5 ways to upgrade your home without blowing your budget

Everyone wants to turn their house into their dream home, but that's often easier said than done. Renovating your home is a big financial decision. Sometimes, thinking small packs the biggest financial punch. Here are five projects that won't break the bank:

Liven up the landscape

Landscaping creates curb appeal in spades, and also helps prevent expensive potential damage, like fallen tree limbs and mold. Think of it as a safety net mixed with some green marketing that can increase your house's value by up to 5 percent. Average cost: You can put in some attractive curbing for a little more than $1,000, or invest in the a front-lawn package for about $3,400

Revive the driveway

Assessing your driveway nets you a double benefit. One, it's a utilitarian feature that just about everyone needs to protect that other big investment — the car. Two, a cracked driveway tanks your curb appeal, and can even make way for unsightly weeds. Average cost: To repair a driveway, you're looking at $1,500, or a little more than $3,800 for a new one.

Freshen up your exterior paint

You just can't beat the cost effectiveness of exterior paint. Plus, it has a leg up on the limited color and texture options of siding — if you can imagine a paint color, it exists. Average cost: Heartier exterior paints exceed the cost of interior options, but not by much — the national average cost to paint a house is a little more than $2,500, though you should account for about $1,500 more if you have a two-story.

Whether you are playing catch out front or just cruising by, it's pretty hard to miss a roof. That could be why the National Association of Realtors named replacing a home's roof as the home renovation with the single greatest cost recovery in 2015 — this project usually recoups about 105 percent of its price tag. Average cost: About $7,600.

Gear up the garage

The garage door probably isn't the go-to improvement when you think about increasing your curb appeal. But replacing the often-neglected garage door can net you a nearly 93 percent return on investment, on average. Average cost: This upgrade usually only runs about $730 to $1,400.