An enviable home isn’t beyond anyone, regardless of the budget you have to work with if you make your funds stretch a little further.
All it takes to have a stylish home on a budget is some savvy spending and clever use of different materials and furniture items. So, if you’re ready to upgrade your home without breaking the bank, here’s how.
Choose small new items
You might look at your living room and feel tempted to splurge on a whole new suite, but instead, consider cheap coffee tables or cost-effective bookshelves instead. Small items of furniture don’t have to be expensive, as long as you focus on simple, timeless designs that exude practicality as well as good looks. A plain wooden coffee table can transform a space instantly, especially with some stylish coasters.
Experiment with colour
One of the easiest and most budget-friendly ways to make a home more stylish is to change up the walls but keep things simple. Choose a shade that you genuinely love, not just a fashion hue, then create an accent wall. No need to paint every room in the house, just one or two surfaces will do the trick. You could even play with two-tone designs if you’re feeling extra brave, with dramatic slices of colour jazzing up your walls.
Reuse and recycle
Sustainability is more than just an environmental buzzword – it’s a guiding force for transforming your home. We are all encouraged to consume less and reuse more, and if you’re looking to inject style into your home without spending too much, repurposing what you already own makes sense. Simple tips like dying existing cushions are a good place to start, but if you’re crafty, how about turning old picture frames into hallway notice boards, or even trying your hand at faux ageing furniture? A kitchen-table upcycle with some chalk paint and furniture wax is a fun weekend project that yields excellent results.
Layer wisely
You’ll never know how easy it is to style a tired sofa or bed until you lavish it with a couple of new throws. Choose accent colours or patterns to bring in a new dimension of design and think about treating yourself to a few new cushions, too, for a properly cohesive finish. Deciding on a striking feature colour before you start will help guide your shopping trips.
Shine a little light
It’s surprising how many of us forget to look up and pay attention to our lighting, but that’s precisely why a statement light fixture can be the ideal way to inject style, interest and a new focus in any room. Be a little different by adding something dramatic and unusual to an unexpected room, because nobody forgets the house with a chandelier in the bathroom.
Extend without building
Small rooms that feel pokey and claustrophobic can be a serious bugbear, especially when you want every area in your home to be a style sensation, but there is a simple and inexpensive way to improve frustrating proportions. Let’s assume that you have a narrow and unaccommodating hallway. By creating a gallery wall with plenty of mirrors, you will help any natural light bounce around the space, making it seem larger. It’s all just a trick of the eye, but it looks great and it works.
Don’t sleep on a dull bed
For the sake of a few hours of effort and cheap materials, you could turn an uninspiring bed into a stylish centrepiece by making your own headboard. Scandinavian interior inspiration doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon, so a natural wood headboard is an on-trend way to go, and if you are savvy about your wood sourcing, it can be very cheap to complete. Get on freebie sites and see if there are any pallets being given away in your area, as the wood makes for brilliant linear headboards. Or use an old window shutter, door or anything else you think looks interesting.
Dress the windows
If you like your interior design in general but just want to add a little more cohesion to bring the style together and elevate the overall impact, consider dressing all of the windows in one go. Matching blinds in every room is a simple home improvement tip, to upgrade your home and can be inexpensive if you choose cost-effective but classic designs, such as bamboo or wooden Venetian. Off-the-shelf options are affordable and can usually be cut to size as well, so you get the look of a custom blind without the price tag.
Pay a professional
This might not sound budget-friendly, but if you get a professional to reupholster your living-room suite, you’ll not need to do anything else to the entire room to give it a fresh feel. Replace tired fabric or dated designs with something long-lasting and understated and you’ll be shocked at how contemporary and revived your entire space will look. You could extend this to upholstered dining chairs as well and you might be able to negotiate a bulk rate for doing everything at once.
Spotlight your art
Whether it’s a print from the Tate Modern or your kids’ finest attempts, get your favourite art framed and up on your walls, for an automatic injection of personal style (and nostalgia). Curate a few gallery-style ‘collections’ with similar items grouped together on different walls, for a modern take on wall decor, or keep it classic with evenly spread frames on each wall. For an extra special touch, add frame lights, which shine down from the top edge and draw all eyes to the piece being displayed.
Gorgeous home style doesn’t have to translate as expensive, especially when DIY decorating ideas and budget-friendly furniture has come so far. Apply a little common sense and creativity and that unique interior designer look can be yours for a lot less.