With spring just around the corner, many of us are looking to spruce up our homes a little bit. Being able to open the windows and let some fresh air in always gets me in the mood to get more done at home. With the rising cost of living, I’ll be looking at some ways to refresh your home on a budget.
Give everything a good clean
It might sound really simple, and somewhat obvious but giving everything a good clean really helps to refresh your home. When it’s cold, I don’t feel like doing quite as much as normal and I know I won’t be alone there.
Those harder-to-reach areas, or rooms that take a bit longer to clean, tend to get missed. Now is the time to give these areas a really good clean and tidy. You’ll be much happier once it’s done and it will be like going into a new room.
Paint the walls
Maybe you have had enough of the pattern of your wallpaper, or maybe your walls are looking a bit grubby (easily done if you have children). If this is the case, an easy and cheap option is to give your walls a fresh coat of paint. This can brighten up a tired-looking room and give it a new lease of life. If you choose a silk-based paint you’ll be able to wash off any marks at a later date.
Switch your carpets
No matter what size of the room you have, one thing you tend to notice first is the flooring. Unfortunately, this is also the thing that gets worn down the quickest thanks to it being a high-footfall area.
Changing your carpets doesn’t have to cost loads of money and it can make a massive difference to your room. Be sure to shop around and consider remnants or off-cuts of carpets; you’ll be surprised at what’s available. If the right colour or size isn’t available immediately, take your time and revisit another time.
Manage the project yourself
When you’re working to a budget it’s important to save money where and when you can. Concerning carpets, there are plenty of ways to save money if you manage the project yourself. Online stores are great for sourcing both the carpet and underlay yourself. Although going to a carpet shop is easy and quite convenient, you can save hundreds of pounds by doing some of the work yourself. Once you’ve purchased what you need, you can get a recognised fitter from the National Institute of Carpet & Floorlayers to fit it for you.
A splash of colour
Refreshing a room doesn’t mean having to do something big like change the floors or walls. Instead, you can make a few small changes. This could be anything from a new pair of curtains, new cushions for the sofa or maybe a couple of new pictures to put up. None of these things cost a fortune and they can really help to add a splash of colour to a room. This is also a great way to change a colour scheme of a room, without doing any of the bigger jobs.
Change the bedding
One very easy and relatively cheap thing to change in a bedroom is bedding. The great thing about this is that it’s so easily done, there are lots of choices of affordable bedding. Maybe you have something quite plain at the minute and fancy a change with patterned bedding or vice versa. Bedding comes in all kinds of colours and patterns and buying a few sets won’t break the bank.
Another option is to keep the bedding you already have but add some extras to the bed. Think of additional cushions, brightly coloured throws or blankets. This can really change up the look of a bedroom and it’s incredibly cheap too.
Rearrange the furniture
Bored of how your rooms look? You can completely transform a room by simply having a shuffle around. By rearranging the furniture your room will look completely different and it won’t cost you a penny! You might even find some things you thought were lost, or realise the new layout works much better for you.