HWN

Build a wooden planter box to add some color to the front of your home, plant some colorful flowering shrubs and add some bee-friendly plants to your yard. If your income is too high to qualify for LIHEAP but you need help paying for your energy bills, your localsocial services agency or a nonprofit organization may have funds to help. You can also contact your gas, oil, or electric company about budget billing programs or new payment options especially for customers with disabilities who are on Supplemental Security Income . To apply for a disabled facilities grant, you need to fill in a form which you can get from your local authority. They might ask for information and/or for tests to be carried out before you make a formal application.

• This home by Frances Merrill offers some great inspiration.
• It’s about time.Plug your living room lights into timers so it’s bright when you wake and return home.
• I have all sorts of outlets that will ruin the look and so I plan to wire wiremold under the cabinets and move the existing outlets to the far side of the wall to satisfy code requirements.

Buhr says this kind of resourcefulness …

Neither of these loans will require you to change the terms or interest rate of your existing mortgage. However, you’ll pay a higher interest rate than you would with a cash-out refinance, and you’ll take on an additional monthly payment. A cash-out refinance is a low-cost way to make home improvements when you don’t have the money on hand. Refinancing can be a good way to borrow a lot of money at once, which means expensive renovations are in reach and won’t take much from your monthly budget. Your home might be small, but it doesn’t have to feel that way.

Homeowners younger than 40 are the most likely to have completed projects this year, though more than half of baby boomers have done home improvement work too. Anderson measures demand based on searches for home improvement service projects on Porch.com. In the last three months, the company has tracked 330 million U.S. Google searches for home improvement work — that’s up almost 50% from the same period last year. Gardening is the type of home improvement up the most, but the projects range all over the home, inside and out. Alternatively, you may want to consider a home improvement …

Spend a few hundred dollars on lighting instead of many thousands on tearing the place apart and putting it back together. Maintain everything to keep the expensive repair pros away. The single best way to save money around the house is by sticking to a maintenance schedule for as many of your home’s systems as possible. Beautifully highlight a coffered ceiling with colorful paint, and keep the trim white for a bold visual effect. Placing a ceiling medallion around a fan or light fixture is another way to add architectural flair overhead. Decorative ceiling medallions are available in all shapes, sizes, and styles.

That could mean avoiding replacing dinged-up trim work or repainting entire walls. Keeping up with caulking maintenance in bathrooms and kitchens saves many water-damage repair costs later. Peel-and-stick wallpaper is a temporary way to add a burst of vibrant color or pattern to a room without tearing up the walls. To keep this project affordable and doable, try papering a focal wall or a small, low-humidity space like a powder room or closet.

For color, you can purchase a few bright annual flowers at your local garden shop and either plant them directly into the landscape around …