A little over two years ago, we built a house and I did what women all over the world do when starting a huge project…created a Pinterest dream board! I showed my husband who of course thought I had lost my mind but humored me anyway. Side note, if this isn’t the story of our lives I honestly don’t know what is! We were definitely on a budget so my dream board had to keep that it mind. I swear sometimes the smallest details end up making the biggest statements. So, here are my top five favorite home upgrades that cost very little if any extra.
#5 – Coffered Ceilings
We did a single tier in the dining room. I was going to be painting the room a bold color and didn’t want to have too much going on. In our bedroom, we did a double painted coffer for a more warm and cozy feeling. I LOVE looking up at this at night…except I often notice that I need to dust both the ceiling and the fan. Hopefully, that doesn’t show too bad in the pictures.
#4 – “Built-in” Refrigerator
Ok, so we obviously didn’t have budget for a real built in refrigerator, but we opted for the built in look by having the wall recessed behind where the refrigerator would be placed. This not only saves space in the kitchen but having it flush with the cabinets looks so nice. This was literally no more cost and looks so good! We did the same thing with our washer/dryer in the laundry room. We had a space cut out for the hoses to sit inside the wall so the appliances could be pushed flat against it. This makes more space in the actual room and less space for socks/underwear to fall down behind the washer & dryer!
#3 – Non Standard Window Grille Pattern
We had a major debate about this. I actually wanted no lines on our windows. I LOVE looking outside and wanted a clear view of green grass and white snow. My husband thought it would look way too plain and he was probably right. (If any of his friends read this, please don’t tell him I said this.) We went with the Modified Prairie option which has two vertical bars and one horizontal bar per sash. This was the perfect compromise for us. I have the clear view and yet our windows have some dimension! This was a little more expensive but we’re talking hundreds not thousands of dollars. And…it’s just out of the ordinary! Makes it seem more custom!
#2 – Taller trim
This looks so nice and honestly makes the house look more fancy or finished or modern or something like that. I don’t really know why but I think this little detail makes a huge difference and is in every single room of the house. It was seriously the finishing touch! Another low cost upgrade…again hundreds not thousands.
#1 – Black Interior Doors
I had to really sell my husband on this. He couldn’t wrap his mind around all white trim and black doors but he loved it when it was all done. It is again just so out of the ordinary and they feel elegant to me for some reason. We chose the Cheyenne Shaker Plank Door style. They kind of have stripes rather than the more common Six Panel doors. They look so nice. My favorite place to see them is looking down the hallway at a few of them leading to the big girls’ rooms. This too was no extra cost! We just bought black rather than white paint. What is possibly better than free?!?
I hope you guys like these ideas. If you use them in your house, send me a picture. I would love to see them!!