5 Ways to Upgrade Your Apartment On A Low Budget

See opportunities; no limitations. Here are some low-cost ideas to give your apartment a modern push and increase its value. 

In recent years the trend of DIY (Do It Yourself) has become far more appealing and accessible. We at Casamona thoroughly believe that with a bit of TLC and effort, you can transform an outdated, badly designed space or property into a bright, airy and modern space on a very low budget. With just a few simple steps, you could be living in a much brighter and clean property which thus provides many benefits; more sunlight, increased mental health, a happier place to be and with the pressures of a pandemic, the perfect place to work from home. Besides, a simple upgrade could significantly increase your properties value in both sales and rentals. 

 Living/ Dining Area Before       

We believe that now is the perfect time to upgrade your home! With much more spare time due to further restrictions and not many things to do with this time, especially on weekends, DIY is not only something that will improve your home. It has the benefits of any physical or artistic activity, boosting your endorphins, getting your body moving and stimulating the mind. It is the perfect, fool-proof activity to de-stress from any kind of work. If you don’t know where to start or need some inspiration, we at Casamona are always happy to help so do not hesitate to get in contact with us. 

Living/ Dining Area After

We know that by simply upgrading your property in the most basic of ways, you can increase interest in the property significantly. For example, we upgraded one of our apartments using some of these steps and can show the before and after photos to show how much it has been transformed. We have many new services and a new Management Contract and if you are interested, we could assist you to make the changes for you ourselves if you give us a budget and style, with an additional surcharge.

1) Paint walls:

Main Bedroom Before.

Painting the walls of your apartment from dark or vibrant colours to more neutral bright colours that fit a more modern/ Nordic aesthetic completely changes the atmosphere of an apartment. It makes it far brighter and more pleasant. If you are looking to sell your apartment, painting the apartment white can give the apartment that ‘blank canvas’ look so that potential buyers can see themselves living there and what they could do to the place to their own.

Main Bedroom After.

It is also very important if you are thinking of renting the apartment out because these more neutral and white tones are far more versatile to peoples taste and thus more people will be interested in the property. A lick of paint really does lift an apartment in the ambience and style, making it a far more inviting place to be. You can see here how much painting this apartment white changed it. 

2) New Furniture and Upholstery:

Investing in new furniture that is also neutral or stylish with durable materials will significantly boost the look of an apartment and increase your ROI (Return on Investment) and does not have to be expensive. It will make the place far more comfortable and a more pleasurable place to spend time in. 

2nd Bedroom Before

This can become more affordable if you look to sell old furniture on websites like eBay or Wallapop and use the money for a new piece that will lift the room. If you do not want to go to the hassle of buying new furniture, you could paint the old furniture such as kitchen tables and chairs white or grey to upgrade them on a lower budget using the paint leftover from the walls.

2nd Bedroom After

In addition, by changing the upholstery such as curtains/ blinds can significantly brighten and enhance the ‘modern’ look of the apartment that you’ll want to achieve. If you buy neutral and durable fabrics, you could even attempt to make the curtains and blinds yourself – significantly decreasing the cost of buying new ones.

However, if you do not have the time to do this you can easily buy cheap new blinds or curtains. Other areas of upholstery that you can invest in are items such as new throws/ cushions for the living area, as well as fake house plants which bring a sense of the outdoors in and a better living space. 

Mirrors are also very good investments as they make a room look far bigger at a very low cost. You can buy cheap mirrors at companies like Ikea from under €50 or you could go to a second hand/ antique shop and purchase a very cheap but stylish mirror. In addition, if you decide to buy a second hand one, you could use your left-over paint to make it match the style of the rest of the apartment if necessary.

We recommend that you look at furniture shops such as Ikea, Maison Du Monde and Zara Home as they are more affordable and have all sorts of different styles that may suit you as well as different inspiration rooms to look at so you can similarly design your space. If you are in need of further inspiration, our blog: ‘INTERIOR DESIGN IN BARCELONA IS CHANGING!’ has many tips and tricks! In addition, we recommend looking at these brands when there are sales on to make the changes even more affordable. Ikea is definitely a good option, with very low prices and almost every house item under the sun and their easy to build furniture; it’s a no brainer. 

3) Buy new (cheap) flooring / a cheap but stylish rug. 

Living Area Before; Dark with little texture

We recommend buying a new floor (if necessary) is a real game-changer. Taking old, damaged and dirty floors and replacing them enhances the modern atmosphere of a property. It gives the property a far cleaner feel, especially for a potential rental property, clean new floors make it far more welcoming and inviting. We recommend that due to the climate here in Barcelona that you should buy hard floors. 

The living area after; much lighter, brighter and more layers

If you want to avoid this hassle and expense altogether, we recommend that you fill the space with a large neutral rug as we have done. This not only gives the room a fresh feel but also adds textures and layers to the room without breaking the bank. Again, buying rugs from places like Ikea significantly reduce the cost but does not compromise too much on the quality. 

4) Change the fixtures in the bathroom:

By changing the fixtures such as different faucets and showerheads and maybe even a new shower tray (if needed) to give the bathroom that ‘new’ feeling, and a real clean of the grouting in the tiles, we believe would make the property far more appealing. A bathroom is a personal space that you want to be clean and bright and is somewhere that is highly important for tenants and buyers alike. By buying new fixtures which are often very cheap from places like Amazon, you get that new bathroom feeling on a very low budget; significantly increasing the potential value of the property!

5) Modernising the Kitchen on a Low Budget!

The Kitchen Before: Dark and old fashioned

In the kitchen, simple upgrades can transform the space; if you are wishing to sell the property you should not buy a whole new kitchen and refurbish as it is the most likely thing a buyer would change/ would like to change and therefore loses its value significantly.

The kitchen after; Much brighter and ‘modern’ even though its only been painted.

By painting cupboards to a bright/ light neutral tone and changing the handles to drawers and cupboards to give it that edge can make a significant difference AND is very cheap. If you have a rental property and your kitchen equipment is really outdated it may be worth thinking about putting in something new that’s more energy-efficient and more appealing for a potential tenant – the kitchen is the first thing a potential tenant will look at and thus important to impress. 

We hope that these top tips will help you with your home improvement. If you would like any additional help, do not hesitate to contact us. In addition, if you wish to sell or rent your apartment with us you are welcome to look at our website. Also, if you are looking for somewhere to move to, we are happy to assist you.

Isabella Loughlin