Home Improvements...

Ever since we moved in last December, we've loved making our laundry list of home projects that are out of our budget: remodeling the dining room, replacing the kitchen cabinets, and completely redoing our master bathroom. That's just the tip of the iceberg.

Now, because our budget is limited (our mortgage is almost double what our rent was) we are quickly becoming experts at getting our home improvement fixes on the cheap.

Our first project was the basement. When we moved in, our large basement (also know as the man cave) was covered in wood paneling. Not loving the 70s look, we quickly made a trip to Home Depot and picked out a nice shade of white and got to work. After a weekend of painting, we loved our new cottage feel in the basement. Our total cost was only about $70.00 for all the supplies! Not too bad for bringing our basement into the 21st century.

Our next project was our curb appeal.

One of the great things about our house when we bought it was that it was pretty much a blank slate. White walls, white doors, white shutters. Once we became more settled, we wanted to make it more our own. Those thoughts led us back to Home Depot - where we purchased a can of red paint and several cans of black spray paint. In one afternoon, we totally changed the look of our home from the outside. Check out the before and after . . .

(before)

(after)

We got a little spray paint happy and went for the mailbox too - which was actually a good decision because it now matches the shutters. Next up, the railing and maybe some landscaping...