Tag: redecorating

A room by room makeover for a happier home

A room by room makeover for a happier home

Over the years, your home can go through a lot of general wear and tear, which means that there will always be a small job to do somewhere. Going through a room by room makeover can not only help you to create a happier home, but it can also uplift any tired designs that you’ve outgrown. Whether you’re looking for a whole new interior, or you simply want to make a few small tweaks to all of the most important rooms in your home, there’s so much fun to be had during this process. From colour schemes to accessories, it’s time to get creative and explore a room by room makeover for a thoroughly happier home!

Bathroom bliss

One of the best places to start with regards to a room by room makeover is your bathroom. This is the type of room you use multiple times a day, and it can easily become subject to ongoing wear and tear. Sprucing up the design of your bathroom can help you to feel prouder of the space you have, whether you’re looking into stylish Bathroom Cabinets or you want to change the flooring. Achieving bathroom bliss is much easier than you think, especially when there are so many incredible ideas available on the internet. From a monochrome design to a neutral interior with a pop of colour, there truly is so much you can do with your bathroom.

Living room luxury

Who doesn’t want to feel as though they are living in luxury when they walk into their living room? Feeling relaxed and content in your home is completely possible as long as you are willing to make a few small changes to your living space. Whether you invest in new sofas or seek out some amazing accessories to bring a whole new depth to the space, there are so many different ideas you can explore. Bringing in new soft furnishings is another budget friendly way to change up the décor in your living room.

Classy kitchen

Your kitchen should be a relaxing, practical and enjoyable place to spend time in each evening as you cook dinner. Making changes to your kitchen can be quite disruptive to your household, so you need to consider your timelines carefully. First and foremost, you may want to consider new kitchen cabinets, fresh accessories or new colours on the walls to bring a modern update to your space. Always remember to make practical choices when it comes to any drastic kitchen changes as this will help to make your life much easier when you’re cooking.

Office overhaul

Your office space in your home should feel like a motivating and comfortable space for you to carry out your work. Undergoing an office overhaul doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive. First of all, you could start off by investing in a new desk and chair to make your working day more comfortable on the whole. A corner desk with some practical storage is one of the best options for home offices as it will save you a lot of space in the long run. Choose neutral colours for the walls that feel inspiring such as pastel yellows, mint greens and light peaches; these types of calming tones will help you to feel motivated as you work in your home office.

Hallway hike up

The hallway of your home is the first thing anyone will see as soon as they walk in through the door. Ideally, you want to make a statement by using colours, accessories, rugs and wall art to draw your attention to this beautiful space in your home. Why not create a hallway bench to store your shoes underneath? Or install helpful hooks on the walls for your coats? Deep greens, navy blues and mustards are extremely popular colours for hallways and living spaces at the moment, so this is something you could experiment with when you’re changing up your hallway.

Spare room spruce up

Spare rooms are useful, practical and exciting spaces to have in your home. Not only do you have the freedom to play around with these spaces, but you can also make a choice based on your lifestyle. If you’re lucky enough to have a spare room in your home, then you may want to think about all of the different things you can do with it. Whether you transform it into an artistic space, a meditation room, spare bedroom for guests or even a nursery for an impending little one, there’s so much you can do with this kind of set-up. Once you’ve decided on the purpose of your spare room, you can start making the design changes you want for a complete transformation.

Garden greats

Now is the ideal time to give your garden a little bit of extra tender loving care. Updating your flower beds with fresh blooms, investing in new, eye-catching furniture or even finding a practical garden shed to bring a whole new dimension to your outside space are just some of the ideas with which you could work. Keeping your lawn hydrated and well fed throughout the year is the best way to keep your outdoor spaces looking luscious, green and healthy. You could also add beautiful accessories and ornaments to your backyard to make your space even more unique and appealing.

As you can see, there are so many incredible ideas you can start exploring right away. Giving your home the much-needed makeover it needs will not only bring you peace of mind, but you will also enjoy your space a whole lot more. Whether you’re looking to focus on your bathroom and create a peaceful environment or you want to overhaul your office space, these small but mighty transformations will make a huge difference. Work your way through each room step by step so that the project doesn’t become too time consuming or overwhelming for you. All in all, this process should be a fulfilling and creative one that brings you the maximum amount of happiness in the end!

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Home décor trends that won’t go out of style

Home décor trends that won't go out of style

Everyone likes to feel that they’re being on trend with their interior décor choices. However, it’s often the most ‘in vogue’ looks that are the ones to go out of fashion the quickest. You don’t want to spend tons of money on a gimmicky ‘improvement’ that makes your home look outdated in a couple of years. Below we’ll outline some of the home décor trends that, if followed, are guaranteed to stand the test of time and save you money on house sale costs should you ever want to do so.

Gallery wall of artworks

Wall finishes

The majority of home-owners and decorators can recount woeful tales of attempting to scrape 1960s wood-chip wallpaper off of walls & ceilings. The stuff sticks to surfaces like limpets stick to rocks! We’re not knocking all wallpaper – there are some beautiful and elegant ones from which to choose… but do so carefully. Some motifs are elegant and truly enhance an interior for the long term. Arts & Crafts pioneer William Morris, for example, designed many patterns back in the 19th century that don’t look out of place in the 21st.

People often knock magnolia emulsion paint, but it’s been popular for decades for a reason. It’s the enduring background colour. Paint a room in a neutral colour such as off white and it becomes the perfect foundation on which to build and layer your decoration. A gallery wall of paintings or mirrors or other flat-lay collection of items works best on a plain, vanilla backdrop.

White California louvred shutters on a window

Window dressing

Windows and their decorative treatment have a huge effect on an area. Revamping your tired windows and window dressings will transform and rejuvenate a space – internally and also looking back into the room from the outside. Replace fussy swag & tail curtains with something stylish such as window shutters.

California Shutters provides shutters to suit any type of home and interior décor style. Shutters can be made-to-measure, so will fit awkward shaped and sized windows. They’re available in a variety of top-quality materials such as hardwood or PVC, the latter being perfect for use in bathrooms and other damp environments.

You can choose from a full-service shutter installation or, if you’re a DIY natural, they provide guides and videos to walk home-owners through each step; including measuring windows, the ordering process and tips on installation.

Buttoned leather sofa

Furniture

If you’re in the market to renew your living room suite, stick to classic shapes in neutral tones. For instance, a brown leather chesterfield is timeless and practical. As a bonus, it’s very pet friendly in that it’s easy to clean and a bit of scuffing and marking only adds to its character. If you prefer fabric seats, opt for ones that are removable and machine washable. You won’t go far wrong with a plain, heavy-weight cotton; if you want an injection of bright colour or pattern, accessorise it with a throw and tonal cushions.

Real wood floor

Flooring

Carpet on the bathroom floor – who ever thought that was a good idea? If you want to inject some colour into a scheme, then there are some great options in vinyl and rubber. Real hardwood floorboards is always going to be a winner; hard-wearing, practical and attractive. They can be used in any room in the house, from kitchen to lounge, cloakroom to hallway. If you need it to be warmer of softer underfoot – for instance in a bedroom – simply put down plush mats or area rugs. If you do want to use carpet (but please, not in the bathroom) go for plain rather than patterned. The latter may be much better at concealing dirt and stains, but eventually it will really date a room.

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Planning a bedroom redecoration

Planning a bedroom redecoration | H is for Home

There are plenty of ways that you can introduce fresh life and vibrancy to your bedroom through redecorating. Firstly, you should consider if you’d like a new colour scheme for the room and then, if you do, base your purchases on your preferred palette.

Furniture

One of the most stand-out features of any bedroom is, of course, the bed itself. Whether you want a single, twin, queen or king-size bed, purchasing a new bed frame is a great first step to updating the look of your room.

How about your wardrobes? If you have a free-standing wardrobe, you may wish to replace it with a modern, stylish, fitted wardrobe. This type of wardrobe is built into the wall and leaves you with more space. With a sliding door fitted wardrobe you can optimise space even further as you don’t have to worry about wardrobe doors opening into the room, jutting outwards. For a budget option, a three-door or sliding door fitted wardrobe will cost about £700 between labour and material costs. A high-quality, bespoke three-door fitted wardrobe installation will set you back around £2,300. A sliding door fitted wardrobe from the same brand will come with an instalment fee of approximately £2,600.

Lighting

Adding a dimmer light is a great way to control the mood and brightness of your bedroom. Preferably you want a minimum of three light sources in any given room. Namely, these should be general lighting, preferably an overhead or pendant light, specific lighting such as from a bedside table and ambient lighting, whether it be in the form of decorative lights, candles or fairy lights.

Ideally, you want to make use of warmer, lighter colours such as yellow for when you wind down in the evening. That is because blue or white light can interfere with our ability to sleep. An option worth considering is a colour changing lamp. With this light, you can choose the right look for any time of the day/evening from a wide array of colours.

Walls

Another way of improving the look of a bedroom is by redecorating the walls by wallpapering over them or repainting a completely different colour. If you go with the former option, for a 20 square metre bedroom, a professional will charge about £250 to fit new wallpaper. If performed DIY, expect to pay around £100 for the supply costs. It will cost you about £400 to have a contractor fully paint an average-sized bedroom. However, the material costs will only be around £50.

Flooring

It’s important to also consider your floor coverings during a bedroom redecoration. Carpeting is perhaps the most popular choice of flooring for bedrooms. With a warm, soft feel, they can do their part in creating a homely, snug environment. Carpets can also help to dampen sound and control the temperature of a room. Carpet fitting costs about £250 for a bedroom although the price will vary depending on the size of the room and type of carpet used. Other types of flooring you may consider include laminate, vinyl and timber.

Additional ways to carry out a successful bedroom redecoration include hanging a patterned rug, adding a wall mural, introducing a room divider or fitting a horizontal mirror or painting. Ideally, you want to find ways of giving your bedroom a new lease of life while also redecorating it in a way that suits you and your vision.

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Top tips when painting a room

Top tips when painting a room | H is for Home

Adding a new splash of colour to a room is a fantastic way of improving the design. It also happens to be one of the simplest ideas out there. It won’t cost a fortune, it doesn’t take long, and you can do it all yourself.

If you’re thinking about painting a room and switching up the colour scheme, then here are some pro tips to make the whole experience go smoothly:

Tins of white paint

Choose quality paint

Firstly, arm yourself with good-quality paint. This ensures that your paint actually sticks to the walls and doesn’t peel off after a few weeks. Look for top brands like Dulux, then choose whatever colours are to your taste. There are lots of Dulux paint deals out there, so you can still get amazing quality paint products without paying loads for them. So, there’s your first step: be sure to have some long-lasting and top-tier paint.

Brushes dipped in different coloured paint

Make sure the colours match

The worst mistake you can make is to paint your entire room only to realise the colours don’t go with one another. As such, spend time making sure that you pick a colour scheme that actually works. To make your life easier, We’ve already published a post on successful colour combos for the home. Check it out, and buy your paint accordingly.

Cleaning a wall with a sponge

Clean the walls

Before you apply any paint, you need to clean the walls. This ensures that you have a fresh surface for the paint to stick to. If it’s dirty or dusty, then the paint simply won’t adhere to the surface very well at all.

Roller with white paint

Strain the paint

Even if you have a brand new bucket of paint, it could have a few gloopy bits in it. These are basically little balls where the paint has congealed slightly. To avoid getting these on your walls and messing up the finish, simply put your paint through a strainer. This is basically like a sieve, but for paint! Anything that’s not liquid will be caught in the strainer, leaving you with lovely smooth paint to apply to your walls.

It’s also worth adding that you should cover your paint while you are painting. This will prevent one of the biggest painting problems of a skin forming on the top surface. If this does happen, you’ll have to strain your paint again.

Tin of purple paint

Use a brush on the outside edges

Get a brush and use it to start painting around the edges of your wall. It’s a good idea to put some tape down on the adjacent walls to prevent paint from going over an edge onto that wall. The purpose of a brush is to make it easier to get the paint roller out. When you have a few inches of paint around the edges, you can then use a roller without worrying about going over the lines onto the other walls.

Following all of this, you can use a roller and go up and down the wall to cover it really quickly. Then, you’ll have a freshly painted wall that needs to dry. Once dry, you can move any furniture back into place and bask in the new colour scheme.

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