Do you ever gaze at your home and wish it looked better? Broken fittings and dated décor often let the inside down, while scruffy gardens and shabby surfaces are usually responsible for an ugly exterior. If this sounds familiar, it’s time to upgrade your home’s look.
But before you plunge headfirst into a refurb, take a moment to decide what needs doing and what changes will have the biggest effect. This could save you valuable time and money. Here’s how to do it:
Set a sensible budget
Before you do anything, set yourself a budget. Impulsive buys rarely help you create a cohesive and satisfying look but will result in excessive spending.
To come up with a reasonable figure, make a list of the areas you want to concentrate on refreshing and go through your finances carefully. Don’t try to overstretch yourself. And if the budget is just too tight, work out a program to do the upgrade in stages.
Get a balance of style and function
To spend your money wisely, it’s always good to get a balance of style and function. This means your home will be practical and look its best.
There may be elements of the home that desperately need attention, such as the windows and doors. These are essential to keeping your home safe and warm but changing them will also improve your home’s aesthetic appeal, so it ticks both boxes. Similarly, a new tarmac driveway is likely to improve kerb appeal and give you low-maintenance off-street parking. So, although these renovations aren’t cheap, they do make good use of your budget.
Work with what you’ve got
If money won’t stretch to buying everything you want, then work with what you’ve got. Repairing and upcycling items such as furniture and fences will help money go further. Cupboards can be refreshed with minimal tools and materials. A sheet of sandpaper, a cloth, a sample pot of paint and a brush could be enough to give a small sideboard or bedside table a new look.
Similarly, carpets can be revived by hiring a professional carpet cleaner and tiles can be painted using specialist paint, giving you fresh flooring for little outlay.
Make a big impact
Of course, you can’t always make everything look as good as new. So, if you do need to buy new things, start with the items that will have the biggest overall effect on your home’s look.
For example, laying new turf for a lawn will have a big impact on how your garden looks. Probably more so than buying a few plants and a nice bench. And repainting and wallpapering walls will certainly transform rooms for less money than buying new beds and sofas, yet it will make just as big a statement.
Go for cost-effective, easy wins
Once you’ve ticked off the big jobs, you can see what money you’ve got left for the little things. But just because you’re spending small amounts of cash, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t spend it wisely.
Think about cost-effective buys that will make a noticeable difference to your home. Flowers easily brighten up gardens but choose them carefully. Some plants are annual, so they’ll only live for the season. While others are perennial, so they’ll come back year after year, giving you more for your money.
The same goes for inside the home. Artwork perks up any room but choose framed pieces that are easy to open, rather than sealed frames or printed canvases. So, you can easily and cheaply swap the prints when you get bored of them.