If you’re short on funds but your house is in desperate need of a face-lift, don’t worry. There are a number of ways to revamp various rooms in the house without spending a fortune! Trust me – I’m not known as the Queen of Cheap for no reason! (Hmm, maybe I need to re-think that nickname…) This post will show you how to redecorate your home on a budget.
Social media is slowly but surely taking over the world and there is nothing we can do to stop it… There is a page or answer for literally everything and I’ve found so many cool hacks from Instagram and Facebook that I’ve learnt and adapted to add the chic to your shabby.
CHUCK YOUR SH*TE AWAY!!!
Declutter! You’d think I’d only just learnt what that word meant with how hoardy I used to be! Forever keeping hold of something ‘just in case’ …
What, ‘just in case’ I lose two stone and squeeze into my clothes from four years ago? I think not.
Anyway, it’s hard to see the potential beauty in a room when it’s littered with stuff. Don’t throw away things that are perfectly usable, deposit them at a clothes bank, a charity shop, pop some bits on eBay, depop, Facebook Marketplace! Recycling is key and not only helps others but will also help the environment. You might think your stuff is a load of old tut, but I think you’ll be surprised the potential others can see in them, even if you can’t.
Decluttering makes it so much easier for you to envisage a new look in a room because you have more of a blank canvas to work with!
Fun Fact: I found my stunning bedroom mirror on the side of the road, polished it up and now it fits the industrial vintage vibe of my room perfectly! Proof that you never know where true gems may be hidden…
Ooh, Pinteresting!
by Followtheflow | Shutterstock
by Followtheflow | Shutterstock
Have a basic idea of what you want to achieve before starting anything. There’s nothing worse than starting something and losing motivation or sight as to what to do next. I find that creating mood-boards really helps me narrow down what it is that I want to achieve. Scour the inetrwebs to find rooms you like, and pick out pieces within those rooms you’d like to replicate – light fittings, egg baskets or wall colours. This is also a great way to compare prices of items you like. For example, I am HUGELY into the vintage industrial kind of vibe at the moment so I’ve created mood-boards for colour schemes, items of furniture, accessories etc and I flick through, selecting my favourites and then that’s when stage 3 kicks in…
Don’t forget you can also get inspo from other people’s mood-boards!
Shop till you drop!
This is when I start the shopping process. I might then create a “crush list” for things that I’m loving that I’ve found across various sites and shops. I also like to compile links, images and a small summary into either a document or an email to help me make a choice as I have a dreadful disease called, impulse shopping? I don’t know if you’ve heard of it but it’s where I cannot control myself and end up acquiring tat that has no place in my life for a small fortune more often than not.
I also like asking my friends, family and boyfriend what they think. A lot of the time I will totally ignore what they say but it’s just good sometimes to hear another opinion and how I feel about their thoughts, helps me whittle my list down to the strongest contenders.
Up-cycling!
Do you have anything that could be up-cycled or renovated? I bet you do. A set of pine stained drawers with coffee ring stains on? Chuck a lick of paint on it and freshen up your room!
In our house, we love contact paper. I had a very stained, grubby old fireplace in my room that would not buff up nicely… At the end of my tether, I bought some black contact paper and recovered the tiles in my fireplace (while its traditional use was as a shelf or drawer liner, or for covering cupboard doors, contact paper can be used in many creative ways…). Once stained with dirt, chipped, cracked – now looked fresh and new whilst still leaving the original tiles in tact! A perfect tip for if you rent somewhere and have to restore the room back to it’s original state.
I don’t know about you, but I can’t afford to change my furniture along with each time I want to redecorate a room! Luckily I found a great little company called The Sofa Covers Company on Instagram which you should definitely check out! They have over 300 different sofa covers available in various different styles! You can also get matching or contrasting cushion covers too. This is a perfect way to up-cycle your old grubby sofa or cushions without breaking the bank.
Even cheaper still – root around in your local charity shops and antique markets for a vintage blanket or bedspread in a bright or complementing colour. SUCH a simple way to upgrade a tired sofa!
And final bit of advice? Google everything.
You will be so surprised by what hacks and tricks there are. Chances are if you’ve thought up a question or idea, someone else has beaten you to it and there’s a Google answer waiting just a search bar away.
In summary, you got this! Beautifully revamped rooms pending…
