DesignSixtyNine’s Top Five Affordable Home Updates.

I’m a great believer that although the decorating of a room may be ‘finished’, it’s never really finished. The best interiors evolve over time, and as your eye becomes accustomed to your surroundings, you can often spot areas ready for change. Or, if you’re anything like me, you get bored very quickly and actively look for areas to update. Hence today’s blog post ‘Top Five Affordable Home Updates’. Sometimes the change doesn’t need to be massive. Quite often, changing or adding (or maybe even removing!) an element, is enough to give you the mental refresh required, to stop you spending a small fortune.

Here are five of my favourite affordable home updates, that don’t cost the earth, but will make your space look a million quid!

Top Five Affordable Home Updates

Go Large With Your Art

A common mistake that people often make, is hanging artwork or photographs that are far too small on walls that can more than handle a bit more drama. Even smaller rooms can benefit from larger scale wall art. Don’t worry… it won’t ‘close-in’ the space. In fact, it can have the opposite effect and can trick the eye into believing that the room is much larger.

I had a photograph of a gorgeous (but sadly long-gone) interior, blown up large-scale through online site photo box. The 30″ x 20″ image cost £8.00 (yes, seriously. Only eight quid!) and looks amazing! The site is so easy to use and gives you a handy guide to how clear your photo will look when enlarged. Add a bit more drama with a heavy frame. I bought the Skatteby frame, 61cm x 91cm, £30 from Ikea. I ended up going back and buying the smaller versions too.

You can see that I have hung the frame on a smaller wall space. By doing this, focus is drawn to the artwork rather than the tv when it’s off. Which isn’t often.

Go Dramatic With Your Walls

By far, one of the best moves forward I’ve made in my love of interiors. The first slap of the paintbrush can be intimidating… but it’s totally worth it. The mid-tone grey that I started out with got lost in the space of the living room. It just looked bland. Furniture just looked… meh!

Going darker has been transformative. Not only to the feel of the space (which most folk comment looks larger now) but to the presentation of my ‘stuff’. The darker colour makes the walls recede and allows the furniture and accessories to have prominence. Okay, it isn’t for everyone, but if you’ve ever been tempted to the dark side… I’d say do it!

Blank out your woodwork

Whether you go dark, or stay light, my favourite tip has to be; get rid of your skirting boards, doors and door frames. I don’t mean prise them off. I mean ‘make them disappear’ by painting them the same colour as your walls. The effect will be simpler, less cluttered and more unified, adding visual height to the space.

Whether they be fancy or plain, paint them the same …my new motto.

 Buy new cushions

You don’t have to spend a fortune… Primark do a great line in velvet cushions (remember, I blogged it here?) as does Matalan, TK Maxx and Dunelm. A few new cushions in a great colour combination can completely transform a bed or sofa.

Pimp up with plants

Whether you love real or fake, plants and flowers undoubtedly add life to a room. Most supermarkets and DIY stores sell bargain plants nowadays. My tip for an affordable floral display would be to buy artificial greenery (I sourced my eucalyptus on ebay) and add in real flowers, either from your garden or a cheap supermarket bouquet.  If you want to invest a little more in ‘faux’, then companies like Abigail Ahern and Wyld Home do an excellent range of realistic botanicals.

Bonus Tip

Cover a chair

This is my favourite find of the moment. I really wanted to add a bit more colour in to the living room and was keen to do so by way of a statement chair. However, I’m both fickle and a tightwad, so knew that it was a risky investment that I quite frankly couldn’t afford/didn’t want to take the risk on. Also, I really love the shape of my IKEA Melby chair… and it’s really comfortable! I had already swapped the metal legs on the chair for some wooden tapered ones, sourced from e-bay, so the ‘frame’ was exactly what I wanted. But the covers on offer from IKEA, just didn’t match up with the look I had in mind.

So, how delighted was I when I discovered Covercouch?… Answer; VERY!

Covercouch is an online company which offers replacement covers for most IKEA sofas and chairs. Prices range from £78 to £200 depending on fabric choice. So there’s pretty much something to suit every pocket.

Just to add… this isn’t an advert and I’m not being rewarded in any way. I’ve literally just received my order and am so delighted that I had to share!

Having ordered a range of samples, I opted for the Petrol velvet. At £113, this isn’t a small sum of money… but in terms of upholstery, this is a bargain. Considering I would have been upwards of £400 for a new chair in velvet! The delivery was supposed to be nearer 4 weeks, but it came in just over two.

I was a bit dubious that it might not fit correctly, or would be shoddily made. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The covers went on easier than the IKEA ones and fit perfectly. What you guys should note though, is that they are loose covers (and machine washable!) so don’t fit as tightly as a re-upholstery job. I don’t see this as an issue though… they look great! Judge for yourself…

I plan on alternating between the lighter covers and these as the mood takes me.For now though, I’m loving the darker Petrol colour.

In Summary

Even just trying out one of these affordable home updates could make a massive difference to how you feel about your space, and could potentially save a full-scale redecoration.

Give one a go… you can thank me later. 😀