Here are some great tips from Addicted2Decorating on how to get your bathroom in tip top shape.

Painting is absolutely the cheapest way to transform any room.  For around $25, you can have a brand new look.  And because they’re smaller than other rooms, bathrooms are often a great place to experiment with interesting new wall treatments.  Do you like stripes?  Try them in your bathroom!

Most people overlook the importance of lighting in almost every room of their home.  If you’re still living with an outdated bath bar (often called Hollywood lighting), then you can have a fresh, new update for as little as $30.

Again, paint is the cheapest way to update.  Are your wood cabinets looking tired from years and years of use?  Give them a fresh coat of paint, and they’ll look new!  I recommend a good cleaning, followed by a light sanding, then priming.  Top with a coat or two of an oil-based paint, and you’ve got a brand new look.  And the cost?  About $70.

Hardware is the “jewelry” of your cabinets.  Not having hardware on your cabinets is like putting on a great outfit, but forgetting to accessorize.  Hardware is also a great place to be creative and unique.  You can expect to pay anywhere from $3 to $15 (or more) for each knob or pull.  But it’s well worth it!

Sometimes a new, fresh look is as easy as replacing your worn-out, faded towels with some soft, fluffy new towels.  And as popular as spa-inspired interiors are these days, it’s difficult to go wrong with white!  White also gives your space a fresh, clean look.  You can expect to pay from $5 to $30 per towel, depending on the quality.

When most of us think of purchasing a rug for our bathroom, we generally head to the bathroom department of the local home store.  But why not try something with a little more style?  Instead of a regular bath mat, try introducing a small area rug into your bathroom.  Instant color and style!  And because the rug is generally smaller than one you’d need for a living room, it’s possible to find one for $50 to $100.

I’m really surprised at how many people still use toilet seat covers in their bathrooms.  Toilet seat covers are not only outdated, but they’re incredibly unsanitary.  Remove it and reveal your sparkly clean toilet.  And the cost?  Free!  Simply remove…..AND TOSS!

These are just as bad as the toilet seat covers.  Actually, they’re worse, considering that these catch more….ummmm…stuff, since it’s on the floor.  Eewwww!  Again, just lift, and TOSS!  And again….it’s FREE!!

If you have a plain, plate-glass, builder’s basic mirror, give it a frame!  Simply purchase some moulding from your local home improvement store, cut to fit, paint, and adhere it to your mirror.  Fill in the corners with a bit of wood filler, sand, and touch-up the paint.  If you don’t want to go to the trouble of making a frame yourself, you can always remove the mirror completely, and replace it with a purchased, framed mirror.  Either way, the impact will be tremendous.  This can easily be achieved for $50 to $100.

If you have a bathroom that requires a shower curtain, this is NOT the place to make a simply utilitarian choice.  Visually, shower curtains consume a large area of the bathroom, and this is the perfect place to add color and style to your bathroom.  So now’s the time to get rid of your plain, plastic shower curtain, and find one that defines your style!!

Pride of Ownership
It belongs to you! That’s right, renovate, update, paint, and decorate to your heart’s desire and you don’t need to ask permission or waste money improving something that you do not own. Your home is your own so plant trees, install a pool, put up a fence, expand the patio, redo the basement or do anything you want. Owning something feels good.

Equity
Homeownership is about building long-term wealth. It may seem that buying a home has a lot of upfront costs but historically homes appreciate by about 4 to 6 percent a year. When you purchase a home, you build equity with each payment. Equity is the difference between what the home is worth and what is owed. Equity can be used to build wealth, save for retirement and even to secure a loan. For example, an $800/month rent payment equals out to be $48,000 over five years with no financial gain to you.

Tax Benefits
Homeownership has huge tax benefits. In the early years of a loan, mortgage interest is the largest part of your mortgage payment. Mortgage interest is fully deductible on your tax return. For example, a homeowner in a 28% federal tax bracket could lower their borrowing costs by almost a third.

Better Living
Studies have shown that owning a home can actually make you healthier, and is better for your family too. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) report: says “Homeowners accumulate wealth as the investment in their homes grows, enjoy better living conditions, are often more involved in their communities, and have children who tend on average to do better in school and are less likely to become involved with crime. Communities benefit from real estate taxes homeowners pay, and from stable neighborhoods homeowners create”.

The National Association of Realtor’s Social Benefits of Homeownership and Stable Housing reports homeowners experience:

-Higher educational performance and better behavior of children
-Lower community crime rates
-Lessened welfare dependency among households
-More household participation in civic affairs
-Better household health

Bottom line, it’s a great time to buy! Interest rates are at historic lows; homes are more affordable so go ahead and invest in a safer, healthier, better future for you and your family today.

Risks that raise rates
While most people buy home insurance to protect property from damage, liabilities from accidents on your property are often what drive up your insurance rate. “Legal liability can be more costly to home insurers than property damage,” says Loretta Worters, vice president of the Insurance Information Institute. “People sue for millions of dollars for minor injuries. Companies are not going to walk away from the business because you have a dog or pool, but they’ll charge you more.” Unforeseen or overlooked risks can drive up premiums or even lead to a rejection. Here are some of the biggest rate-boosters.

Beware of dog
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 4.7 million people a year are bitten by dogs. More than 50% of dog bites occur on the dog owner’s property, and they account for one-third of all homeowners-insurance liability claims. Consequently, some insurers don’t like aggressive breeds of dogs and may reject clients or charge more if they own pit bulls and Rottweilers. Others will insist on policies that exclude dog-bite coverage. If your dog has a history of violence, expect higher premiums. One potential way to reduce rates: Get Rex some obedience training.

Guarding the pool
Drowning is the leading cause of fatal injury for children ages 1 to 4. Insurers will cover homes with pools, but often at higher rates and with limited liability on their end. They will want to make sure the pool complies with local regulations and safety standards. “We require fences for homeowners with pools,” says Holly Anderson, a State Farm spokeswoman. The CDC estimates that more than half of drowning deaths involving young children could have been prevented by fencing that securely separates the pool from the house and yard. Homeowners can be liable for injuries that occur to strangers who use their pool without their permission.

Trampolines
Trampolines cause more than 100,000 emergency-room visits a year, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Because the devices have become such a headache, insurers sometimes refuse to cover properties that have them or place specific “trampoline exclusion clauses” in policies to address liability. To get coverage for that liability, you will pay more. The insurer may require you to take safety measures such as covering trampoline springs with padding and placing the trampoline at a distance from trees and buildings.

Treehouses
According to the National Safety Council, falls account for 26% of all accidental injuries and deaths in the home. Every day, approximately 8,000 children are treated in U.S. emergency rooms for fall-related injuries; that totals nearly 2.8 million children each year. Treehouses can be primary culprits because of their height. Some insurers have treehouse exclusion clauses or reject applicants if they consider a treehouse too high or poorly maintained. Expect to pay more to cover one for any liabilities.

Guns
Living in a home that contains guns increases the risk of homicide by more than 40%, according to the New England Journal of Medicine. Insurers will generally cover gun owners, with caveats. Whether you have used a weapon in self-defense, with criminal intent or by accident will obviously play a big role in how much liability an insurer will assume. Insurers want to know that guns are properly secured, have safety locks and are kept out of reach of children. Failure to disclose that you have a firearm could lead to an insurer trying to deny your claims in the event of an accident.

Big-ticket jewelry
“Standard homeowners and renters insurance policies include coverage for personal items such as jewelry and other valuables,” Worters says. “However, many policies limit the dollar amount for the theft of valuable personal possessions such as jewelry, furs and precious stones to $1,000 to $2,000.” That wouldn’t match the cost of most engagement rings today. Covering your most valuable jewelry for theft and loss will increase your home-insurance premiums and require both an appraisal of the property and policy riders detailing both the value and nature of the jewelry you want covered.

Home businesses
The typical homeowners insurance policy covers a maximum of $2,500 for business equipment in the home, according to the Insurance Information Institute. It usually doesn’t cover business-related liability if a customer or supplier is injured on your property. “To cover a home business definitely adds to the premium, due to the increased chance of loss, both from a property and liability point of view,” Anderson says. “In many cases, we recommend such a policy through our business lines, which provides much broader coverage than a basic homeowners policy.” If you don’t notify your insurer of your business’s existence and an accident occurs, chances are you won’t be covered.

Heating fires
More than one-third of Americans use wood-burning stoves, fireplaces and other fuel-fired appliances as primary sources of home heat, according to the U.S. Fire Administration. Heating fires account for 36% of residential home fires in rural areas every year. Before installing a wood stove or fireplace, notify your insurer. Some insurers may require proof of certification indicating that a stove or fireplace was installed properly. Without that, premiums can increase. Stoves must also comply with local building codes. Failure to notify your insurer of the installation could lead to a voided policy should a fire occur.

Sewer backup
The nation’s 500,000-plus miles of sewer lines are, on average, more than 30 years old. The Civil Engineering Research Foundation reports that the number of backed-up sewers is increasing at a rate of about 3% annually. Unfortunately, sewage backups — just like floods — are not covered by standard homeowners insurance policies, although the damage from one can amount to thousands of dollars. Coverage will increase your premiums.

Zip lines
Backyard zip lines — cables suspended in midair for people to slide across — have become increasingly popular and can be purchased for as little as $150. These are not the zip lines you find at resorts, but smaller ones that typically run from 100 feet to 400 feet. Injuries from one can be life-threatening if it has been strung high enough from the ground. As with treehouses, insurers look askance at zip lines because of the risk that someone will be injured; they want you to disclose if you have one and may then exclude it from your policy.

Exotic pets
According to the Captive Wild Animal Protection Coalition, more than 10,000 big cats, 8.8 million reptiles and 3,000 apes are in private hands in the U.S. Whether you have a chimp in your garage or a fondness for tarantulas, chances are that your insurer will want nothing to do with it. Expect exclusions that don’t cover the creature in the house and a separate policy to cover potential liabilities. You may be able to buy a separate exotic-pet insurance policy.

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