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15 Simple & Inexpensive DIY Upgrades

15 Simple and Inexpensive DIY Upgrades | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

I absolutely love room makeovers. I love watching the the process unfold, and I REALLY love the before-and-after shots. Sometimes, though, we don’t have the time or budget for a complete overhaul, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still spruce up our space! Over the years I’ve made several simple and inexpensive upgrades to rooms in our home, and I thought I’d wrangle them all together into one post in case anyone else was looking for an easy way to update their rooms too!

1. Paint Some Curtains

15 Simple & Inexpensive DIY Upgrades | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

A few years ago I took a pair of plain white IKEA curtains, taped off some stripes, and painted them, and I’ve been in love ever since!

2. Make Some No-Sew Curtains

15 Simple & Inexpensive DIY Upgrades | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

Hi, I’m Abby and I’m terrified of my sewing machine! 🙂 Since I avoid sewing at all costs, these babies were right up my alley. Yet another pair of inexpensive IKEA curtains, a little bit of fabric, and some hem tape and I was good to go!

3. Stencil a Pillow

15 Simple & Inexpensive DIY Upgrades | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

Or make an easy envelope cover! Either way, with less than a yard of fabric and a few supplies, you can turn an old, ugly pillow into a beautiful creation in no time!

4. Mix and Match Pillows

15 Simple & Inexpensive DIY Upgrades | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

Maybe you can’t replace the couch or rug, but pillows are an inexpensive way to give a room a new look. Not sure how to go about mixing and matching? Check out my 3 easy recipes for perfectly coordinating pillows!

5. Beautify a Pegboard

15 Simple & Inexpensive DIY Upgrades | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

Pegboards are cheap and it doesn’t take much to make them look beautiful. PLUS they’re oh-so-functional for storage too!

6. Add Crown Molding to Bookshelves

15 Simple & Inexpensive DIY Upgrades | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

These were plain old white bookshelves when we first got them, but they now have a fancier built-in look thanks to a few pieces of crown molding!

7. Stencil a Chair

15 Simple & Inexpensive DIY Upgrades | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

A little pop of pattern or design on a chair can totally transform it into a beautiful statement piece!

8. Recover a Lamp Shade

15 Simple & Inexpensive DIY Upgrades | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

Sick of your old lamp shades? A little bit of fabric can fix that! Just cut and glue– so easy!

9. Add Stripes to a Dresser

15 Simple & Inexpensive DIY Upgrades | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

I honestly felt like I cheated when I “made over” this dresser. It was already white, so all I had to do was tape off a few stripes, paint them, and it had a whole new look!

10. Frame in a Mirror

15 Simple & Inexpensive DIY Upgrades | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

If you’re sick of your builder-grade mirrors, fancy them up a bit with a simple frame!

11. Paint Your Baseboards

15 Simple & Inexpensive DIY Upgrades | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

Crisp, white baseboards can really take a room to the next level, and you don’t even have to dread painting them! It’s super simple with my quick and easy method.

12. Paint a Room

The Cs' Bathroom Refresh Reveal | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

I’m always amazed at what a little bit of paint can do. We didn’t do any demo or major construction, but our guest bath looks like a whole new room thanks to some paint and a few new accessories!

13. Install Board and Batten

15 Simple & Inexpensive DIY Upgrades | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

I love B & B! I just think it looks so classy. And do you know what my husband said to me when he was installing it and I was supervising we were installing it together? “This is so easy! Which room are we doing next?!” If he’s asking for more DIY projects, you know it’s an easy one!

15 Simple & Inexpensive DIY Upgrades | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

Not gonna lie– gallery walls used to intimidate me. But then I came up with my simple 5-step method, and now I can throw one together with the best of ’em. 😉

15. Paint an Interior Door

15 Simple & Inexpensive DIY Upgrades | JustAGirlAndHerBlog.com

This project sort of evolved out of rebellion. My HOA gives us exactly one choice for our outside door color, and since I thought that was absolutely ridiculous, I decided to show them and paint the door anyway…on the inside. 🙂 I am loving the new look and learned a few little tips and tricks along the way!

Now who’s ready to get DIY-ing?! They really are simple projects, but they can make a big impact in your space! I’d love to hear what easy and inexpensive projects you’ve done to update a room– leave them in the comments below!

Have a wonderful week!

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11 Comments

  1. Lauren @ Mom Home Guide says:

    Hi, Abby! I love all of your upgrades! I especially love your stenciled pillows! They look so beautiful! Hope you have a great week! We are expecting A LOT of snow here in New Jersey!!

  2. Rebekah // Charming Imperfections says:

    Abby, you’ve given me so many great ideas! I want to go update some pillows right away! too bad it’s the middle of the night 😉

  3. Love these! I love the idea of a painted front door. In our old house I painted it aqua and never looked back. https://www.createprettyblog.com/2012/09/the-domino-effect.html
    Where we are now all our doors are wood (craftsman style neighborhood) so no door painting…. But I’ve considered painting the door to our garage :p

  4. Thanks for all the great ideas! I love seeing what others have done to get inspiration for my home. We did the bathroom mirror update in our bathrooms in a previous home and what a difference it made! I love your pillow combos…I struggle with pillows and it the size/pattern/color combo and need lots of inspiration.

  5. I sooo need to paint our baseboards! We painted our walls a few months ago and haven’t made it to the baseboards yet!

    I also love that striped dresser! Super cute!

  6. I love these simple upgrades! I especially like the idea of the board & battan and the painting of curtains! Cool – but hey, have you washed those curtains? Just wondering how the paint held up!

    1. justagirlabby says:

      Hi, Carol! We have! The textile medium I mixed with the paint makes them washable, and they’ve held up great!

      ~Abby =)

  7. Hi, Abby! This is perfect timing for me! I’m doing a low-low-low budget kitchen makeover to make it livable for me, and I’m going to paint it, pop on some backsplash, and toss up a framed print. However, I love the idea of personalizing it further with some custom draperies that even the uncrafitest of uncrafty people like myself can probably handle. And the painted inside door is unexpected and exciting! My kitchen is small and dark, so I want a very light color on the walls. I’m totally painting my outside door a bright pop of color. Thanks!

  8. Brenna@DomesticCharm says:

    During the month of February, my husband and I are going “no spend”, meaning we don’t buy any extra stuff. These are great ideas that I can do with things I have lying around! Thanks for the “no spend” inspiration!!

  9. I liked what you did here Abby! It came out really gorgeous! I’m working on our white charcoal theme this year and I’m definitely using these great inspirations. I loved the most your pegboard!

  10. JaneEllen says:

    Have always gotten so much inspiration and wanting to make things from your blog posts. Keeps me busy and out of trouble. Try to find things I can do on my own without having to involve hubs, where there’s always a” big discussion” andtoo many objections about what I want to do. He doesn’t get my vision so I try on my own.
    Lately been wanting to get an old dresser out of shed to fix up for mudroom stuff that seems to congregate by the door, go figure. Hubs says dresser is too messed up to use but then why is it still in shed? Just needs some loving tlc, maybe couple new boards and paint, good project for me. Also have chair bought at local thrift store want to paint for our bedroom. Otherwise “stuff” seems to get dumped on the bench.
    What color did you paint that light green chair and what stencil did you use? Love how soft and pretty it looks. I’m thinking that color as I’ll have apple green and coral in our room if we get around to painting it this spring/summer. Have big old waterfall chif-a-robe to paint also, that will be quite a project on it’s own. I painted it white all over shortly after we bought it in KY and it’s been same all these years. It’ll either be painted the green on your chair or little darker shade. Maybe little accents of coral/white on it here and there. Big plans huh? Will use chalk paint so don’t have to prep all surfaces as much. Just used flat white on it when painted in KY.
    Well once again, thanks for all the great inspiration for projects and wonderful ideas.
    Hope you have great weekend.

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