are the latest way to update throw pillows without having to spend money on completely replacing the pillows you already have. There are two ways to update your throw pillows with new fabric. One way is to tie fabric around the pillow creating a decorative knot in the front. The second way is to buy fabric glue and create a pillow cover by simply gluing cut fabric together and turning the fabric inside out. These DIY pillows will help you tie a room together for half the price of completely replacing all of your throw pillows.
Free Download: Home Selling Preparation Checklist
Cleaning DIY Projects:
Clean out showers, bathtubs and sinks
Clean the surface of your bathtubs and sinks with a powerful solution made of ingredients you have around the house. A magic cleaning recipe has circulated around Pinterest and simply uses a vinegar and dawn solution to blast through surface stains. How do you create this magic concoction? It’s simple! First heat up 12 oz. of Vinegar in the microwave until hot. Once heated, add to a squirt bottle to make it easier to apply. Next, add 12 oz. of Dawn to the squirt bottle and shake to mix the two ingredients together. Once combined, spray it on to the stained surface, and depending on the severity of the stain, let it sit for up to 24 hours. After the solution has sat for your desired amount of time, simply scrub it off with a sponge and rinse. You will have surfaces that look brand new.
Organize storage spaces
Last but not least, a DIY project you can do to help sell your home is to update storage spaces. First start by decluttering your current spaces. Closets that are half full give an illusion of larger, more ample space. You can also add inexpensive organization shelving units to basement storage spaces to get your belongings off the floor. Finally, you should add baskets to closets to hide small objects, like bathroom supplies, and make the storage area seem even more decluttered.
These DIY projects will help you update your home in a way that appeals to more buyers. Simple and inexpensive design and cleaning projects can have a huge impact on how fast your home sells and the perceived value of your home. Putting in the time to get your home ready for the market is well worth the reward.
What DIY projects do you think are necessary before putting a home on the market? Let us know!
