MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan

Do you sometimes feel like your home is the frumpy cousin to your friends’ visual masterpiece? Well, you’re in good company. From time to time, most of us feel like our peers have the perfect home. We all aspire to the manicured lawns and Instagram-worthy spaces that we see on TV and the magazines. But working a full-time job and keeping your family in line make it pretty hard to keep up with home maintenance, especially when you’re trying to save money for your future!

But you don’t have to despair. The good news is that updating your living space doesn’t have to be a full-on renovation job. There are a couple of ways to update your home easily, quickly, and – most importantly – cheaply. You get to enjoy the creature comforts of a cozy and well-designed home without breaking the bank. That sounds great, doesn’t it? So here are 5 simple ways to drag your interior décor to the 21st century:

1. Add Some Paint

Adding a fresh coat of paint to your walls can make a world of difference. Repainting the high-traffic areas of your home is a cheap and easy way to give the space an instant facelift. Apart from the walls, you can also focus on the ceilings, crown moldings, and baseboards. For example, you can paint your moldings with a beautiful accent color to transform a room into a stunning visual tableau.

To maintain this fresh look, you can also repaint the high-traffic areas in your home every year. You can either choose a different color for this task or stick to the same hues. The former is a great affordable way to subtly transform a space, while the latter ensures that the colors stay fresh and vibrant. This may seem like an overwhelming job at first, so try it out on a small area like the foyer at first.

2. Get Great Lighting

When you walk into any house, the first thing to catch your eye is usually the intricate chandelier in the space. That’s because great lighting fixtures will act as focal points in your home. You can get some beautiful, unmatched Dar Lighting now available at Scotlight Direct for this project. Make installing the new fixture a fun DIY project to do with your family on a cold and rainy spring day.

Alternatively, you could also get a professional to do it. This is the best idea if you don’t know anything about currents and electrical connections. Also, make sure to wipe down your light fixtures with a damp cloth every so often. This will help you avoid a dust trap and keep your beautiful fixtures sparkling.

3. Change the Window Treatments

Windows are often overlooked in most home improvement projects. Deciding on a style that would suit a room best can be quite the challenge. As a result, many resort to installing blinds for privacy or simply leaving the windows empty.

But a well-designed room must have well-dressed windows. Leaving them bare robs you of a great chance to update your interior décor. Even the best views can be framed by stylish window panels. It also helps that you can add window treatments that suit any taste or style perfectly. Just make sure that you pay attention to the color palette that you’re already using. This will create a sense of balance and continuity that will make any space a showstopper.

4. Add Accent Pillows

It’s a great idea to change up your pillows regularly. Adding trendy or colorful patterned pillows is a great way to add a pop of color to your home. You can go for vibrant mono-color covers, geometric patterns, or even graphic prints to spruce up your home. The best thing about this idea is that it isn’t expensive. As long as you have high-quality pillows, you can simply switch out older pillow covers for new, different ones to achieve a unique look.

5.   Fix Up the Bathroom

Bathrooms are usually the hardest room to update in any home. That’s because they usually get dingy and dirty fast. Before changing up your bathroom, make sure that you overhaul it with a thorough cleaning. This may not be a lot of fun, but it will give you a nice, clean base to work with.

You can then look into replacing any outdated knobs, faucets, light, fixtures, shower curtains, and vanity. If you can’t change these items all at once, that’s okay! Updating even two or three of the most outdated items can make your bathroom look new and modern.

Tired of seeing the same bathroom design you’ve had for years? Do you want something different but don’t have the time nor the budget for a complete renovation? Maybe what you need is a bath update. You can actually change the look of your bathroom entirely without spending much. In this article, we’ll list five ways you can do this without breaking the bank.

1. Paint your tiles.

Did you know that there’s a type of paint that’s made explicitly for wall tiles? This can be a great alternative to tiling your bathroom which will undoubtedly cost you a pretty penny. There are two kinds of paint you can choose from:

Epoxy Paint – Epoxy paint is durable and hard-wearing. You would need to apply about two coats of epoxy paint on your tiles to get a good finish. The disadvantage of epoxy paint is that it’s somewhat tricky for a non-skilled person to paint on. It also has a limited color selection available.

Latex Paint – Latex is easier to apply than epoxy paint although not as durable as the latter. You’d need a bonding primer first before applying the latex wall paint. Whichever kind of paint you use, remember to prepare the tiles completely for painting by cleaning, sanding, and wiping them off.

2. Update your lighting fixtures.

The lighting fixtures in a room can completely change its whole look and feel. You can make the ceiling the primary focus of your room by installing an elegant hanging fixture or, you can layer different kinds of light units together. Make sure to avoid cold lighting and yellow bulbs because natural and simulated natural light would look best in any room.

3. Install a big mirror.

One way to give your bathroom an extravagant feel without the corresponding price tag is to install a large mirror inside. A huge mirror can also make a small room look like it has far more space than it has. Add some backlights to your mirror for a touch of glamour or add a beautiful frame around it for a chic feel. Check out Bathroom City for a wide selection of mirrors to reflect your style.

4. Organize your things.

Keep your bathroom looking neat and organized by removing all clutter. Since wood has that “softening” effect that adds warmth to an otherwise cold-feeling room, try organizing all your stuff into pretty storage boxes such as painted and repurposed wooden crates. You can also add timber shelving to make use of your room’s vertical space.

5. Prettify your windows.

If you have large windows, make the most out of them by frosting the glass panels to allow lots of natural light in while also maintaining your privacy. You can also install plantation-style shutters for an elegant, old-world feel or, add bright fabric blinds for a fresh and vibrant look.

These are just five examples on how you can update your bathroom, but there are actually countless ways you can do it, from changing the towels to adding a freestanding bath to

repurposing a vanity table as a sink cabinet. The key to updating is to start simple then add more changes as you see fit and as you grow more confident in your styling skill.