6 Small, Affordable Home Updates That Make the Biggest Difference

Feeling overwhelmed by the updates your home needs? Don’t be. Sure, there’s no end to what you could do…eventually, but if you start small, with a modest budget, you can make thoughtful, smart updates to your home, without breaking the bank.

With 24+ years of experience, I have no shortage of ideas. And while this blog post shares 6 budget-friendly ‘starter’ ideas to update your home without a huge remodel, it could really be the top 180 ideas. However, for the sake of short attention spans, the best bang for your buck (and the amount of time it takes me to polish off a bottle of wine), I’ve chosen my 8 best ideas to add value to your home – both visual and actual!

These aren’t wild and crazy ideas. Instead, you’re getting the black coffee of home updates (no cream or sugar – they’re too expensive). These are the places to start when you don’t have much money. 

While it’s fun to rip out countertops, carpets, and fugly fireplaces, replacing them costs a buttload of money (it’s a technical term, don’t worry about it). Thank goodness there are tons of great ideas that add visual and actual value to your home, without busting open your kid’s piggy bank.

To make the list of ‘Kylie M’s Recommended, Budget-Friendly Updates’, I had requirements. Each idea has to…

• BE AFFORDABLE – good bang for buck
• BE EASY – easy enough for the average DIYer 
• IT MAKES A NOTICEABLE IMPACT – worth the cost and effort

Are you ready, Betty (or Freddy)?

The ONLY things that changed in this huge kitchen were the light fixtures and painted cabinets, yet it looks like a whole new space! 

Now you might think we’d start with the big bangers, like painting your kitchen cabinets, or replacing your backsplash with a timeless subway tile. Heck no, I’ve got way more tricks up my lil’ Ginger sleeve than that.

Besides, this is the start of your home update adventure, and sometimes the best place to start is with the easiest, most obvious, and most BUDGET-FRIENDLY ideas.

UPDATE IDEA #1. REPLACE INTERIOR DOOR KNOBS & HINGES

Feeling underwhelmed? Don’t be. Once you’ve done this small home update, you’ll see it has bigger visual impact than you think – you’ll be glad you humored the crazy lil’ Ginger.

Sherwin Williams Alabaster walls, Extra White trim and doors

I can’t tell you how many homes I see in my day-to-day consulting business where everything’s been totally updated…except the door hardware.

And if there’s one thing that tells you EXACTLY which decade a home was built in (especially the 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s), it’s the handle or knob you’re pullin’ on (yes, I allow for moderate knob pulling).

APPROX. COST TO UPDATE DOOR HARDWARE

You should be able to do each door for under $60 (hinges and handle), maybe even less. If you’re after a super tactile experience, you could spend more. However, it’s rarely necessary, unless your home is a character home or you’re super bougie… even then.

But please, watch out for this particular one…

This style was way overdone in the early to mid-2000s and can look a bit dated compared to cleaner-lined options (especially in an oil-rubbed bronze finish). YET PEOPLE ARE STILL CHOOSING IT.

If you choose a handle like this, you’re not UPdating your home, you’re BACKdating it, and reminding people when it was likely built. 

What’s in style for door hardware?

MODERN METAL FINISHES FOR DOOR HARDWARE

Black hardware is hot right now and should be for a while yet, at least for interior door hardware. However, I’m seeing a turn away from homes clad entirely in black metal (hardware/lighting/faucets) and seeing a bit more moderation.

Some of it comes down to contrast – do you prefer HIGH CONTRAST or low contrast? 

For the average interior door (painted a shade of white), black creates a high-contrast look. On the other hand, the muted look of polished nickel has lower contrast. As for gold, it’s another trend I’d be cautious about, especially on door handles (in the average home).

What about oil-rubbed bronze?

Be careful. ORB was the top choice in the Tuscan trend of the early to mid-2000s and was way…way overdone. If your home is a 2000s home and still needs to honor a moderate Tuscan style (because updating EVERYTHING would cost too much), this could still be a good finish. However, if you can transition to black, it could be a better way forward.

A FEW HANDLE & KNOB SUGGESTIONS

If you like a style, but not the finish, don’t worry – most come in a range.

• While I can’t vouch for this first handle, it has great reviews, so many people can! Plus, the brand is NewBang – couldn’t we all use a new bang once in a while?
• The previous one has a round backplate, whereas this door handle has a square plate – it depends on the style you want.
• This one is moderately priced, and a great brand (Schlage): Schlage Solstice Series non-locking / Solstice Series locking
• While I usually lean toward slightly higher-priced brands like Schlage and Weiser, when you’re on a budget, it can be hard to pass up a good deal, especially a set of knobs like this.

If you’re a bit of a knob, I mean, if you prefer a knob (wink wink), this one has most of my heart and not too much of my wallet…

Plymouth Bed & Bath Knob

By the way, if you change your door handle, change the hinges so they match. There are several hinge profiles, so be sure to take one of your original hinges to the store to get the right size.

WHICH METAL FINISHES GO WITH EACH OTHER?

Naturally, you might find yourself wondering if you can mix and match metal finishes – you bet your cute little booty you can. Check out this quick guide.

Are there exceptions? OF COURSE THERE ARE – don’t kill the lil Ginger messenger if you disagree with the above. I’m just here to get you started in the easiest way possible – and the above includes the most straightforward suggestions I’ve got.

UPDATE IDEA #2: CHANGE OR ADD CABINET HARDWARE

Almost every cabinet door style needs hardware. Sure, some uber-modern, sleek cabinets are better without, but let’s assume you have a pretty average shaker-style, raised, flat, recessed panel. It needs handles and/or knobs.

KITCHEN CABINETS LOOK NAKED WITHOUT KNOBS, PEOPLE!

These next cabinets are practically choking on their own spit, just DYING for a nice set of knobs…

While there are exceptions, eg, some modern, contemporary cabinet styles suit handles on the doors, more traditional and transitional style homes suit knobs over handles on the doors.

For the average home, consider a knob on your doors and a handle on your drawers (a good life motto).

COST TO REPLACE/UPDATE CABINET HARDWARE: $200

Assuming your kitchen needs 15 handles and 20 knobs, averaging about $7 per handle and $5 per knob – on the high side, that comes out to about $200. Of course, you can always spend more or less, but that price range should satisfy most styles.

How to Update Granite Countertops Without Replacing Them

WHAT’S THE BEST METAL FINISH TO UPDATE CABINET HARDWARE?

Look to your existing metal finishes – light fixtures, cabinet hardware, and metal stair spindles, as clues for what finish to choose. Black is a great transitional finish when paired with gold or antique brass; however, it’s also falling off the trend cycle on the large scale (in other words, fewer people are doing ALL BLACK metal finishes in their home).

When transitioning from one metal finish to another, when you can’t afford to update them ALL at once, black is the most flexible finish. 

As for which finish is BEST, there is no ‘best metal finish’. Sure, there are trendy ones, but they’re irrelevant if they don’t suit your kitchen. The best metal finishes for your kitchen should complement the color or stain of your cabinets and the color of your surrounding light fixtures. If those aren’t updated yet, decide where you want to be when the dust settles and start with that metal finish.

Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace Color Review

The above kitchen easily pulls off a mix of chrome and gold. Why?

• A talented designer put it all together. Seriously, I was hired by my client to pick the perfect paint colors; a designer did the rest (once I remember their name, I’ll add it!)
• The small knobs and moderate pulls suit the traditional, homey style of this kitchen – PERFECTION!
• It’s that bit more attention to detail, which you see all over this space. The average home can’t pull it off nearly this well.

These black handles are in high contrast with the warm white cabinets

Is Black Still a Trendy Finish For Hardware, Light Fixtures & More?

As it stands, here’s the breakdown for the average home…

• BLACK HARDWARE: 50% of the homes I see have predominantly black hardware
• POLISHED NICKEL: 20% of the homes I see have mostly polished nickel, with a lot of chrome in bathrooms
• GOLD: is more likely to show up on a room-by-room basis, not a whole home
• ANTIQUE BRASS: Shows up to a good degree, but is often mixed with black.
• OIL RUBBED BRONZE: 5%
• The rest are a mix!

How do I know this? I’ve completed over 12,000 in-home and virtual paint color consults and design projects – this girl gets around.

I’ll say it a million times – knobs on doors, pulls on drawers – PERFECTION! 

BONUS CABINET HARDWARE NOTES

• Make sure to measure the distance between the holes (NOT THOSE HOLES, YA WEIRDO!), so you get hardware that is the right size.

• If you have handles and are painting your cabinets, consider filling/sanding a hole (or both for new/best positioning)and installing knobs instead. Buying a template like this one from Home Depot will make your life ten times easier.

• Don’t just focus on the kitchen, do the bathroom, laundry room cabinets, and CLOSET doors as well!

How to Update Golden or Honey Oak Cabinets Without Paint!

3. REPAINT YOUR TRIM & DOORS

APPROXIMATE COST: Under $100 (paint, brush, rollers)

If you have white or off-white trim, refreshing it with a few coats of paint in a flexible, popular shade of white will move your home forward in a big way.

Sherwin Williams Aesthetic White Paint Color Review

Or maybe you don’t realize that your white trim is looking a little rough around the edges. I keep a pretty darn tidy house and relatively clean baseboards. However, every few years I refresh my trims and underwear, and it’s shocking what a difference it makes.

Has your trim been refreshed in the last 5 years?

Benjamin Moore Cloud White and Manchester Tan

While white is the most timeless, flexible paint color for trim and doors, there’s nothing wrong with something a bit different…

TRY A DIFFERENT COLOR TRIM

Whether you like a soft beige, are intrigued by a darker greige, or moderate gray, painting your trim and doors a non-white is a great way to add personality on a budget.

The trim, door, and wainscoting in this old farmhouse are painted Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter, the walls are Sherwin Williams Alabaster (north-facing)…

2. KEEP YOUR TRIM WHITE, BUT PAINT YOUR DOORS A COLOR

I love this idea as it’s much easier to change if you get bored easily.

These doors are painted Benjamin Moore Boothbay Gray (see beautiful gray-blues), which is badass and beautiful with the simplicity of Sherwin Williams Snowbound on the walls.

The Best Non-White Trim & Door Colors

The Best Interior Door Colors with White Trim

WHAT’S THE BEST WHITE PAINT COLOR FOR CEILINGS, TRIM, & DOORS?

If you just need a refresh, my 3 most recommended whites are Sherwin Williams Pure White, Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace, and Benjamin Moore White Dove.

The ULTIMATE GUIDE to White Paint Colors

WHAT’S THE BEST PAINT FINISH OR SHEEN FOR TRIMS & DOORS?

The average home suits satin finish on trims and doors. If you want more thoughts/details, read here: The Best Paint Finishes for Any Surface in Your Home

Benjamin Moore Ballet White and White Dove

Keeping your wood trim and doors? Check out this blog post for some great coordinating paint colors –The Best Paint Colors for Dark Wood Trim 

Stop using expensive paint sample pots and save money with PEEL & STICK PAINT SAMPLES! 

4. PAINT THE INSIDE OF YOUR FRONT DOOR

Painting the inside of your front door is one of the most effective bang-for-buck update ideas. Not only does it define your entryway, but it also adds personality!

APPROX. COST -$50

A FEW REASONS TO PAINT THE INSIDE (& OUTSIDE) OF YOUR FRONT DOOR

• YOU HAVE TOO MANY DOORS: In our previous home, the entryway had 3 doors that all looked the same and were all shut 95% of the time (front/garage/suite). This created an opportunity to single out the main door and paint it a key color. 

• IT’S AN ACCENT TO YOUR LIVING ROOM: Your front door is often a direct backdrop or in the same room as your living room or dining room. This is a great opportunity to add an accent color and personality and define your entryway, especially if you don’t have one.

• PAINT YOUR BACK DOOR, TOO: If you have a back door (not including a sliding door) that leads out to your garden/backyard and is located in a major room (kitchen/family room/dining/etc.)

• PANTRY OR OFFICE DOOR: Painting your pantry door will reduce the level of contrast in your space, which will add to the flow and overall appeal, or it will add visual interest if you have all white cabinets/trims/doors.

To read more about the best paint colors for your front door, check out this post… The Best Paint Colors for the INSIDE of your Front Door

5. UPDATE YOUR BACKSPLASH

If your home is outdated, I bet the backsplash is one of the main culprits. And while painting kitchen cabinets and replacing countertops aren’t for the faint of heart, installing a new backsplash is a great project for the average, moderately handy DIYer.

My client (above) actually painted the wall behind her countertop to look like subway tile – doesn’t get more budget-friendly than that! 

When my hubs and I were young, we didn’t have any money, but I was desperate to do SOMETHING in our kitchen. I bought the cheapest white subway tile I could find and DIY’d the heck out of it. I couldn’t afford a tile saw, so I tried to break them as clean as I could with a hammer and a t-square. Yup, it was like that.

Luckily, I don’t have photos of that project, but it’s just to tell you that I’ve BEEN there – I know what it’s like to want to do things when the funds are low. It’s kind of my wheelhouse – real homes, real budgets.

BTW, updating old, almond-colored outlets is a good budget-friendly project, too! 

While there’s a LOT of wood-on-wood in this next kitchen, the new, creamy subway tile backsplash coordinates with the older-style granite and updates the space to be the best it can be ‘for now’.

The cool thing is that the long-term plan included painting the cabinets to give some relief to all of the wood and lighten and brighten the space. And because the backsplash was wall chosen for the space, it stayed in place…

How to Get the Look of Marble Without The High Price

My next client wanted the look of Zellige tile but couldn’t afford to replace her backsplash tile… so she painted her backsplash, along with the cabinets, and saved a buttload of money…

She also found the marble island countertop as a remnant (free) and kept her existing perimeter laminate countertops.

Updating your home on a budget can be fun and creative! 

Here’s another painted tile backsplash, along with glooooriously updated painted green cabinets…

The Best Green Cabinet Colors

All this kitchen needs is some cabinet hardware (she’s kinda nekkid) and she’s well on her way!

WHEN YOU UPDATE YOUR BACKSPLASH (& NOTHING ELSE)

To start, think long-term before choosing your backsplash tile.

1. Will you be replacing your countertop at any time soon (eg, a year or two)? If so, pick the countertop you love and tuck it in your back pocket for now. Find a backsplash that coordinates with this and, ideally, with your existing countertop and cabinets. If there isn’t one, hold off on the backsplash idea and look at other updates.

Or, consider painting over your existing backsplash as an easy DIY, short-term solution. Then, when the budget allows, you can replace your countertop with a trendy white quartz or an affordable laminate, AND the backsplash, so you can coordinate them at the same time.

The Best Bougie Countertops on a Budget

2. Do your research on what’s trendy and what’s timeless. Again, I’ve got blog posts comin’ out of the wazoo and have covered the ‘trendy countertop’ topic for you here.

6. PAINT YOUR WALLS THE RIGHT COLOR

Paint is one of the least expensive ways to change your space and one of the most effective home improvement ideas! On a small scale, you can choose to do a feature wall or nook. On a larger scale – the whole shebang!

Check out this kitchen before…

Now look at it with the RIGHT paint color on the walls…

However, painting your whole home can seem daunting, which is why it’s important to focus on your 5 KEY ROOMS first and then work out from there…

1. MAIN LIVING AREA 

2. KITCHEN

3. PRIMARY BEDROOM

4. MAIN BATHROOM

5. ENTRYWAY

The Best Medium to Dark Green Paint Colors

HOW TO CHOOSE THE BEST PAINT COLOR?

Okay, seriously, that’s an entire book website unto itself. Color is VITAL to the aesthetic and emotional health of you and your home, and any choice should not be made lightly!

How to Choose Paint Colors Without Second-Guessing Yourself

Look at this next living room. Sure, we changed the decor and furnishings, but it’s the change in PAINT COLOR that makes the biggest difference…

Paint Color Review of Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray

If you need help with choosing a new paint color, I’m here for you and have DOZENS of blog posts related to paint color, for example:

The Best Whole Home Beige Paint Colors

The Best Off-White Paint Colors

And many more. Type in one or two words in the SEARCH, and I bet you’ll find what you need!

Oh yeah, UPDATE THOSE OLD BOOBY LIGHTS!

Booby lights are the bane of my existence (admittedly, I have many banes). In fact, I wrote an entire blog post on this as I’m so passionate about it (no pun intended with the boobs reference).

Boob lights instantly advertise the age of your home and are one of the least expensive updates – so why not change ’em!

My favorite boring, but functional transitional light fixture is this one…

And it’s hard to beat the price! Click HERE

Is it thrilling and exciting and beautiful?

HELLS no, but when the budget doesn’t allow for more, sometimes ‘better than what’s there’ is a great way to move forward, especially in hallways, closets, and secondary bedrooms – common locations for ye ole booby light.

Want to read more about boobs?

Well, you’ve got the wrong site! Want to read more about updating booby lights? Check out this blog post… Budget-Friendly Lighting Updates

Check out this next kitchen to see a super budget-friendly update…

SAME FLOOR, SAME BACKSPLASH, SAME GRANITE COUNTERTOPS – new paint color on the cabinets and walls and new light fixtures…

Painted Wood Kitchen Cabinets: Real Home Before & Afters

4 QUICK IDEAS TO ADD VALUE TO A HOME WITHOUT SPENDING MONEY, HONEY

Okay, if you’re not spending any money, you must know these ideas are pretty straightforward. However, sometimes it’s the easiest, most obvious ideas that make the biggest impact!

1. DECLUTTER. Whether your home is new and updated or old and outdated, nothing makes a home look bad like clutter. Take everything out of your room (as much as you can) and start adding back pieces one at a time. You might be surprised at what doesn’t make the cut and how GOOD your room feels – less is often more!

2. WIPE DOWN BASEBOARDS, TRIMS, & DOORS. If you don’t have the budget or energy to repaint, give all of your trims and doors a good wipe-down. Cleaning those ledges and edges makes a HUGE difference in how good a home looks.

Sherwin Williams City Loft with white trim and 5-panel doors

3. CLEAN OUT YOUR WINDOW SASHES. If you have older windows and there’s dirt, mold, or build-up in the nooks and crannies, get out a scrub brush, cloth, and some bleach. Old, but clean windows are more appealing than old ones that look like they’re rotting from the inside out.

4. CLEAR OFF WINDOW SILLS. Your window sills should have absolutely nothing on them. Items on window sills visually shrink a space and block the quality of light coming in. They also make a space look janky and undecorated.

Benjamin Moore White Dove Color Review

5. CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN. A little sweat equity and elbow grease (or blood, sweat, and beers) goes a long way to a home looking and feeling its best. Start in one room, at the TOP of the room, and work your way down to the floor.

You’ll also find my HOME STAGING blog posts helpful, as they follow similar principles. 

Well, that’s it, my funny friends. If I’d done the Top 180, I’d be about 10 bottles in and flat on my face at this point, so ‘cheers’ to moderation!

READ MORE UPDATE IDEAS

Modern Laminate Countertops: Beautiful & Budget-Friendly

How to Update Your Kitchen Without Remodeling

How to Create a Timeless Home

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Updated with new content and images for 2026