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◆REFRESH YOUR HOME FOR
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STRAPPED FOR CASH? HERE THE IDEAL HOME TEAM SHARES WAYS TO MAKE YOUR LIVING SPACE FEEL NEW WITHOUT THE BIG SPEND
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owever much we love browsing our favourite homeware stores and vintage warehouses, we shouldn ’t let easy ideas to redecorate homes for free slip from our minds.
For example, interiors expert Laurence Llewelyn Bowen ’ s ‘furniture therapy ’ involves placing everything in the middle of the room before putting it back in a new way. So take a morning for a furniture reshuffle, some shelf restyling and perhaps using leftover paint to make things feel brand new.
Check out these tried-and-tested thrifty refreshes from the Ideal Home team, and other décor experts, to help you refresh your space for free.
GET CREATIVE WITH FRAMES1
Ideal Home ’ s editor, Heather Young’s favourite budget idea involves framing anything and everything. ‘I like to get creative with what’ s displayed in my home, ’ she says. ‘I save things like cards, giftwrap and wallpaper swatches (even food packets!) so that if I want to change up the art on the walls, I don ’t have to buy new prints. I’ ve even popped a favourite T-shirt my son grew out of in a frame because I loved the design so much. ’ You could also collect flowers and foliage to make into artwork. Frame and display pressed seasonally appropriate blooms to give your home an update every few months.
MOVE ARTWORK AND ACCESSORIES2 ‘Have a swap around with your favourite items, ’ suggests Ideal Home ’ s content editor Holly Walsh. ‘You might be bored of a print on the wall of your living room, so how about hanging it in the bathroom? Or a cushion on your sofa might look better on your bed.
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SOURCE SECOND-HAND FURNITURE FROM FRIENDS AND FAMILY
‘I love scouring Facebook Marketplace and freecycle apps to see if I can pick up furniture or accessories to update my home for free, ’ says Ideal Home ’ s digital deputy editor, Rebecca Knight. ‘But, it’ s also a good idea to spread the word among friends and family if you ’ re looking for a specific item. I needed some new dining room chairs and it just so happened that my mum ’ s friend had a set of four she was throwing out. She let me have them for free.
BROWSE YOUR OWN HOME4
‘To beat clutter, I pack old accessories in a box and stash it in the loft, ’ says Heather. ‘Then when I fancy a new look, I get it down and it’ s like having new things to choose from for free! I love rediscovering accessories and get the thrill of shopping without the price tag. ’ If you ’ re about to pack seasonal clothes away, why not also make a box of homeware to save for a rainy day.
USE LEFTOVER PAINT
5Millions of litres of paint end up in landfill each
Give an old chest of drawers a fresh new look with leover paint
Give furniture, such as a side table or bench, a new purpose
Put your TV in a new spot for a refreshing change
Swap framed artwork around to create a new gallery wall year in the UK alone, so use any leftover paint from previous projects for an eco-friendly, purse-friendly update. Holly suggests painting ‘frames ’ around your artwork on walls. Or use it to give vases or plant pots a fresh new look.
REPOT PLANTS Turn your attention to your
6houseplants and see if any are ready to be repotted. Have you got a spider plant with lots of little plant babies growing off it or a money plant that you could separate out into new pots? Learn to propagate plants and you can quickly expand your collection – handy for last-minute gifts or to refresh your living room shelves. Give plants a trim, dust the leaves and top up the soil to get them looking their best, while promoting healthy growth. spent hydrangea heads upside down to dry out and mix dried foliage to make an oversized dramatic arrangement,’ she says.
‘Try putting chicken wire in an old urn or soup terrine to make arranging the stems easier and more effective.’
REARRANGE THE FURNITURE
8There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to how to arrange living room furniture, so rethink your space imaginatively as you move sofas and armchairs around. ‘I’ m a huge fan of rearranging rooms to give them an all-new effect and to really boost feelings of well-being, ’ says Wayfair ’ s resident style advisor, Nadia McCowan Hill. ‘It might be case of moving your favourite occasional chair from your bedroom to place in front of your living room window or reworking accessories and accents. The simple practice of putting things in a new spot will bring a little excitement to a tired (and at the moment) jaded room scheme. ’
we get“ bored when everything in our home stays in the same place”
DISPLAY DRIED FLOWERS
AS A CENTREPIECE
7Style editor Nicky Phillips has a brilliant tip for faded flowers.
Change the focus of a room by simply repositioning the rugs
DISPLAY PICTURES WITH A FRESH PERSPECTIVE
9It’ s one of those jobs that we ’ ve probably all thought about for ages but just never get around to, but this simple living room idea is oh-so satisfying. Whether you have a picture ledge or a gallery wall of hanging frames, a quick reshuffle of their positions makes all the difference. Plus you can give them all a much-needed dust and clean while you do so. Win, win.
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DIVIDE A ROOM Nadia recommends using furniture to divide your open-plan living and dining room, giving the layout a refresh for free. ‘For an open-plan space with distinct zones, try positioning your dining table at one end of the room, ’ she says. ‘Then create a clearly demarcated living area, by placing your sofa in the centre of the room facing the opposite direction. With a sideboard pushed flush against its back, you will be able to create two areas for living and dining and your sideboard will also provide the perfect spot to style up with lamps, books and accents to create a design-led look. ’
Save faded flowers and display as a centrepiece
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MOVE FURNITURE AWAY FROM WALLS While we ’ re moving furniture, consider how to position it, for a fresh feel. We probably all have sofas and sideboards butted up against the walls and they ’ ve been that way since we moved in. And, yes, sometimes that’ s the only viable option and best use of space – but stylists say that is not always the best idea.
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen recommends bringing your sofa into the middle of your space to transform the feel of the layout, if space allows. He warns that, otherwise, you can end up with a room that has a sense of ‘ agoraphobia ’, with all the furniture backed against the wall.
‘It’s a myth that pushing furniture up against walls makes a room feel bigger, ’ agrees Nadia. ‘In actual fact, your pad will feel far more spacious and pulled together if you move sofas and larger items of furniture slightly away from the walls. ’
Have a declutter of your shelves and rearrange your treasures
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SWAP THE CUSHIONS A simple but effective way to instantly change a room ’ s feel is by mixing in new cushions. Change cushions from room to room. Sure, they aren ’t new but they suddenly become fresh in a different environment. Take the cushions off the bed and put on the sofa for a welcome sense of change.
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RESTYLE YOUR SHELVES A simple practice, but a highly effective one for completely changing the look in any room. ‘Restyling your interior is the easiest way to give your space a new lease of life and the good news is that you don ’t need to splash the cash to create a fresh look, ’ says Nadia.
Clear the shelves, give everything a thorough dust and start to restyle the display. This is a great opportunity to declutter and showcase items in a more organised and curated way.
‘Try stacking books both horizontally and vertically to create a cute vignette, ’ Nadine suggests. ‘Or add a few trailing plants for an organic feel. ’ Her top tip is to be mindful not to over-style. It’ s about striking the perfect balance.
Progagate and repot your houseplants for a fresh display
SWITCH UP YOUR LIGHTING14 Changing the lighting in your main rooms can alter the ambience and also help zone different areas, such as a desk or a reading nook. Use table lamps to give “ a concentrated area of light, moving a bedside light into a home office space for this purpose. Move the floor lamp into an alternative corner, perhaps above an armchair or beanbag, to signify a dedicated quiet corner for reading – a welcome break from watching the TV. RETHINK RUGS Following the same premise as15 with the rugs from room to mini makeover. Or cushions, switch the room for an instant change where you position them within each space. Do you have the rug placed centrally in the living room, because that’ s what you think you should do? Why not lay the
rug off-centre? Turn it vertically rather than horizontally, to change the room ’ s perspective. Even a few inches from where it is now can make a difference. REPOSITION THE TV Create a new focal point for16 the living room by moving t TV. As much as we don ’t like to admit their prominence, he TVs are more often refresh than not the anchor of a living roomyour rooms scheme. (not wall By moving it -mounted,and have a of course) we can completely changedeclutter th of e dominant aspect the living space, inat the an instant. And why not go one better, same time and hide it from sight if possible. 17 REPURPOSE PIECES Give furniture a different purpose, and get creative with the function of every single item in your home. Ikea steps can work as stools, a ” chair can double up as a bedside table to pop a book, and so on. The best thing about all of these simple redecoration tips is that they are free and totally reversible. But we wouldn ’t mind betting that a lot of these changes will stay in place, as you ’ll soon come to love how the little changes can make such a big difference. n
