The time is not always right to embark on a large home improvement project, but you can still find small ways to make your home lighter, brighter and better! These decorating tricks and tips are perfect for an instant refresh – and there’s something to suit every room, every style and every skill level.
1. DRAW A LINE We all have leftover paint from past DIY projects, or old tester pots stashed away. Consider using them to add bursts of colour to small but prominent features, such as cornicing or a dado rail. In this living room (above), bold blocks of colour –‘Eucalyptus Leaf’, ‘Rose Quartz’, ‘Rose Petal’ and ‘Blue Spa’ by Benjamin Moore – have been used to add personality to a period detail.
2. CREATE EXTRA HEIGHT in any room by contrasting white walls with a matt black ceiling. Farrow & Ball’s ‘Black Blue’, ‘OffBlack’ and ‘Pitch Black’ Estate Emulsions (£39.50 for 2.5 litres) are ideal hues.
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3. TURN MIRRORS INTO ARTWORK by clustering a mixture of designs. This is especially effective in rooms that require extra sunlight. Try Ebay for affordable vintage mirrors or Not On The High Street for a wide selection of decorative ones.
4. PIMP YOUR IKEA Every good home has something from the Swedish furniture giant IKEA, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t put your own stamp on it. Take this simple ‘Bestå’ storage cabinet (above, from £25 for a double unit). The white lacquer modular unit has been topped with waxed timber planks to give it a rustic feel. Head to Travis Perkins, where you’ll be able to pick up wooden planks for around £15.
5. MAKE A FEATURE OUT OF A TRADITIONAL PICTURE RAIL Prop a collection of photographs and postcards on top of it (above), but keep the wall and rail all one colour (here both are painted with Farrow & Ball’s ‘Salon Drab’ Estate Emulsion, £39.50 for 2.5litres). The block colour lets your memories provide the interest.
6. SUPERSIZE YOUR PLANTING From cleaning the air by absorbing harmful gases to boosting our wellbeing, the benefits of being surrounded by plants are well known, but why not think beyond the humble pot plant and get a big tree instead? Bamboo, olive trees and the classic fiddle-leaf fig are all low-maintenance options that create a serious statement.
7. BRIGHTEN INTERIOR DOORS. Paint yours a vibrant colour to contrast with a neutral room. Sunshine yellow will work wonderfully well in a grey space (‘Trumpet’ matt emulsion, £45for 2.5 litres, Little Greene) and china blue looks fresh against white walls (‘Sainte Chapelle’ matt emulsion, £39 for 2.5 litres, Designers Guild).
8. DYE YOUR SHEETS. It’s a marvellous way to give tired bedlinen a new lease of life, and your bed a moody makeover. Try ‘Jeans Blue’ by Dylon (‘Wash & Dye’ machine dye, £5.89). Remember to add salt to the wash if it’s not included in the packet, and always run an empty hot wash afterwards to ensure that all of the dye has been removed. And, if you want to change the colour of something that has a pretty strong hue already, use Dylon’s Pre-Dye (£6.25) to strip it back to white. It’s so easy!
9. VIEW THINGS DIFFERENTLY Whatever the weather, inject a dose of sunshine into your living room by transforming a window with a tinted film. Easy to apply – and remove quickly whenever you feel like a change – this modern alternative to stained glass is an easy way to brighten up a bland vista. And, if yellow isn’t your thing, simply try another hue (rose-tinted, perhaps?).
10. CONSIDER VINYL MATS as a quicker, cheaper alternative to floor tiles. Check out Israeli brand Beija Flor’s range. They’re easily installed (simply warm them next to a heat source before adhering to the floor and leaving to cool) and create a well-defined zone in a kitchen, bathroom or entrance. (from £69, SCP).
11. ADD PATTERN TO YOUR CUPBOARDS. Vintage wallpaper is perfect for lining the backs of shelving units. It’s a great way to achieve an unexpected hit of jolly pattern – like having a hidden lining inside a sober suit (from £25 for a 10-metre roll, EW Moore & Son).
12. HANG A RUG ON YOUR WALL. In Scandinavia, long-pile wool rugs in colourful patterns, known as rya, are traditionally transferred from floor to wall in the summer months, hung from wooden rods. Pick a design that’s not too heavy – try Etsy. West Elm sells great ready-made tapestries, too.
13. UPDATE UPHOLSTERY If a much-loved piece of furniture looks tired, treat it to a new look by having it re-upholstered in a luxurious fabric, such as this uplifting print by Mind The Gap (above). Take the DIY staple-gun route if it’s a simple job such as recovering a footstool, or call on the professionals for more complex projects. Try Micaela Sharp, Ray Clarke, Hossack & Grey or Sit Collective.
14. CREATE A GRAND ENTRANCE. First impressions count, so as well as a lick of paint, invest in a splendid new door knocker and letterbox. This is absolutely one of the easiest ways to give your door a whole new look – we like the selection at Antiquedoorknockers.co.uk, where vintage pieces start at around £40.
15. MAKE FLOATY SUMMER CURTAINS. Buy swathes of white muslin and drape over your curtain poles – it’s amazingly cheap, so you can afford to be generous (£2.99 per metre, Calico Laine). Allow for a little puddling on the floor and make sure that the muslin is made from pure cotton so that it drapes beautifully. You don’t even need to hem the edges!
16. SPRUCE UP YOUR FRONT DOOR. It’s the first thing people see as they approach your home and repainting it a new colour as the season changes is quick and simple. Don’t forget to give the wood a light sanding first so that the new paint will key, and seal any cracks with wood-filler; a smooth finish is all in the prep-work. Try cheering colours, such as yellow and green, in winter, and softer neutrals and powdery shades as the weather heats up.
17. REFRAME YOUR APPROACH Even if you love your art collection, displays can become tired over time. One way to rekindle your creativity is to have pieces reframed, or find a fresh way to rearrange your existing works. For a modern approach, think about highlighting negative space, like artist Adam Spychala (studio-adam.com) has in his Berlin apartment (above). ‘The paintings are organised in an incline,’ he explains. ‘To me, this provides positive energy and gives more life to the art.’
18. TRANSFORM WORN DINING CHAIRS in a flash by stripping and staining old wooden frames. Don’t try to do it yourself, though: instead commission an expert. East London Finishing will charge approximately £50 per chair. Still looking tatty? Reupholster the seat pads with some bold fabric. Ikea’s simple striped ‘Sofia’ cotton is only £6 per metre, and you can do this bit yourself: all you need is a staple gun.
19. GIVE YOUR WALL A SPLIT PERSONALITY. Create the impression of a contemporary dado rail by dividing your walls using colour. Go for a darker shade at the bottom and a lighter shade on top for balance, and then overlay pictures across the divide to add interest. ‘Sloane Square’ (top) and ‘Archway House’ (bottom) marble matt emulsions from Mylands
match these shades (£22 for one litre).
20. GIVE YOUR CEILING A GLOSSY MAKEOVER. Gloss paint will bounce light around the room and looks slick and contemporary. Try the palest of blues to mimic the sky; we like Little Greene’s ‘Echo’Traditional Oil Gloss (£28 for one litre)
21. CHANGE YOUR LIGHTING FLEXES. This isa simple, stylish way to freshen up existing lamps. Colourful flexes are available from Urban Cottage Industries (from £4.20 per metre). Also consider hanging pendant lights at a lower level to give a room a totally different feel –think pools of light over tables rather than people’s heads.
22. CONSIDER COLOURED GLASS. Forget ordinary mirrors and embrace the warm metallics trend by creating a wall display using groups of small copper mirrors, or mirrored tiles. Rockett St George sell a variety of mirrors.
23. MAKE AN IMPACT USING TILES. Rather than breaking the bank tiling a whole wall or floor, use a small number of tiles to create a ‘zone’. Try adding a line of tiles around a bathtub, on an area of floor like a hard rug, or even as a decorative headboard. We recommend Fired Earth’s handmade terracotta tiles from the ‘Marrakech’ collection (from £5.95 each).
24. ADD SOME DECORATIVE TOUCHES. You may not have the luxury of original period features in your home, but that doesn’t mean you need to go without. Try Wickes for a range of pine decorative mouldings (from £3.25 for 2.4 metres). Use them to decorate doors, walls, ceilings and even furniture, as they can be as discreet or obvious as you desire.
25. REPLACE PLASTIC SWITCHES AND SOCKETS. Swapping them for metal versions is a great way to instantly up the sophistication levels of any room. Buster + Punch’s brushed brass toggle switches will add a golden glimmer to your walls (£30 each).
26. FREE UP SPACE ON YOUR BEDSIDE TABLE by hanging a beautiful bulb that has a stylish filament, such as the ‘Elva’ by Heal’s (£35), from a contemporary hook beside your bed – try Hay’s modern ‘Gym Hook’ (£25, Nest).
27. ADD A POCKET OF PRINT Just as bold paint effects can work best when thoughtfully confined to small areas of a room, striking wallpaper – such as this ‘Mortagne’ pattern by Pierre Frey (above) – works well when applied with a focused eye. Placed here on the underside of an internal arch, it frames the view beyond beautifully. Best of all, you only need a relatively small amount of something decadent to make an impact.
28. BUY A ROLL OF ANAGLYPTA. The brand’s ‘Turner Tile’ wallcovering (£10.49 per 10-metre roll; anaglypta.co.uk)will add some touchy-feely texture to a single wall. Then paint it in Farrow & Ball’s hot new colour,‘Peignoir’ (£39.50 for 2.5 litres). It’s the new must-have feature wall!
29. REFLECT LIGHT AROUND YOUR HOME. Buy mirror tiles and create a simple mirror panelled section opposite any door or window to bounce more sunshine into a room.
30. DIP-DYE FABRICS using Dylon’s dye for hand use (from £5). This easy effect is a great instant update for textiles, especially cushions. Add more embellishments after dyeing to transform furnishings even further: try John Lewis for a wide selection of trimmings (from £3.95 for two metres).
31. BREATHE LUXE INTO TIRED FLOORBOARDS with a new coat of varnish. If you’re lucky enough to have real wood floorboards you’ll be amazed at how they can be transformed with a couple of coats. Ronseal ‘Diamond Hard Floor Finish’ dries in 30 minutes and only needs two hours between coats (three coats suggested). We recommend ‘Dark Oak’ or ‘Mahogany’ in a satin finish (£49.99 for a 2.5 litre tub, Homebase).
32. STYLE WITH STENCILS. Pattern is a surefire way to bring some playfulness into your living room, but that doesn’t have to mean wallpaper. With a steady hand and a stylish stencil, you can turn painted walls into works of art. We aren’t talking full artistic murals, though. Take a leaf out of House of Hackney’s book (above) and add a small, thoughtful two-toned border to an otherwise blank canvas of a wall.
33. BESPOKE YOUR HEADBOARD using an oversized canvas – try a made-to-measure one from Harris Moore (from £64.54 per square metre) – and then paint it using a shade slightly darker or lighter than your wall.
34. TRANSFORM YOUR WALLS WITH PLYWOOD. Cover up uneven or patchy walls using this chic, affordable material (try Timb Met for plywood sheets). It can also be used to add colour and geometry – simply cut out a new piece and paint it. It’s easy to remove, too.
35. CREATE INSTANT PRIVACY. Place moveable room dividers in open-plan living spaces, or add ceiling-mounted screens to form a hidden division between zones. Simply slide into place or pull down when you need a little peace and quiet.
