Home improvement tips and ideas

1. Buy furniture you'll keep. A $2,000 couch can seem like an extravagant purchase, but spending that money so you won't have to buy a replacement for a few decades makes a lot of sense in the long run. If you don't plan to stay in your current home for too much longer, I'd say think about an improvement that you can take with you, such as a couch or a nice carpet. TVs and other electronics become dated pretty quickly and don't retain value, so I'd hold off there.

2. Give a small space a makeover. A couple grand can really do a number on a bathroom or entryway. You can buy nice granite countertops, paint the walls, get a nice mirror, and even replace a sink basin for that money. The bathroom is a funny room since it's out of the way but always in use, so spending a little on these improvements will have a bigger impact on your day-to-day life than you might expect. If you aren't sure where to begin with this kind of renovation, head to one of the big hardware stores and start looking at what they have on display. It shouldn't take long for inspiration to strike.

3. Change up your lighting. If you own your home, new lights will make things look better and help increase the value. Using dimmable track lighting or modern pendants and chandeliers, you can drastically change the aesthetic of a room without knocking out a wall or ripping up the floorboards. New bulbs and fixtures can also leave you with a more efficient setup, cutting back on your utility bills and further increasing the resale value of your home.