With the New Year properly rung in and the everyday routine is getting to be more, well, routine, I thought I'd give you a few ideas for some low cost changes around the house. As I've said before paint is the least expensive and most dramatic change you can make around the house.<br><br>
  A fresh coat of paint in your entry, hall, laundry or powder room will give your home a lift.  Check out the newest in spa colors for a relaxing mood.  Small rooms are easy to paint and don't take a large investment in paint, but give huge results. New knobs for your cabinets will dress up the kitchen or bath or linen closet.  If you cannot afford to replace all the cabinet hardware' for less than $10 you can buy a can of spray paint and paint your existing drawer pulls and knobs yourself.  Just remember to remove and clean them, push the screws into a piece of cardboard and screw the hardware in and then spray in a well ventilated but protected area..<br><br>
 
If you don't need window coverings for privacy why not take them down for now and let the lovely winter light flow into your rooms, you will be surprised how refreshing the light is during our short days. If privacy is an issue, you can cover a window that doesn't have a particularly interesting view and put a piece of pretty rice paper right on the glass.  You can find beautiful decorative rice paper in art stores, check your yellow pages or go to the local collage and check out their art store on campus.  Apply the rice paper with double sided tape around the perimeter of the precut paper and fit it onto the clean window glass.  This is particularly nice in tall windows that are hard to reach, but you need protection from the sun.