3 money-saving DIY bathroom upgrades

Your bathroom is a multi-purpose zone: guests use it; your family gets ready there every morning; you want to relax in the tub there at night; and that's not even mentioning needing somewhere to hang up all those towels to dry.

Although bathrooms are one of the smaller spaces in your home, the amount of plumbing and electrical work in there makes DIY renovations complicated. However, there are several improvements that don't require the help of a professional.

Whether you're updating your bathroom for functionality or attractiveness, here are a few projects you can tackle yourself that will help make a difference:

Reupholster furniture

Depending on the amount of space you have in your bathroom you may have furniture as big as a chaise lounge where you can sit while waiting for the tub to fill up or as small as a chair where you stack towels or other essentials. If you want to give your bathroom an updated look, reupholstering a statement piece of furniture in a bold pattern or bright color is the way to do it - and it won't cost anything more than the price of materials.

You can easily find videos and other resources online if you've never completed a project like this before. Upholstering your own furniture gives your bathroom a customized look and lets you style to your own taste.

Add a fresh coat of paint

A little bit of paint can go a long way. There's no need to pay hundreds of dollars for professional painters when you can do it for around $50. If you're touching up your bathroom, don't waste leftover paint; see if you can use it to update other rooms.

If you really want to save some money, focus on updating just the trim in a nice, crisp white. A gallon of white paint is inexpensive, and it can be used to touch up the baseboards and crown molding throughout the whole house.

Exchange your light switch for a dimmer

Not every activity in the bathroom requires bright light. Installing dimmer switches and using energy-efficient bulbs (such as halogens) helps save money all year long. Since you don't need to actually change any of the electrical work behind the walls, you don't need to hire a costly electrician.

All you need to do is purchase the dimmer switch and light bulbs at The Home Depot. It shouldn't cost more than $15-$20 and you'll save at least $20 on electricity per fixture over three years.

These easy DIY bathroom improvements will help save money and give your space an updated look. The best part is you can do them all within a day.