All homeowners know that owning your own home can be expensive, but takes a lot of work as well! An average homeowner should be prepared to shell out 1-3% of their home's value each year on maintenance and improvements. Of course, there are always ways to cut down on costs, so let's take a look at some ways to save money while still maintaining and improving the home of your dreams!

When doing a DIY home improvement project, put safety first. Make sure you wear protective equipment such as a hard hat and goggles when needed. Use power tools (especially ones you are not familiar with) with extreme caution. Read the directions and ask for help when needed. Home improvement stores are a great resource of information.

When it comes to home improvement, be sure to get quotes from at the very least three different contractors. This is important because prices may vary greatly, as may the quality of work. Get a good feeling for your contractor by sitting down with him or her and discussing your entire plan.

Sometimes traditional and economical methods of dealing with squeaky doors may work for you. Here is a cheap alternative that you can try: Remove the hinge pin as normal, and rub it with regular bar soap. Then replace the pin and open and close the door to let the soap disperse on the hinge parts.

Vinyl tiles can be a cost effective product for tiling floors if you want something cheaper than stone or ceramic tiles. In most cases, installing vinyl is easy thanks to pre-applied adhesive; the resulting floor surface is durable, strong, and resists water and wear. To meet your individual needs, you can conveniently purchase vinyl flooring in large sheets or as individual tiles.

Improving your home yourself in anyway can be a fun, rewarding experience, but this can also be a disaster. Before starting any projects, make sure you research what you're doing first. Getting halfway through any home improvement project only to find you're doing something wrong is a nightmare waiting to happen.

Use wallpaper to decorate a book case. Choose a design that is unusual and interesting. If you attach the wallpaper on the back wall of your bookcase, it will be visible behind any books or trinkets. This spices up the look of your old bookcase and adds a point of interest to your room.

Give your kitchen cabinets a brand new look with paint. This is a very inexpensive way of updating your kitchen cabinets. Remove the doors and thoroughly clean all surfaces with denatured alcohol to get rid of dirt and grease. Apply a coat of primer: this should take about an hour to dry. Use a latex or oil paint, and choose a gloss finish, as this stands up well to scrubbing. If the paint you are using is roughly the same shade as the original, you may be able to get away with one coat of paint over the primer. Your cabinets will look brand new again!

When it is time to make serious improvements to your home, engage the services of a competent general contractor. Shop around and make careful comparisons. A competent and honest, general contractor, can complete home improvements professionally. A contractor can also perform home improvement work cheaper than you can manage, by doing it yourself.

If you are renovating a small room, replace carpeting with hard flooring, such as hardwood, laminate, or tile. Carpet in a small room will congest the visual field and make the room feel even smaller. The right arrangement of floor tiles or planks, conversely, can make the room feel larger.

To showcase a particularly beautiful flowerbed or landscaping detail, steal this trick from noted horticulturists and botanic garden curators: position outdoor accent lighting fixtures behind plants or statuary to dramatically reveal the unique shapes, textures, and form of shrubs, flowers, and ornamental grasses. This is a particularly effective technique for single-color gardens or landscapes.

Do you have problems with bare spots in your lawn? If this is something you struggle with, pick up some grass seeds and work to fix your lawn. A lawn that looks even can truly improve your yard. Make your lawn look beautiful and green today.

One of the most commonly overlooked considerations for home improvement projects is finding an appropriate way to dispose of debris. Demolishing walls or appliances creates a lot of garbage. When you begin a project, designate a specific place for your debris and garbage to be stored until you can dispose of it.

When making renovations on your home, you should make sure you hire a contractor you trust. In order for the employee and contractor to both feel satisfied, they should have a certain level of understanding and trust with one another. If that level of trust and understanding is not there, then it is very likely that one or both of you will be unhappy about the results.

If you need a power tool for a short-term project, consider renting one from a home improvement store rather than purchasing it yourself. You will not only save room in your garage or workshop, but you will not be saddled with the maintenance of a tool that you use very infrequently.

White and red cedar is perfect fencing in fire-prone locations. Cedar is good because of its safety with regards to wildfires.

Prior to do anything in a room, consider the paint. This will save you the trouble of worrying on the level home inspections about where the paint ends up. Your flooring could get paint on it, even if you have drop cloths put down.

When you are interviewing contractors, check to make sure they have all of the proper licenses your state requires. You can easily check for licensing information through your state's government website or by placing a call. If a contractor does not have the proper licensing, he either did something to cause him to lose his license or is a scam artist.

Home improvement projects can be fun and even uplifting. After all, you are giving something great to your home, putting in what you want to enjoy for some time to come. If you are ready to get down to business and learn some great skills, these home improvement tips can provide great advice.