You don’t need to invest in a full redesign to enjoy a truly beautiful home. Walls don’t need to be knocked out, kitchens don’t need to be remodeled, and you don’t need to spend thousands upon thousands in the effort. Some creativity, free afternoons, and DIY attitude are all you need to revamp your home completely.
First, The Big Spring Clean
You need to prep your home for any changes before you get carried away with changes. Not only will this help you visualize what changes you want to invest in better, but it’s also the first step for a lot of different projects.
Not only should you go through and do a general spring clean, but you should also work to fix issues you come across. Fill in cracks and chips, clean grout, clear out that stain, and so on.
For a bonus benefit, also aim to clear out any clutter so that you have more space to enjoy your home.
Improve the Framework of Your Home
The framework refers to the walls, floors, and any component of your home firmly attached to the frame. Updating the design of these areas will provide the biggest overall impact in your home.
Painting
Repainting is always going to provide a significant change to your home. Don’t be afraid to paint both the inside and the outside of your home – just remember to properly wash and prep your walls beforehand. Dust can cling to interior walls just as dirt can cling to exterior walls. Proper cleaning before painting the base layer, and then the top coat is going to be a crucial step.
You will also want to invest in higher quality paint to endure its longevity. Cheap paint indoors can wear down, especially if you need to wipe something off the walls. Cheap paint on the outside will chip away before you know it.
Character Features
Character features are the best way to update the inside and outside of your home. Changing out the light fixtures, doorknobs, curtains, and all similar items and updating them will breathe new life into your home. They can also be done on a budget and entirely by yourself, as they are not complicated updates to make.
Don’t be afraid to be bold, either. Paint your window trims or door a bright color to really feel the difference in your home. Or perhaps invest in a new door entirely to really elevate the design of your property.
Decorating
The best way to decorate the exterior of a home is with nature, but you don’t need to invest in a costly landscaping project to have a stunning property – just patience. Keep your “design” simple to start with and keep adding new plants every year in the spring. You’ll grow your garden organically, meaning it will look stunning, unique, and perfectly suited to your property.
How to Breathe New Life Into Your Furniture
There are so many great ways to completely transform your existing furniture into stunning cult pieces that will turn your home from drab to fab. You don’t need to invest in expensive furniture when you have perfectly good, solid furniture at home.
Plan and Visualize
The most daunting part about changing furniture is ensuring that you have the right vision. You need to be completely comfortable and confident in the chances that you want to make. Use digital tools, create scrapbooks of ideas, and even look up tutorials or take a workshop so that you feel completely sure of your ability to transform your furniture.
Put twice the effort into your planning and trialing phase, so that you can easily and quickly fix and update your furniture.
Fix and Improve Areas of Issue
Before you get too carried away, however, you will want to focus first on areas of issue. Table legs or sofa legs, for example, are in the prime position to be kicked, bumped into, chipped, and generally absorb damage over time. A good way to elevate your furniture’s design while also fixing these issues is by replacing them entirely.
Tie a room together by using the same family of furniture legs for your whole living room set, for example, and you can make a mix-mash of pieces look like you bought it all at once from a catalog. Replace any old or beat up furniture legs, and you have a brand new looking table for a fraction of the cost.
There are so many ways that you can fix and improve areas of issue so that your furniture has some compelling character and beautiful design elements to draw the eye and make your home look lavish.
Adding Character Details
Character features are the decorative elements designed to draw your eye. Typically they are seen as icing on the cake for your home, but the part that many people tend to forget is that furniture can also include character pieces that truly elevate its design.
Some updates can be so simple you can do it yourself. You can replace knobs and handles on your cupboards and drawers for an instant update, or you can get more creative with painting and reupholstering.
With a New Coat of Paint
Thankfully you don’t need a lot of skill to repaint furniture, just the right materials and an afternoon. Do be sure of the color you choose, however, and always be aware that you can sand down and stain wood furniture for an updated, lavish look. Consider stencils to add decorative elements, color blocking to make a piece pop, and other fun tips and tricks you can easily find online.
Reupholstering
Reupholstering your furniture is definitely something that gives many people pause, but the reality is it is easier than you think. There are tutorials online to help you revamp your pieces, services you can invest in for bigger projects (like a whole couch instead of just a seat cushion), and of course, you can hack it.
There are very simple couch covers and chair covers that you can simply place right on top of your furniture to give them a whole new look and design.
Improve Cushioning
Even if you don’t feel handy enough to tackle a reupholstering project, you can absolutely fix any sagging pillows. So long as the pillow has a zipper and you can take out the stuffing, you can easily fix any sagging pillows with just a few materials you can order online or pick up from your local craft store.
For Backrest Cushions
Simply take out the stuffing and remove anything that isn’t the foam of the couch cushion itself. You can either buy loose polyester fiberfill, or what is known as quilt batting. The one you use will depend on what your couch cushions are made up of.
If the stuffing is loose and can be pulled out as fluff, then simply adding more fiberfill into the pillow until it is the right shape is all you need to do.
If your cushions or pillow have a foam structure, then you will want to use the quilt batting. Take out the foam and wrap it in the quilt batting. To make sure it is secure, you can use a spray on adhesive. This quilt batting provides additional strength and structure to the foam, allowing you to easily enjoy a sharp looking cushion in just a few minutes.
For Seat Cushions
If the bottom of your couch where you sit is sagging, then fixing the filling isn’t going to help. Instead, you will want to invest in sofa savers, which are essentially an accordion sheet you can fold out to the bottom of your couch to provide additional support for your sofa’s frame. You can also use a piece of plywood, or work to fix the frame issues so that your couch is back in great condition.
BONUS Tips to Decorate on a Budget
Make Your Own
With the current trends being what they are, you can easily make your own great statement pieces. Modern art is very fun to create and very simple (and quick) to do. You won’t be able to sell it for any real value, but you can add great pieces to your home with ease.
Buy Second-Hand
There are so many great vintage markets, flea markets, and sellers online selling their beautiful pieces online for a fraction of the price.
Put a Limit on Yourself
If you do want to buy a full-price piece, limit yourself. Only buy one new thing a year, or once every quarter. This isn’t so much to help your budget but to help you really choose the best pieces for your home that will elevate your space, rather than clutter it.
Be Patient with Your Process
One of the benefits of hiring a team to redo your home is that there are multiple hands-on deck, knowing what they are doing. Your project gets done fast and efficiently. When improving your home on your own you need to be patient. You are not doing this as a full-time job and will have other responsibilities to contend with. Simply build up your vision, and make it routine to set aside some time every day or once a week to work on a project.
So long as you stay steady, you will be able to create a stunning, beautiful home.