KITCHEN: The kitchen is still considered the heart of the home. Potential home buyers make a beeline for this room when they first view a home for sale, so make sure your kitchen looks clean and reasonably updated.

For a few hundred dollars, you can replace the kitchen faucet set, add new cabinet door handles and update old lighting fixtures with brighter, more energy-efficient ones.

If you’ve got a slightly larger budget, you can give the cabinets themselves a makeover. “Rather than spring for a whole new cabinet system, which can be expensive, look into hiring a refacing company,” says serial remodeler Gwen Moran, co-author of “Build Your Own Home on a Shoestring.”

“Many companies can remove cabinet doors and drawers, refinish the cabinet boxes, then add brand-new doors and drawers. With a fresh coat of paint over the whole set, your cabinets will look like new.”

If you’re handy, you can order your own replacement cabinet doors and door fronts from retailers like Lowe’s Home Improvement or The Home Depot and install them yourself.

BATHROOM: Next to the kitchen, bathrooms are often the most important rooms to update. They, too, can be improved without a lot of cash. “Even simple things like a new toilet seat and a pedestal sink are pretty easy for homeowners to install, and they make a big difference in the look of the bath,” says Moran.

Replacing an old, discolored bathroom floor with easy-to-apply vinyl tiles or a small piece of sheet vinyl. “You may not even need to take up the old floor. You can install the new floor right over the old one,” she says.

If your tub and shower are looking dingy, consider re-grouting the tile and replacing any chipped tiles. A more complete cover-up is a prefabricated tub and shower surround. These one-piece units may require professional installation but can still be cheaper than paying to re-tile walls and refinish a worn tub.

STORAGE: Old houses, particularly, are notorious for their lack of closet space. If you have cramped storage areas, Realtor Moe Viessi of Miami suggests adding do-it-yourself wire and laminate closet systems to bedrooms, pantries and entry closets.

Firms like ClosetMaid allow you to measure and redesign your closets online. You can also get design details and parts for these systems at many large home-improvement stores. Most closets can be updated in a weekend or less.

In the end, your closets will be more functional while you’re living in the house and will make your home look more customized to potential buyers when you’re ready to sell.

CURB APPEAL: Although it sounds obvious, a nicely mowed lawn, a few well-placed shrubs and a swept walkway makes a great first impression. “What buyers see when they first drive by your home is tremendously important,” says Viessi.

If you don’t have a green thumb, consider hiring a landscaper to install some new sod, plant a few evergreen shrubs and give your front yard a good cleanup. “These kinds of changes can instantly change people’s perception of your home and, therefore, increase its value,” says Viessi. And hey, your neighbors will love you for it, too.

Where: MotoCorsa @ 2170 NW Wilson
When:  Saturday, July 16th @ 10am – 6pm

Another way that Portland keeps it weird is by the local obsession of birds that recently got national attention when the televsion show, Portlandia coined the phrase, “Put a bird on it”.  The satire pokes fun at the city’s DIY craft boom when characters Lisa & Bryce joke that if you just put a bird on it, you can call it art.  Honestly, you can find the motif on purses, shirts, jewelry, etc, in most boutiques around town so, to me, it’s funny because it’s true.  But what do you expect from a town that is surrounded by trees and nature?  Even the culinary world has poked fun back by putting an egg on entrees.  Many menus now feature creations that feature a fried or poached egg atop a savory dish.  Which came first…the bird or the egg or Portland itself?  Hard to say.

Crystal Marie of Working in the Light, can be reached at  crystalmarie.e at gmail.com for a professional consultation.

Is your house haunted??