WFMW - gosh it's been a while!
Well, it's been pretty much forever since I had anything to contribute to a WFMW! We are currently prepping our house to put it on the market. While it's true that the cost to effect ratio is fabulous for paint, (meaning that it doesn't cost that much, but it has a really great effect on your house), it takes a lot of work. Here's a couple other cheap and quick fixes that I have found to be really effective in making your house look fresher and up-to-date.
- Change out your switch and outlet plate covers. These cost me a whopping 39 cents each at my hardware store. They take just a couple of minutes to replace an entire room's worth, but even if you didn't think they were that bad to start, you'll be shocked at how much new covers freshen up a space.
- If your floor / wall vent covers are really gross, and I don't just mean dirty but corroded, they cost about $5 at your hardware store. Again, a screwdriver and a couple of minutes, and you've got a quick freshening for the whole room.
- Clean your windows. I know, I know, everybody says to do it before you sell your house - and even though I thought my windows were pretty good, I cleaned them and was amazed at how much more sunshine it seemed to let in.
- Take out most of your stuff. I'm not talking "eat pizza off paper plates while sitting on the floor," but by removing clutter from walls, furniture and even removing extra furniture, your rooms will look so much bigger. Of course, you need somewhere to put this stuff, but maybe you have a friend with a garage you could borrow.
- Take out a ton of stuff from your linen closets / kitchen cabinets, etc. I'm going to be living with the bare minimum of spices, etc., for a while, which makes my cabinet look like there's actually room for them. Usually, my hundred different spices (exaggeration!) are jammed into a small space, and I have to paw through to find the one I want. Now my top twenty are neatly arranged in the space - when I eventually get bigger kitchen cabinets, my hundred can be neatly arranged, but for now I'm going to do everything I can to make my cabinets look gigantic!
