Your low key low cost tweaks/upgrades

[Wigtopia]

I am interested in finding out what bits and pieces others have done/had done to their homes that have made a big difference but been minimal cost (for example £1,000 or less - the lower cost the better!) and low effort to achieve.

Recently we had a motion sensor light fitted in the porch that was wired in so can also be switched to permanently on if we want. It makes such a difference when trying to find the right key to open the front door in autumn and winter with low light/darkness outside. It cost about £60 total and I really appreciate it each time the light comes on after 7 years of rummaging in the dark!

Any other low cost low effort bits of work that make a big difference? I am interested to see if there are any other quick/cheap wins!

Not sure about low effort, it depends on where you are at with DIY.

Things we have done:

• replaced shelves in base level kitchen units with pull out wire baskets. Bought from kitchen fittings direct which was far cheaper than any DIY or kitchen store
• replaced the original cheap builders taps with better quality ones bought from ebay tap shops (there are loads and always cheaper than DIY shops)
• our banisters, spindles etc are varnished stripped wood rather than painted. They never get chipped or tatty looking and have been going strong for 18 years
• replaced radiators with more stylish ones (eBay again)

DH is an accomplished DIYer (and former electrician) so happy to give most things a go except anything to do with the boiler.

Yes this is exactly the type of thing! We are both quite keen to give things a crack ourselves and have done various bits of plastering, painting, tiling, carpentry wallpapering ourselves. Plumbing stuff we would do reluctantly and cautiously because it can cause so much damage if there are leaks but changing taps is about our level. gas/ boiler and electric stuff are the things we wouldn’t touch and would get a pro in, as we quite like not being dead and those are a bit too high risk 😂

I’d say low effort to me is something that a professional can do in a day or less or that we can do in a weekend.

we did replace one tap ourselves with something nicer but that was mainly due to it being actually broken, but you’re right it does make a big difference so I will do some tap browsing this evening!! I will probably be stuck on various tap pages for longer than I want to be 😂

the baskets in the kitchen units sounds interesting. Do you mean you have no base cupboards at all or that you’ve got pull out things behind cupboard doors? Can you share a pic or an image from online that is similar?

I will keep the varnished bannisters and spindles in mind. We’ve recently sanded and painted ours, but who knows how long that will last. Probably not 18 years, so when it comes to a refresh I will likely go down the varnish route!

thanks so much for the tips!

Baskets

We have these behind all the base level cupboard doors. You lose some storage space but gain because nothing gets lost at the back of a cupboard.

They are incredibly sturdy, elephants could sleep in them!

I thought of another one. We remodelled our kitchen. The cupboard bodies came from B&Q but the doors came from these people:

Kitchen doors

You can save a fortune constructing the cupboards yourself and they are all pretty standard for sizing and quality (until you get up to proper hand built quality levels). Constructing the first cupboard takes a while but you soon get the hang of them.

Zxx.

Replaced light switches with smart switches, combined with smart plugs etc. really nice to be able to “set a scene” and have a combination of light levels, light temperature, lamps with a “good evening” command.

Built in coat cupboard by the front door, with dedicated shoe cubbies.

Proper network cable for higher speed access (run through to replace the arial cable that came with the house).

A proper sturdy pull down loft ladder.

Racking (heavy duty shelving) in the garage, along with wall mounted bike hooks.

We needed a kitchen in our old house, but it wasn't a high priority cost wise. The tiles were really old looking and we applied tile paint which really did make a difference for amount five years.

Any decoration you can do, help makes it your own.

If outside space isn't great, planting a few shrubs of your own or some colourful pots will help. DH has spray washed our old patio a couple of times with some sort of solution (please make sure pets don't go out on it though!) and it's literally taken it back to the old colour rather than pink tinged green. Also, a tidy lawn makes a difference.

Ooo lovely! Will have a browse!

Thanks! I will take a look at these smart switches. I’ve never heard of them.

You mentioning changing the switches reminds me that we also changed a few plug sockets to being the ones that take normal plug but also take USBC and USB. Which is brilliant as you can plug the USB/USBC socket directly into the wall without needing the socket connector. That was a good one actually!

I’d love a built in coat cupboard but sadly not a wide enough hallway for that!

I am also a big advocate for good garage shelving!

I love that you’ve painted over tiles. I was considering this for our kitchen but was unsure how good the coverage would be. We’ve currently got some beige/brown ones and my preferred would be white. Do you think it would be thick enough to cover well?

Outside space hasn’t been on my list but now you’ve suggested it, it is now firmly on my list to improve the outside!!

We painted our brown ones white. Brilliant on the walls but has chipped a bit on the window sill where we store our hand wash and plant pots. But overall, definitely worth doing to prolong the kitchen life for a few years.

Great I will definitely do this!! Long game is I am going to be tiling the whole thing myself in white metro tiles, but before I can do that, my DP needs to re plaster two of the walls to level them out and with other bits he has to do the kitchen is lower down on his priority list. But this is a great interim fix! Thanks so much!

No problem. It will be a great way to check you like the white too. Another bonus is they're so easy to clean once painted. I think the brown tiles needed three coats though and it's thick so takes a while.

Check out your local auction house for practically anything!

Ours has a constant stream of second hand garden furniture, tools etc. We got our utility room fridge (mainly used for drinks) for about £15. It was PAT tested (electrical items have to be). All we had to do was give it a clean. We have had it for a number of years and it's still doing fine.

Get in the habit of checking out the catalogue. Ours has sales every week. It is one of my entertainments to go through the catalogue and share the weird and wonderful with DH.

You normally don't have to bid in person, many do online bidding or you can leave a maximum bid with them.

I will take a look! I am on the look out for some sort of gate for the front garden. Maybe some sort of fancy cast iron type.

Jeez… even though lots of these are inexpensive ideas I seem to want to do them all which will really rack up!! 😂😂

An outdoor tap.

This is a good one! The house came with an outdoor tap but it took us a little over a year to get a hose. When we did it was a game changer!

I have been remodelling my house for three years now and don’t want to think about how much I have spent!

I am taking a break after totally maxing out the budget - so a few rooms left to do. Last month I replaced the gross flooring in my dressing room with new Lino. I laid it myself and it cost £45! It’s only temporary until I recarpet upstairs, but I can’t describe how happy it has made me😂. For context I have spent £120k so far on building works.

Yes we are very much in this camp with the whole place needing to be done which is why I am after some quick cheap wins 😂

It is a long term work in progress, coming up to year 5 now. when we first moved in the place had never had a boiler or any radiators!

well done on the Lino laying. It’s brilliant having that sense on achievement isn’t it?!

I just remembered another one - upgrading handles and knobs. We can’t afford to do new bathroom and kitchen just yet but changing the handles and knobs on the cabinets and also other furniture along with door knobs has made a big difference. The kitchen ones are lovely ceramic ones that I picked up in a charity shop at a good price.

I hired a jet washer from the Library of Things and cleaned our horrible poured concrete paving slabs of accumulated grot. I then spent £40 on a tub of that mortar that you brush in between the slabs to repoint the slabs. The two together have transformed the look of the patio from 'neglected car-park' to naice outdoor space framed prettily by planted beds and pots.

Lots of other work in the house and garden, many much longer and more expensive jobs, but this small one gives a daily boost! I'm planning to hire the jet-washer again for the side return, and paint the unlovely render paving. Hopefully this will tide us over the next couple of years while we get the money together for the bigger reno we want to do.

Oooo I bet the jet washer was super satisfying! That’s going on the list!

Paint is always a good cheap win, but it's worth putting in the effort on the prep. Decorator's caulk on joints and architrave details before painting retains all the pretty detail but gives a better finish, and makes dusting easier. Painting radiators to match the wall behind looks good. I lived with horrible grubby off-white radiators for too long before clocking this!

I also painted the front door. A beautiful shade of green - very different from the previous owner’s taste. Felt it out my stamp on the place.

Our meter and fuseboard is in the kitchen cupboard. DH has wired it such that when you open the door the light comes on. That alone is handy, but also if there is no power it still comes on. Meaning no fumbling looking which fuse switch to flick back on

We are slowly replacing all our carpet with hard flooring, tiling and wood on the ground floor, laminate upstairs.

As we have done this one room at a time there is some variation in patterns used but all wood shades. We held onto the odd planks left over and when we had sufficient DH mixed them up and used them for the landing floor so effectively we got that for free.

We saved an absolute fortune when we extended our house by doing what we could ourselves. We wanted an extra room on the ground floor. It didn't need an architect.

I drew the plans (in excel!). This required lots of research into permitted development rights, foundation depth etc. These plans went to building control for approval.

DH dug out for the footings. This was going to have to be done by hand because of lack of access so the builder was more than happy to have DH do it.

The builder did the brick, block and roof work and dealing with building control. DH did everything else: window & door fitting, dry lining, wiring, flooring, radiator fitting.

Overall our new sitting room came in at much less than £20k finished.