Looking to freshen up your home without spending a fortune? Here are four easy, inexpensive DIY home repair projects that you can do in one afternoon. Why does everyone love do-it-yourself? DIY can save 80-90 percent over professional costs. Get the most bang from your remodel buck by shopping outlets, dollar and discount stores, and checking discontinued bins. TJ Maxx is another favorite store for designer products at rock-bottom prices.
* Add wall border. Cost: $1-$8 per five-yard roll. These are narrow four-eight inch strips of wallpaper that go along the ceiling or floor of a room. They attach like wallpaper and go on much easier. Simply measure, dip in warm water to activate sealant and place on the wall. You’ll have a few minutes to rearrange or remove air bubbles before it dries. You can put them over wallpaper, paint or even paneling. Don’t like the flat edges? Cut a decorative edge with edging scissors or follow the pattern outline. You can even cut out pictures you like and affix them separately, like appliques.
* Replace outlet covers. Cost: $1-$2 per light switch cover. My husband once decided to cover our light switch plates with “turn out the lights” stickers he got when he paid the light bill. Though it was very eco-friendly of him, our kids still left the lights on. It made me feel like I was living in a factory. Culling the bargain bins at Walmart, I found a complete set of decorative matching plug covers and light switch wall plates. Even my husband had to admit that it really dressed the place up.
* Recover throw pillows. This project costs you nothing, if you reuse pillowcases and bed skirts. Make pillows to match your bedroom ensemble. I have scads of these items left from sheet sets. Cut two squares slightly larger than your pillows, making one square longer than the other. Sew three sides together to form an envelope. Sew a decorative button on the “flap,” to enclose the pillow. You can remove the cover and wash it when needed.
* Make matching no-sew curtains from top sheets. We don’t use top sheets on our bed, so I remake them into curtains. Snip openings in the wider hem at the top, about an inch from the edges. Make the cuts large enough to insert the curtain rod. Attach a curtain holder on one side of the window to drape the curtain over. Make closet covers this way, too.