What if the house isn’t perfect?

No matter what your budget is and how long you look, finding the perfect home is an extreme long shot. The wall colors will be wrong, the kitchen will have a bad layout, or the wallpaper will remind you of your grandmother’s bedroom. Making changes is part of the ownership experience, but be careful of renovation projects. Poor planning can cost you dearly. Here’s how to figure out what’s easily remedied and what should make you consider other choices.

DECORATING

The quickest way to change the look of a room is to apply a fresh coat of paint. Make sure to remove old wallpaper and clean surfaces thoroughly before painting. Most hardware stores sell chemicals to help remove wallpaper, and some can rent out steamers to make the job go even faster.

If you’re painting a light color over a dark one (or putting any new paint over a glossy surface) apply a layer of primer first.

“They’ve made it so easy, just about anyone can paint these days,” said Lucius Talley, owner of JJT Construction in Cleveland Heights.

KITCHEN OVERHAUL

You want the stove on a different wall? You want the dishwasher farther from the sink? You want to move the refrigerator? Then get ready to spend more money. Moving appliances means hiring an electrician and possibly a plumber to move outlets and drains.

Once you’ve started, complying with building codes will mean adding more outlets to older homes, wiring new circuits to breaker boxes and making other electrical upgrades. Friar Home Improvement owner Mike Midagliotti said if you’re just looking for a fresh look, you can replace counters and reface cabinets for a lot less. “Anything else is going to require major remodeling,” Midagliotti said.

RENOVATION

If you decide to make a major renovation, you can cut labor costs by doing some of the less skilled work yourself. Removing old carpeting, for example, can be dirty work, but you’re not likely to do any serious damage to your home.

“Save yourselves the labor costs on that. All you need is a utility knife,” Talley said.

REPAIRS

Keep it simple. Most homeowners can perform simple plumbing functions such as changing faucets or even replacing sinks, as long as the house has a few systems in place.

Look under the sink for shutoff valves. If there are no valves, replacing fixtures means shutting off water to the entire house and can add to the time and cost of finishing the job.

Replacing the fixtures on a shower or bathtub, on the other hand, is a job that is almost always harder than it looks, contractors said. Getting access to the plumbing is a challenge, and fixtures are more likely to be soldered into place than screwed.

“We’ve gotten a lot of calls in the middle of projects from people who got in over their heads,” Madagliotti said.