Painting is one of the easiest and the least expensive ways to update your home. Think about the kinds of colors, textures, and locales that you are most attracted to and that mean the most to you. Buy some paint that fits a particularly beautiful textile or chair, for example. Or perhaps you have a painting that you really love. Buy paint that echoes the colors in the painting, and extend that color scheme in different variations throughout your home. If you are looking to sell your home, you will probably want to shy away from bright, vibrant colors. Instead, stick with soft and muted colors along with white baseboards. White all over the place is boring. Mix it up and add some accents. A pale green is still neutral, but it actually gives the room some personality. Paint is also a great way to tie together the entire house. Don't paint every room the same color, but instead find a common theme or a color palette or color scheme and echo it throughout the house. For example, perhaps you really love flowers. Have framed prints of different flowers in each room, and echo the color of those flowers in your wall paint.

2. Give your feet a rest.

Giving yourself a new floor doesn't have to be incredibly expensive. Look under your carpets. Do you have hardwood? Then rip up those old, bland carpets, and refinish your wood floor. If you're not confident enough with a major sanding machine, then hire somebody to do the actually sanding for you. Then you can stain the floor yourself and seal the floor. You've got an absolutely gorgeous hardwood floor for not too much money at all.

What if you look under your carpet and you don't have a hidden treasure hardwood floor underneath? If carpet is your only option, rearrange your priorities. You don't have to buy top of the line carpet. Instead, buy extra high quality padding. By splurging on the padding, you can get a mid grade carpet and it will still feel fantastic under your feet.

Before you floor, think about where you are actually putting this floor. Do you need to replace your kitchen floor? Then you don't want something extremely hard. The harder the floor, the more tired your legs will become. Instead, go for a floor that is somewhat soft, like vinyl or linoleum. Make sure that it's easy to clean. If you decide to go with a tile floor or a marble floor, and you are going to put rugs on that floor (which you will want to do because they are so hard and can become so slippery), make sure that they have a nonstick layer underneath. Otherwise your entry way can become a danger zone.

Remember also that cork, vinyl, linoleum, and rubber floors absorb noise. Tile, marble, stone, and wood can be incredibly noisy. Remember that a plain colored floor can make a room look bigger, so don't go for a lot of pattern unless you have a particularly large room. Also make sure that you have a smooth transition between rooms.

3. Light

Lighting is one of the least expensive ways to give your house an update. Consider installing track lighting, task lighting, or fluorescent lighting to open up your rooms. Accent lighting is another great and inexpensive way to transform a room without breaking the bank.