Easy and Affordable Ways to Instantly Add Character to Your Home

Adding character to your home doesn’t have to cost a fortune! Here are 8 easy and affordable ways to instantly add character to your home this year.

1. Just Paint It

Paint is the quickest and least expensive way to transform just about any surface in your home! Whether it’s your walls, cabinets, flooring, furniture, decor, hardware, or even upholstery, paint will immediately help you achieve a completely different look. Paint has come a long way even in the last decade and there is a special paint for just about every surface imaginable. Right now, I am loving Fusion Mineral paint for changing the look of furniture, cabinetry, and even flooring. It is by far some of the easiest paint to work with and comes in a beautiful array of colors.

Looking for specific ways to use paint to spruce up your home? I’ve got you covered! Click on the links below for beautiful transformations with paint.

Want to see more tips on how I transformed the kitchen in the photos? Click here for 5 Easy Ways to Update Your Kitchen!

2. Add Temporary Character with Sticker Tiles

My love of stickers has come a long way since my 80’s scratch and sniff sticker book days! Floor and wall vinyl stickers are easy to use and will instantly change the look of your floors or backsplash in less than a day. Our original ceramic floor tiles didn’t compliment the backsplash I wanted but replacing the kitchen flooring wasn’t in the budget. I found custom-made sticker tiles on Etsy and decided to go with a bold tile I normally would never choose. I love that these tiles can be replaced when damaged and pulled up easily when I tire of the look. I’ve had my sticker tiles for nearly two years now and they have held up great to wear and tear and frequent cleanings. You can read more about my sticker flooring here: Get the Cement Tile Look for Less: Peel & Stick Vinyl Sticker Flooring.

Sticker floor and wall tiles can be purchased online on etsy, on Amazon, and on Wayfair. Click the affiliate links to shop!

Shop Sticker Tiles

3. Change Out Your Light Fixtures

Light fixtures are the jewelry of the room! Besides providing visual interest to a space, they provide an opportunity for you to play up your individual style. Your lighting can create a more formal or casual ambiance and set the tone for your entire space. Choose fixtures that coordinate and compliment the overall theme of your space. For example in the photos above, the black and crystal chandelier is nice for the modern glam dining space while the wood bead chandelier works beautifully with the french country furnishings.

4. Makeover Your Doors

Doors are often overlooked as easy ways to provide architectural interest and character to a space. Simply by changing the paint color, door hardware, and/or molding on the door you can create a gorgeous focal point. Check out my post 16 Flat Panel Door Makeover Ideas {Boring to Beautiful} to learn how to transform your own doors.

You may also like 20 DIY Barn Door Tutorials if you’re thinking about adding a barn door to your room.

5. Add Open Shelving

Open shelving isn’t just for your kitchen! Look for blank walls that may benefit from some open shelves in your breakfast nook, dining room, bathrooms, and media rooms. Open shelving adds character to your room and allows you to display collectibles and showcase your decor. Creating your own open shelves is easy enough to do for a basic beginner with little to no DIY experience. I highly recommend checking out my HOW TO BUILD AND INSTALL OPEN SHELVING post for some helpful tutorials and tips.

6. Go Crazy with Molding

One thing that separates more expensive homes from less expensive homes is the amount of molding and millwork each has! Thick baseboards, crown molding, coffered ceilings, shiplap, board and batten, box molding, picture molding, beadboard, etc. all add instant character to a space. While some molding installations are challenging for the beginner DIY’er, many are not!

The internet if chock full of helpful tutorials on how to add molding to your space. Here are some of mine:

7. Update Your Hardware

Whether it’s your kitchen cabinet hardware, door hardware, or drawer pulls, those functional little pieces add a big punch of character to your space! You can completely transform the look of a piece of furniture simply by changing out the pulls and knobs.

Don’t have the budget to buy all new hardware? No problem. Consider painting your existing hardware a new metallic shade. I often use Rub ‘n Buff to transform the look of hardware, picture frames, and urns. You can find Rub ‘n Buff here on Amazon.

8. Transform Your Walls with Wallpaper

After taking a brief hiatus, wallpaper began trending again about five years ago and continues to go strong! Thanks to easier to install and remove options, wallpaper is once again fun to work with! In our current home, I have installed wallpaper in our media room, boy’s bathroom, office, and master bedroom. I love using peel & stick wallpaper because it’s forgiving if you misalign it during install and removes easily without damaging walls.

Media Room Makeover

4 Tips for Creating a Budget-Friendly Boho Farmhouse Bathroom Makeover

Masculine Office Makeover

Cozy Coastal Farmhouse Bedroom

Shop Wallpaper

Comments

Barbara at Mantel and Table says

March 4, 2020 at 4:48 pm

Great ideas Beth – and thanks for the product updates! I didn’t know sticky floor tile was even a thing! Brilliant! 😉
Kippi says

February 11, 2020 at 11:24 am

This post is a must-read for every homeowner. I am pinning for later.
Have a great week,
Kippi