Adding a little freshness and spice to your home decor can transform your living space. Unfortunately, it can also cause a “wallet hit” if you’re not careful. The way around this is to tackle all your redecorating dreams from a budget-conscious perspective.

Truly, frugality and home improvement can go hand in hand. You just have to make thoughtful choices when it comes to giving your home a facelift.

1. Weigh the benefit of DIY versus professional costs.

Plenty of homeowners immediately assume that the best way to save money on renovating is to go the DIY route. Not so. Unless you have the talent, training, and tools to get the job done right, you could cause expensive damage.

To understand when to DIY and when to pay an independent contractor, go to a trusted source like Angi. There, you’ll find the lowdown on what to expect in terms of the average project cost. From that point, you can decide if what you want to do, such as installing trim, is better handled by an expert. It’s always cheaper to pay for perfection once than to pay double (or triple) to repair mistakes.

2. Aim to buy pre-owned or discounted materials.

It doesn’t matter if you’re thinking about decorating your home with new furniture, upgraded appliances, or tile-and-grout flooring. You can often purchase materials at reduced rates if they’ve been used or marked as clearance products. In fact, you could save hundreds of dollars if you’re willing to buy, say, an oven with a practically unnoticeable blemish.

Be prepared to do a little more legwork to find pre-owned merchandise. Also, stay open to picking up something different than you originally pictured. Buying used furnishings and objects means you have to make concessions. Yet you could stretch your renovation budget beyond your wildest expectations.

3. Opt for cheaper projects with serious impact.

Let’s say you have only enough savings to do a little freshening up of your spaces. No problem. Lots of little projects are surprisingly cost-effective while still being transformative and dramatic.

Take paint, for example. Repainting any room will change its appearance instantly. You’ll have a whole new starting point without overspending. Even if you do nothing else, giving your house a much-needed color upgrade will make it feel more modern again. Other cheap solutions with serious payback include deep cleaning your carpets and decluttering your high-traffic areas.

4. Adopt some greenery.

Hanging flowers, kitchen gardens, and potted plants can be fantastic additions to your rooms. Along with updated window dressings like Roman shades, blinds, and curtains, they can become focal points. They can even bring a touch of color to a living room, kitchen, or bedroom with a neutral palette.

Ideally, you’ll want any blooms and blossoms to feel right at home. Therefore, plan to install plants in places where they’ll get enough natural sunlight. That’s only fair since they’ll be helping to clean the air and bring nature’s beauty into your home.

5. Rearrange your wall art.

Take a look around your house. Has it been forever since you switched up the pictures on your walls? Most people put up art and forget about it. Over time, though, this can lead your rooms to seem dull or drab.

Even if all you do is swap out older pictures for newer ones, you’ll be ahead of the decorating game. (And if you painted the walls beforehand, you’ll feel like you’re in a whole new house!) To make this work, take down all the items on the wall in the room you want to redo. Come up with a theme for the room and then decorate the walls as desired. If you’re having trouble deciding how much art to put on the wall, divide your art into mini-collections. Each grouping can decorate one wall. Just don’t make your artwork compete for space. Your walls should still show through!

6. Dress up your bed with trendy bedding.

Nothing makes a master bedroom, kids’ bedroom, or guest bedroom spring to life more than new bedding. From pillows and shams to bedspreads and sheets, you can take your pick. Even if all you do is buy a duvet cover for your duvet mattress, you’ll see the difference right away.

So where should you go for the best price on bedding? Again, you might want to dig through the clearance corners of your favorite retailers. Or, buy bedding online when prices are steepest such as during well-known holidays. Don’t forget to replace your pillows at least every two years as well.

7. Address one room at a time.

A major reason that so many home decorating plans get out of hand from a budget standpoint is “project creep.” When you don’t have a stopping place, you run the risk of overdoing everything. Consequently, you may end up out of money long before you can make a noticeable dent in your surroundings.

You may have a long to-do list of spaces you want to revamp. That’s fine, but reign yourself in. Stick to just one place at a time, like building a deck or revitalizing the powder room. Put all your budget into finishing that project. When you’re done, you can start putting aside money for your next home remodeling adventure.

Just because you don’t have unlimited funds doesn’t mean you can have unlimited fun in your home. By maximizing your budget and spending dollars wisely, you can fall back in love with your house.