If you are thinking about moving house in the New Year, let us stop you there. Is it because you want to move to a different area to be closer to friends or family? Or because you want to move into a bigger pad? Or is it because you *think* you want to start afresh? Often, renovating your home will cost a lot less than moving home completely then decorating once you move. Though renovating your home can be stressful, it’s well worth the time and money it takes to get your home how you want it to be in the long run, often adding value to your property. Below, the expert team at Stelrad are looking at the different ways you could consider renovating your home in the New Year.
Start From Scratch
With the UK heading into a recession, it’s going to become an increasingly difficult time to move. Instead, why not consider treating each room as a project. That way, you can focus on redecorating one room at a time, without causing too much disruption to the rest of the household. It’s also a great way to stagger your redecoration process, leaving you time before you begin redecorating the next room and so on so works perfectly if you’re on a budget or a limited for time.
Upgrade Your Accessories
Redecorating your home doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to strip your walls and floor bare. Sometimes, a few simple changes can make a whole world of difference. For example, we tend to decorate our homes according to what’s trending when the time comes to get out the paint brush. That means that the accessories you’ve chosen for your living room, for example, may no longer be considered as stylish as they once were. If that’s the case, take out what you no longer enjoy about the room you want to renovate and find replacements that you do love. It’s an inexpensive way to bring your home back up to date again without having to get into the nitty and gritty of redecorating your home.
Upgrade Your Wall Art
What you hang on the walls of your home can make a huge difference to its overall aesthetic, too. There are so many amazing art pieces out there, some costing a lot more than others. Regardless, you can find nice new wall décor that fits the existing style of your home without breaking the bank. You may find that traditional wall art such as paintings or prints no longer do your home justice and instead replace them with metal wall décor or similar.
Use The Illusion Of Mirrors
Maybe you want to move home because it appears small or dark. If that’s the case, consider using mirrors as a focal point in your home. Mirror create the illusion that your room is bigger and brighter than it may be, helping to enhance the space you have. You don’t necessarily need to select a free-standing option either as there are plenty of mirrors that offer an additional decorative aspect that can be hung on your walls. Irregular shaped mirrors are also a huge trend right now, creating an impressive feature in your hallway, living room or bathroom!
Paint Your Radiator
Gone are the days of plain white radiators. More and more people are opting to paint their radiators to match the aesthetic of their home. It’s a quick, simple, and inexpensive way to upgrade your radiator and, whilst it won’t impact how much heat it emits, it’s a nice way to tie your room together. If you have the budget, you may decide to look at a new designer radiator available and upgrade your existing one. Luckily, there are a number of trendy radiators to choose from, each offering different benefits.
What’s important, though, is ensuring that your chosen radiator is the appropriate size for the room you want to install in it. By measuring first, you can make sure that your radiator doesn’t only look good when installed, but heats your home in the best possible way, helping you to save money and reduce wasted energy. This also applies to the towel radiators in your bathroom used to not only quickly dry your towels but heat the room.
Electric Radiators
Redesigning a room can often feel restricted, especially with fixed elements like radiators that can’t be moved. But hold on a second, with modern electric radiators they don’t need to be connected to a boiler or central heating system so there’s no need to move water pipes. Swapping your traditional radiators for an electric model could give you the freedom to completely change a room around, and with the added bonus of being much easier to move again in the future if you decide to do it again in a few years time.
Transform Old Furniture
With the cost of living on the rise, few of us have the budget to upgrade all the furniture in your home. So, even if you want to redecorate your living room, for example, you may still feel as though you are stuck with old furniture. However, instead of paying for new furniture pieces, you may be able to better spend your money by upcycling existing pieces already in your home. Replacing door and drawer handles and knobs is just one inexpensive way you can upcycle your furniture, but you can also consider upholstering your headboard, adding a fresh layer of paint, using fabric or paper, or panelling.
Place An Area Rug
Rugs are great for a number of reasons. In addition to helping keep your toes warm, rugs can help to brighten up your home and add a cosy element. Area rugs are much bigger than the standard sized rug, offering a greater focal point to the room it’s positioned in. Commonly used in the living room and bedroom, they offer an element of decoration, which can beneficial when redecorating your home on a budget, particularly if you don’t want to or are unable to replace your flooring or currently have wooden floor throughout your home.
Invest In New Curtains
New curtains and blinds can make a world of difference to your home, helping to bring more light in when its needed and block it out when its not. If you have the budget, you could consider getting premium blinds installed in your home, such as roman blinds, to re-modernise the rooms in your home. Not only that, but they’re a great investment, and can add value to your home too, making them well worth the cost.
Consider Soft Furnishings
If you feel as though your home is a little cold, investing in new soft furnishings to add more texture to your home is a great option. New soft furnishings can also support the updated look and feel of your home too, such as by introducing a new colour palette or readjusting one you already love. It doesn’t have to be expensive, with many large supermarket chains offering affordable alternatives to what’s trending, helping to keep your renovation in budget whilst still achieving the same desired look.
Lighting
The lighting in each of the rooms of your bedroom can make a huge difference to its ambience. If you rarely have your main lights on, it could be a good time to invest in a free-standing lamp or otherwise to support the low light look you enjoy. If you want to install lighting that’s a bit outside the box, you could consider applying LED lights to the back of your TV or TV unit to give you more control over the lighting you have in each room. Installing lights above or on either side of your bed can help to create a relaxed ambience too, also providing the chance to integrate further decoration into your room without the need to focus on other accessories.
Update Your Displays
These days, it’s trendy to have your clothes, shoes, and bags on show so if you are an avid collector of any of these items, you could consider showing them off on bespoke shelving or a rail. Not only will it help you keep all your favourite items handy but provide decoration and texture to your dressing room. Complete with further accessories such as jewellery, headbands, and scarfs, you can essentially create a miniature walk in wardrobe that is both practical and looks good.
So, there you have it! Plenty of ways to renovate your home, rather than relocating entirely. With a recession under way in the UK, this could be the best time for you to focus on making home improvements, increasing the value of your home for when you are ready to officially move elsewhere. You never know, you may change your mind entirely and stay put for a few more years and be sure to check out our website for the very latest radiator design inspiration!
