We are now seeing an uptick in home sales prices. That has incentivized many American homeowners to go ahead and re-invest in their homes.

Today we are going to look at inexpensive sources and methods to fix up your home to make it more enjoyable for you and also add curb appeal and value for a future resale. If your sweat equity increases, you might as well eventually borrow it and invest it in a second home or whatever.

Many years ago, when I started watching TV commercials enticing people to get home equity loans for vacations, boats, and the like, I knew there was going to be trouble. Never take equity out of your home for such things. Never. Never take money from an appreciating asset to buy a depreciating asset. Don’t spend your gun money on butter, as Robert G Allen would say (“How to Buy Real Estate with Nothing Down”).

Rich people buy antique furniture because it is collectible and holds its value and appreciation. The same goes for the art on the walls and the Rolls in the garage. They didn’t buy their room set from Rooms To Go. In retail, the highest margins are found on furniture and jewelry. Four times the wholesale cost. They buy furniture wholesale for a quarter of the retail price they’ll charge, so when they have a “Half Off” sale, gosh, then they’re just doubling their money. Pull a new car off the dealership lot and its value immediately drops 25%. These items are “butter”. “Guns” are assets that appreciate, such as real estate, stocks, gold and silver, antiques, art, etc. Nothing sadder than driving through a low-income housing complex and seeing Lexus and Cadillacs parked there. They live in a HUD Section 8 apartment, they don’t own the real estate they sleep in, but they buy a new Lexus. Bragging, yes, but they’re bragging to the other idiots who think outward displays of wealth ARE wealth. Can you say “nouveau riche”? Most lottery winners are broke in 5 years.

So keep that in mind when you redecorate, you want to balance between “buttered” things that are just comfortable (and that’s fine!) and “put together” things that will add value. I pay about $150 a month for cable and Netflix. sounds loud. But I used to screw that up in a nightclub in a couple of hours. I never go to bars or clubs again, not even restaurants because I’m a vegetarian and often can’t find any menu items to eat. I’m home all the time, so I think it’s cheap to have a good variety of cable and movies to watch from the safety and comfort of my own home. It looks like butter but to me it isn’t, it’s a huge saving on the expense and risk of going out.

Large discount department stores like Wal-Mart and Target offer a wide variety of cheap furniture, small dressers, bookcases, ottomans, etc. Sears has great stuff too, and they’re also on Amazon and eBay.

I know that Wal-Mart has increased its collection of home furnishings, such as rugs, lamps, patio furniture, bathroom accessories, decorative details such as pillows and cushions. Check out their line of Better Homes & Gardens products. Good name, nice things. Target has its own new line of home accessories, the line is called Threshold. Crockery, glassware, table linen, etc. JCPenney has new lines from designers like Jonathan Adler and others. I remember when Martha Stewart was all the rage, and I’ll tell you something about Martha Stewart. I bought pillows for the bed and they went flat so I emailed her website and they asked for some details like the SKU number of the pillow. Several days later a large box arrives at my door with new pillows and also a complete bedding set: comforter, pillowcases, sheets and everything. Truly exceptional customer service and I have never forgotten it. I also like Ralph Lauren and Laura Ashley.

For wall art, you can get amazing museum-quality canvas reproductions of Old World masters like Da Vinci and Raphael and newer works by Salvadore Dali and others. It really adds a pop of color! Try old master reproductions online.

How about the following ideas/suggestions:

Budgeting: Research and get ideas by attending model homes that are staged and decorated, open houses, etc. Definitely visit places like Home Depot, Lowes, and HGTV and sign up for their newsletters. Now Home Depot and Lowes even offer free classes for various DIY projects around the house. I send my own workers and handymen to classes all the time; they’re professionals in their own minds, but they can always stand to pick up new tips! eBay even has a new mode that you can set in your Preferences by specifying a type of decor that you like like Art Deco or Victorian or Vintage 60’s etc. Then you automatically receive notification emails about new items put up for sale that fit the criteria you’ve set up, maybe you just want Turkish rugs. (I always want Turkish rugs!) I collect antique brass bowls, for example, so I get notifications about brass bowls, wine jugs, etc. I fill cabinets of curios that I buy at yard sales or even get for free from Craigslist and fill them with collectibles like that. I also like miniature tins and bone china. The collection is not only growing in value, it really enhances my home. I go for the classics: lined shelves of books, gilt frames for my oil reproductions, backlit cabinets of curiosities, and compare that to ultra-modern technology like computers and flat screen TVs and a black and stainless steel frame. kitchen. With cherry wood furniture, if you can imagine it.

You will have to pick and choose carefully for your amount of living space. Frankly, I am overwhelming my space here. But I’m in the foreclosure property maintenance business that the bank owns now and is trying to sell through a real estate agent, so we go in and clean out the junk first and I always find things to keep, sell or take to the metal. cash recycling center My stock rotates! I change coffee tables like others change their underwear. Try to spend where you live. I’m rarely in my bedroom, but always in my living room, it’s my nerve center, desk, computer, TV, huge leather chairs and sofas. I put my money there.

Learn to compromise, you don’t have to have “the real thing”, especially an original oil painting masterpiece. Reproductions are good. Maybe instead of a new carpet, lay down tile or hardwood and get a nice Turkish or other rug.

Reuse: convert one thing into another. This looks a lot with the lamps and table bases, you like something original and you put a piece of beveled glass on it and you have a unique table. Lamp kits are a couple of bucks at any hardware store. Buy a glass drill bit and turn old pottery and vases into lamps. Start an online business! Likewise, secondhand refinish, beneath the scarred paint, I’ve found cherry and mahogany dressers and tables that looked stunning for a few dollars of stripper and varnish and a little effort. Another online business!

A fresh coat of paint inside and out works wonders. Use a good high quality paint. We always use, from Home Depot, their Behr’s Ultra Premium Plus with the primer on the paint, it covers well in one coat.

I hope these suggestions help! From the box below you can contact me, send me questions, comments and photos of your work!