How to Refresh Your Home On a Budget

New year, new start! If you feel your home is in need of a bit of TLC after the winter festivities, or simply fancy changing things up, now is a great time to be making home improvements. Best of all, you don’t need to break the bank to make a real difference to your décor! Here are our top tips for refreshing your home on a budget.

Assess Your Accessories

First things first: before adding anything new to your home, start with what you already have. Put all moveable accessories – from throw pillows and rugs to lamps – in a pile in one room, and then group them by theme or colour scheme. Disseminate them throughout the house according to your chosen look for each room (it might be that you put brighter accessories or pops of colour into a room with less natural light, for example). You’ll be amazed at the difference artfully collating your existing accessories can make, or how moving things around can transform a room.

Update Fixtures and Hardware

Did you know it’s possible to create a whole new look in your kitchen – just by changing a few items? Switching out or repainting your cupboard doors can be very effective; similarly, just changing your worktops makes a big difference. Standalone cabinet doors and worktops are relatively inexpensive and easy to fit, too, depending on the type you opt for.

If that seems like too much work, consider adding new handles to your drawers and doors, and even replacing all the taps in your home (as these items see heavy use, they’re often the first to start looking tired). Don’t forget lighting, either: an eye-catching new light fixture or a decorative lamp can have a huge impact on the aesthetic of the whole room.

Dress Your Windows

The windows are the ‘eyes’ of every room: not only do they open up the space, but they naturally draw the eye. If yours are looking a little tired, give all frames and sills a good clean or a lick of paint, and then dress them appropriately. The opportunities are endless – you could choose flowing curtains, patterned blinds, or even wooden shutters – and you don’t need to spend a lot to finish your windows in style.

Spruce Up Your Walls

We often call a home a place with ‘four walls’, but it’s amazing how often we neglect them. Giving your walls a fresh coat of paint can instantly transform a room, so this is always a good place to start - but why not take it a step further? Hang artwork, put up shelves, or frame some of your favourite photographs and dot these about. Or, for a bold statement, choose a daring colour and create a ‘feature’ wall.

Upcycle

One of the most enjoyable – and inexpensive – ways to spruce up your home is to refresh old items of furniture. Breathe new life into a chipped or shabby wooden dresser or cabinet by sanding it down, painting or varnishing it, and adding new handles and fittings. You could also mix it up by just painting the legs or top surface for a popular country ‘two tone’ look – this works well on chairs and tables, too.

Add Accents

If you’ve grown fatigued with a particular colour scheme or fancy jazzing things up a bit in a certain room, think about adding an accent colour. With just a few choice accessories you can reinvigorate any space. A grey and white living room, for example, could become a sunny masterpiece with the addition of a mustard-coloured rug and a few bright cushions; or, for an elegant look, you could choose this season’s colour, teal, in the form of a new throw or table lamp.

We hope you have fun sprucing up your home – it’s good to give it a treat every now and then! At UnderTheDoormat, we take real pride in giving our homeowners and their properties the five-star treatment. From our complimentary professional photoshoot to our fully-managed service (which includes towel changes and cleaning options), your home will always be presented beautifully and treated with the utmost care. Contact us to learn more.