9 Cheap Upgrades That Will Make a House Look Like It Cost Twice as Much (The Japanese Way)

🔗 Save Thousands on Repairs, Replacements and Power Bills — My Complete Home-Saving Method: https://nakamurasecrets.com Nine cheap upgrades borrowed from Japanese homes can make a house look like it cost twice as much, and most of them cost under $50. The ninth doesn't cost a dollar: one line at the height of your door tops, the same line that wraps a traditional Japanese room. I'm Richard Nakamura. I fixed appliances for thirty years. The ideas come from Japanese homes and the dictionaries of Japanese architecture; the prices come from Angi, the National Association of Realtors and ENERGY STAR. The 9 upgrades: 1. The entry (genkan): two mats, a closed shoe cabinet (about $50) and one hook per person, instead of $500 to $1,250 in built-in lockers 2. Take a third of it out (ma): three or fewer things on every surface and one piece of furniture out of the room. Free 3. Soften the window (shoji): white cotton panels that dim daylight (about $60 a pair), hung high, wide and to the floor, instead of about $1,000 a window 4. Light the room through paper, low and warm: 2700K bulbs, three lamps and a paper shade (about $30 with a plug-in cord set) instead of $100 to $300 per recessed light 5. A noren over an open doorway (about $40, plus a $4 tension rod) instead of a new door at about $800 6. One kind of box (oshiire): matching baskets instead of built-in shelves at about $3,000 7. One spot for one thing (tokonoma), changed with the seasons. Free 8. Borrow the view (shakkei) you see from your favorite chair 9. The line at the top of your doors. Free, and it ties the other eight together Paper shades: LED bulbs only, and stay under the wattage printed on the shade. Looking twice as expensive isn't selling for twice as much: in NAR's 2025 survey, 29% of agents saw staging add 1% to 10% to the offer. 🔗 Save Thousands on Repairs, Replacements and Power Bills — My Complete Home-Saving Method: https://nakamurasecrets.com SOURCES • Kids Web Japan (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan), the genkan — https://web-japan.org/kidsweb/explore/housing/q1.html • Japan House Los Angeles, the concept of ma — https://www.japanhousela.com/articles/a-perspective-on-the-japanese-concept-of-ma/ • Smithsonian, "MA: Space/Time in Japan," Cooper-Hewitt, 1979 — https://www.si.edu/exhibitions/ma-spacetime-japan:event-exhib-5197 • Encyclopaedia Britannica, shoji — https://www.britannica.com/technology/shoji • The Noguchi Museum, the history of Akari — https://www.noguchi.org/isamu-noguchi/digital-features/the-history-of-akari-light-sculptures/ • Aozora Bunko, Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows (Japanese text) — https://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/001383/card56642.html • JAANUS, noren — https://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/n/noren.htm • Kotobank, noren inside homes (Japanese) — https://kotobank.jp/word/%E6%9A%96%E7%B0%BE-22945 • Kids Web Japan, futons and the oshiire — https://web-japan.org/kidsweb/explore/housing/q7.html • Encyclopaedia Britannica, tokonoma — https://www.britannica.com/art/tokonoma • nippon.com, the tokonoma through the seasons — https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/g02582/ • Kids Web Japan, ikebana — https://web-japan.org/kidsweb/explore/culture/q4.html • JAANUS, shakkei — https://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/s/shakkei.htm • JAANUS, kamoi — https://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/k/kamoi.htm • JAANUS, nageshi — https://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/n/nageshi.htm • NAR, 2025 Profile of Home Staging — https://www.nar.realtor/research-and-statistics/research-reports/profile-of-home-staging • ENERGY STAR, light bulb purchasing guide — https://www.energystar.gov/sites/default/files/asset/document/Light%20Bulb%20Purchasing%20Guide_16Mar2020.pdf • U.S. Fire Administration, electrical fire safety — https://www.usfa.fema.gov/prevention/home-fires/prevent-fires/appliance-and-electrical/ • Angi, interior designer cost — https://www.angi.com/articles/how-much-does-it-cost-hire-interior-designer.htm • Angi, mudroom cost — https://www.angi.com/articles/mudroom-addition-cost.htm • Angi, window treatment cost — https://www.angi.com/articles/what-do-window-treatments-cost.htm • Angi, recessed lighting cost — https://www.angi.com/articles/how-much-does-it-cost-install-recessed-lighting.htm • Angi, interior door cost — https://www.angi.com/articles/how-much-does-it-cost-install-interior-door.htm • Angi, built-in bookshelves cost — https://www.angi.com/articles/how-much-do-built-bookshelves-cost.htm • Angi, landscape designer cost — https://www.angi.com/articles/how-much-does-hiring-landscape-designer-cost.htm #japanesehome #homedecor #homeimprovement #japandi #homeownertips #budgetdecor