Home is where the heart is, and this is never truer than right now, with everyone confined to their houses due to quarantine conditions. It’s becoming more and more apparent that our homes are hugely important, and the impact of having that welcoming home environment is being felt more than ever. So it might be time to consider giving your home a makeover. Time to realize it’s full potential if it’s feeling under pressure and a little tired – plus, it’s the ideal time for any DIY projects. So, if you want to give your home a fresh new look, where do you start?
Take A Look Outside
Often one of the most overlooked areas of our homes is the exterior – and yet it’s the first thing that visitors see and sets the tone for the rest of your home. Luckily, giving outside a bit of a makeover is easy. There can be a lot of accumulated dirt and debris after the winter weather, as well as some overgrown trees and shrubs. Start by cutting back old or dead foliage to allow new growth. Use a professional Renew Crew to come and powerwash bricks, patio areas or decking to make them look as good as new again. Check your home carefully for any weather damage to the roof or guttering – small repairs are easy to make, but if they go unresolved can worsen into issues that are far costlier to fix. You can create a big impact by simply repainting doors and window sills to make them look smart and well-cared for, and adding trellising to hide any less-than-perfect features. Add a few planters to the front of your home with colorful blooms and you’ll soon have a really welcoming looking entrance.
Change Up Your Window Treatments
Tired old curtains and blinds instantly let the look of a room down, but they are straightforward to change. You can even use your window treatments to visually alter the room – for example, hanging drapes quite high above the window with a longer length that allows fabric to pool around the bottom makes ceilings look higher and room proportions more luxurious. But that isn’t your only option. Roman blinds can look really elegant and are easy to maintain, or wooden plantation shutters are gaining popularity for their simple elegance and ability to let light in while maintaining privacy if you are at all overlooked.
Give Your Kitchen A Makeover
Designing and installing a whole new kitchen is expensive and fairly major work, so if that’s not for you right now, but you still want a fresh new look, there are things you can do. Repaint your kitchen cabinets in a fresh new shade, and buy new handles to give them a makeover and a more modern style. You could also look into painting your kitchen tiles and restoring your kitchen work surfaces to make the room look much more up-to-date. If you want to redesign your kitchen to look more elegant and stylish, include metallic pieces and declutter the place for a more spacious look. Save big time on ornaments by making a DIY project out of them. You can use a center drill, spotting drill, and a toolroom-sized lathe to create decorative materials, such as chic metal poles, custom light fixtures, and revamped table legs. This will certainly take this essential area of your house to a whole new level. We spend a lot of time in our kitchens, so it’s always worthwhile to spend a little time making them look great.
Switch Up Your Flooring
If you have some tired carpets that have seen better days, you can lift a whole room by changing the floor covering. Restoring and polishing original floorboards can look very elegant, and you can soften the effect by adding patterned rugs to give colour and texture to a space. If you have tiled areas, you can repair chipped tiles to give a more even, uniform look.
Consider Your Lighting Scheme
Lighting is a hugely powerful element in any room and can go a long way to changing both the functionality and the ambiance, so it’s worth considering how different lighting could help you achieve what you’re after. Adding a statement pendant light can help to define different areas within a larger open plan space and give character. Cozy lamps add interest to a decorating scheme and can help to create a calmer feel to your home. Adding LED strip lights is a modern way to give a space that little extra something – you can run them under skirtings, kitchen cabinets, or even the edge of stairs, and many even allow you to change the color for a fun touch. Uplighters or downlighters can also help to highlight features you’re proud of, such as architectural details or even a favorite piece of art.
Add A Gallery Wall
If your home is in need of a whole new look, or simply lacks design appeal or personality, a gallery wall is a simple way of adding it in. You can include artwork, family photographs, postcards you’ve collected on your travels, or a mix of all of them. The trick to making it work is to choose one element that stays the same – this could be the size of the frames or the color of them. This unifying element helps to make your gallery look intentional and pulled together. Gallery walls make a brilliant talking point and are a way to personalize your space and show off your personality, plus they can be gradually updated overtime to keep things looking fresh. You could even use box frames to include some 3d objects with personal meanings in your collection.
Include Some Greenery
Planting schemes in the home really bring a great touch, plus houseplants act as natural air purifiers as well, filtering out pollutants. If you aren’t great at tending to them, try succulents or air plants which don’t need watering often. Grouping them together in a terrarium looks great, or if you choose larger plants such as a monstera then it’s fun to choose colorful planters and containers to add another extra dimension as well. Greenery is a great way to provide a connection with nature in the home, and it always looks brilliant. Even just adding a simple herb planter in the kitchen is a great project, or you could go maximalist and install a living wall in a garden room. Adding texture and a natural element is a great way to give your home a new look.