Most of us think of home renovations and imagine huge projects that cost buckets of money and lots of time. But the truth is that most homes can benefit from smaller projects.

1) Cleaning Erasers are your friend. I use them all the time to clean my walls, doors, and trim work. I honestly never realized how filthy children are until I had my own. Spending half an hour cleaning off doors where dirty little hands grab them, the walls next to the staircase where they insist on running their hands while they walk up and down the stairs, and the ballisters on your staircase, will make a huge difference in how your house looks.

2) Touch up paint. Sometimes the cleaning erasers are not enough. Don't be afraid to pull out your paint and touch up the areas that look less than beautiful. Don't forget about your front door. I generally touch up the paint on ours every spring. Of course maybe you don't have children who throw rocks and sticks at the door and then kick it every so often just for good measure.

3) Cabinet knobs falling off when you pull on them? Most likely the threads inside have been stripped. Fill the hole in the knob with some broken toothpicks and wood glue. Screw the knob back on.

4) Update bathroom and kitchen faucets. This might seem like a daunting project, but it is really quite simple. Just remember to turn your water supply off before you begin.

5) Adding new hardware to your kitchen cabinets can change the look of your outdated cabinetry. Change brass hardware to brushed nickel for a more modern look.

6) New light fixtures can change the entire look of a room. Most can be purchased relatively inexpensively at the big box stores.

Mir, at Woulda Coulda Shoulda, has just replastered of her dining room walls. Texturizing the walls to add interest.

Stucco House paints the railings leading up to the front door. After a decade of living with them unpainted. Time passes quickly.

Thirteen Eleven paints the beadboard ceiling of her front porch a beautiful subtle blue color. I have heard that porch ceilings were originally painted blue to be reminiscent of the sky. I repainted ours white to brighten up the porch.

When she isn't blogging about her life at Notes from the Trenches, Chris is working at rescuing her house from a century of neglect and bad taste. She can also be found writing about home improvement and design at DIY This N' That.