Cheap Ways To Rejuvenate Your Home

Christmas is almost upon us and we’re all planning on getting the decorations out and dressing up the house for some good old-fashioned Christmas cheer. Whether it is before the decorations go up or after they come down and the house somehow feels bigger many of us feel a little down with the décor and would like to give the house a facelift. The big stumbling block, especially just before and after Christmas, is budget. Here are a few cost effective ways to give your house a makeover without breaking the bank.

Bedroom

Upcycle your bedroom furniture in an afternoon armed with a paint brush and paint. You may find that reaching out on sites like Freegle or Freecycle for left over paint will give you a plethora of colours to choose from. Be brave and go multi-coloured with your drawers and doors. Don’t worry if you have flatpacked furniture with melamine surfaces as you can get specialist paints from most DIY stores.

Hit the charity and thrift shops for cheap soft furnishing and materials you can make into something that will add bursts of colour to your bedroom. If you want to paint the walls a few tins or cheap or free white paint will give you a blank canvas to accessorise with and the minimalistic Scandinavian design is really in right now.

Create a faux headboard by painting Styrofoam tiles or a large rectangle on the wall behind your bed. It will look striking and will save a few centimetres of floor space – every little counts!

Kids’ Bedroom

Play rugs are a cheap way to lift a child’s bedroom as is fun art. Speak to your local cinema about their old movie posters (you can use these in any room) and pick up a cheap frame from Wilko or make your own from reclaimed pallet wood if you’re handy with a saw.

 Space to play is the best way to revitalise your child’s bedroom and you can do that in a multitude of ways. New storage furniture is one option using cashback sites to get a better deal, Bedstar have a great range of mattresses and themed beds or if you have children sharing cheap bunk beds are ideal are temporary measures to give them extra floor space, or you could look into repurposing donated furniture at a social enterprise or charity.

 Kitchen

Line shelving units with wallpaper for a new look and don’t forget the trust method of painting cabinets. A new concept to me but one I find works really well is painting your kitchen chairs and table but only the legs. You can do it in different colours if you’re feeling brave. It really does breathe new life into old furniture and completely transforms the kitchen/dining room.

Coloured blinds or an acrylic splashback are simple yet cheap ways to brighten up your cooking space. The splashback is easy to clean and you get as much choice as you do with tiles but without the fuss.

Hang plates on the walls. It may seem a tad like something your Grandma would do but if you mismatch the sizes and go for a scattered or orbital design it can look really modern and attractive.

Living Room

Panelled triptych photographs and artwork are really in at the moment but they can be incredibly expensive. Find a really nice print, or even a length of attractive wallpaper and cut it into three panels to frame.

 Stack modular storage units in a stepped design to create a space-saving sidetable for just a few pounds.

 

Make art out of odds and ends be it a selection of buttons with brightly coloured backing paper, odd socks, a glove or mitten that has lost its partner or old coin from long ago holidays.

Organise your book collection with fun invisible book shelves; all you need is some L brackets, screws and wall-plugs.

 Bathroom

Fresh, fluffy, new towels do wonders for an old bathroom. If you don’t want to buy new towels put a few tennis balls in the tumble dryer with some old ones to fluff them up a treat. Have your towels juxtapose with the colours of your walls to really make it pop in there.

Switch your faucets for some new shiny ones, or a statement tap, or for an antique looking one from a reclamation yard if you want a cheaper, more sustainable option.

Add a few smaller mirrors around the room to bounce light and give it an airier feel. Circular mirrors are great, especially if you’re going for a nautical theme. You can take that theme one further by heading to your local beach to collect some free shells to decorate your mirror frames with.

Do you have any tips for rejuvinating your home without blowing the budget?

In collaboration with Jillian Ferguson