How to smarten up my home?

[alwaystrying2]

My house itself is fine but everything is old and tired. I cant a afford to decorate atm. I want some bits to make it look smarter and more grown up. I don't want to buy cheap stuff to make it look tatty but it needs something. I look at other peoples houses and they look like something out if magazines but i can't afford new furniture or kitchen etc. What can I do to update
cheaply?

Any household dupes around??

Thanks!

What's your budget?
What is your furniture like?

Some paint will work wonders. You can do it yourself and will make the most impact.

Then declutter

Buy large posters or prints which you love and frame them. IKEA have reasonably priced frames. Good lighting such as a floor or table lamp always makes your home more inviting. Charity shops for blankets and throws.

I’d probably declutter, if it’s needed. You’d be surprised just what a different that can make.

maybe do a room at a time and focus around a theme, colour or a feeling - you know, you may want a room to be calming or relaxing. It may be just one room which is getting you down. You could even have a bit of a swap around of furniture in your home to freshen things up.

it’s hard when you keep looking at the same four walls.

Also, if you do want to buy things, look at Facebook market place or eBay for second hand bits or even charity shops, if you’ve time to wander around.

paint and paper doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Wilko and B&M have stuff which will likely be cheaper than B&Q for instance.

Fresh paint everywhere, nice curtains/blinds, decluttered and thoroughly clean and tidy.

Dunelm and The Range often have reasonable ornaments and cushions etc which don't look cheap and can be dupes of more expensive stuff. You can have paint mixed to look like Farrow and Ball colours, but only get enough to paint one feature wall. It'll make a big difference but with less outlay.

Ok thanks - yes decluttering will probably help. I don't mind trying to paint myself but not sure how I'd manage ceilings?

I am lacking style inspiration I think. I'm worried big ikea prints just look tacky. Think the problem is I have ikea budget but in my head I want original artwork.

You can find cheap original art work but you have to be prepared to spend time looking for it online, Vinted, Vinterior, Ebay plus local Vintage shops and dealers.

I have done lots of decluttering. Still a way to go.

But I am finding it is further exposing just how worn and tired the whole house is [dont want to put anyone off decluttering by the way, I should have done it years ago!].

Definitely declutter and then give everything a really good clean. Get carpets cleaned and wash cushion covers, throws, curtains. Polish furniture and get windows cleaned. Maybe move furniture around if you can. Then rehang and move pictures around and add a few new things like cushions in a new colour, some plants and consider lighting - new lamp or lampshades.

Ceilings aren’t as hard as they look - wear a shower cap, you can get paint that is tinted pink when wet do you can see where you’ve painted.
Rollers will slot onto the handle of a sweeping brush or mop.
If you can, leave a day between painting walls and ceiling.

I have started to look at the rooms critically.

Hopefully, yes, some rooms will get long overdo paint.

But I did think yesterday, yes curtains could do with changing in one room. And maybe flooring.
That may all be enough in some rooms for me to freshen them somewhat.

Charity shops are great for art work. Sometimes changing a frame can completely transform a picture.

Yes, I’ve done this with many pieces and can vouch for this. Results are stunning.

I’m just getting my house ready to sell and some of the paintwork is really tired.

Yesterday I (carefully) got most of the marks off the wall and repainted the skirting board, same colour, one coat.

I can’t believe the difference it had made, it has really spruced up the whole wall.

ideally get a water based, quick drying, satin paint. I’m using a crown one. If your skirting boards are white, get a white paint not brilliant white. Brilliant white tends to fade over time. If you use white there’s a good chance it will match the rest of the paint. But you will probably find you need to do door architrave as well.

Honestly, nice window treatments, flooring and paint will very much upgrade your home. Focus on one thing at a time to get those foundations properly done and you can then focus on cheaper furniture/art as your home will already be looking good.

This is great thanks. Any recommendations for where I would find good quality curtains at a reasonable price?

What colour are your walls at the moment? Painting will make the most difference to a room and don't be scared of using colour.

Places like the Range and even Primark have some lovely ornaments and cushions etc, if you look carefully. A lot are dupes for designer stuff.

For artwork, have a look on Etsy for prints...there is every artist and style under the sun. Look for frames in charity shops, ignore what's in them!

Houseplants.

Just as important than the quality is that they’re correctly measured and fitted, so if you’re not great at this (I’m terrible) you could get a free quotation for installation - ask the person doing it to give you the exact measurements so if it’s too expensive to have them hung you can do it yourself.

You could look on JL and other better retailers for an idea then look up similar on EBay or Dunelm. You can often find good quality curtains 2nd hand but if you want blinds, plain Roman blinds in white or cream look smart and don’t cost a lot.

Homesense has some lovely stuff too.

Whenever I see threads like this, I always want to see before and after pics
Am off to satisfy my desires on Google...

Declutter, paint and look on FB marketplace for stuff being given away or really cheap. Someone local to me was selling four cushions, a vase, 2 mirrors and a large ornament for £20. The mirror was really nice and would have probably been £50 new by itself. Another was giving away a pair of curtains. I’m picking up a set of canvas prints tomorrow for a tenner, quite large. Was happy to buy new but these are the closest to what I want.

When you've done all that: plants! They make a home come alive.
Good luck!

My best tip: buy water based gloss paint and paint your radiators (it’ll drip so take care & thin coats). It’ll shock you how yellowed your radiators have become.
Then woodwork. It’s a pain, but the added smartness of newly done woodwork will surprise you.

Re curtains, I’ve got really good ones off eBay a few times. Curtains are one of those things people change often, but they have no resale price.

Measure up carefully. Try and get curtains at least double the width of the window, they’ll look more luxurious and expensive than skimpy ones.

My last set of curtains were too long and I pinned them to the correct length, meaning to sew them later. Three years later they are still pinned and you can’t tell.

One thing I did that made a nice difference was to buy chrome power point plates and light switches. They looked lovely, just get an electrician to swap the old ones.

I'm buying somewhere and will also get stick on tiles for the kitchen and bathroom, and for the flooring too, until I buy a whole new kitchen and bathroom and get stone tiles put in.

Re art and pictures, I prefer photos in my frames. They're not expensive and you can change them with the seasons. You can also paint old wooden frames a contrasting colour to your walls.