Easy wins to make the house nicer

[Poppysocks111]

What are your ‘easy wins’ - things that are cheapish and not really disruptive (ie no tearing up the floor) to make a small old house more comfortable/ homey/ finished.

we’ve painted

• the rooms
• clean the uPVC regularly
• decluttered
• added fitted storage so we don’t have things stored on shelves all over the house
• added plants and photos

the next things are kitchen change (we’ve already painted the cabinets) and proper insulation under the floor and updating the floor coverings downstairs but they feel quite big

To make furnishings fit the room’s proportions properly. Accessories like proper wool blankets and feather cushions. Lamps. Floor length curtains. No carpets but decent sized rugs.

Artwork.

Doesn't have to be expensive / luxury / etc. But bare walls (unless there's patterned wallpaper, and even then....) can be cold or drab. Also, having things on the wall make people's eyes move up more naturally, and the room feels more 'done' and in proportion.

I've got lots of things by just searching 'poster art' and finding pictures I like. I also like wall hangings like tapestry-style things, which I get from Etsy. Ikea also do nice things.

I think lighting is really important

I find it difficult to get right but I really notice it when someone else gets it right

I assume you mean nicer to live in rather than staging for sale.

I'd second the suggestion for artwork. I think it's really important in making a house a home. Painting is all well and good but your choice of artwork says a lot about you and can connect a space to memories and emotions. Whether it's photography of places that resonate with you or a particular art movement, make it personal to you. I hate to go into a house where they've just bought some cheap art from Dunelm or the like. It's like they've thought - oh we should hang something on the wall but we don't really know what we like and we lack imagination. Find things that you really love - art, soft furnishings, plants, crockery - that's how to make a house a home.

Fresh flowers in a vase, some houseplants.

I’ve started keeping a bunch of daffodils in the downstairs loo. It’s a cool room so they last for ages, and every time I open the door they look so nice that it cheers me up a little.

Having 4 plants in nice pots on a windowsill in the kitchen brightened the place up and softened the hard surfaces a bit.

The plants kept making more, so I now have some in most rooms.

If you've got old radiators, replacing with nice, fresh modern shaped ones makes a house feel much fresher and more up-to-date. I don't mean fancy designer ones, just the modern double ones with grill at the top. If you are swapping out like-for-like, it's a pretty quick and inexpensive job - even DIYable - and you could just do them one at a time to spread the cost.

I'm in the same boat in that I'm trying to make my beautiful Victorian home look homely on a v tight budget (so taking a v long time). People always comment when they come over so think I'm doing ok so far! Tips...

1. Use farrow and ball or similar for colours as you're pretty safe with their palette and loads of online inspo to see how it looks (I get mine mixed by Johnstones at the local builders merchant)

Don't be afraid of colour as it adds personality but be cautious about what will look good in several years.

1. Lamps instead of big lights. Dunelm have lots of afford ones and stick to the neutral colours as they'll go with everything/eachother.
2. Remove clutter and make sure everything has a place. A house with kids is going to get messy (nothing wrong with mess either and some nights I just leave it but the house is always a 10 minute put-away from looking good)
3. I can't afford new furniture so try to stick to wooden when buying secondhand to make the space cohesive. I also think wood will always looks good in an old property.
4. Artwork. Again Dunelm do really good prints, I have one of a fireplace for £35 in a canvas painting style. Then other colours in the room eg cushions are picked from the colours in the painting.
5. In my opinion, lots of greys, blacks, gloss, etc can be hard to make look good. Neutrals/natural fibres like wool/wood all look good together and make a home feel warm and welcoming.

Coving makes a massive difference, so do light switches and sockets.
Switch out handles on furniture for something more individual
Texture texture texture. Otherwise a room looks flat and unwelcoming.

Changing out your cushions, blankets and throws with the seasons makes everything seem cosy and fresh. They pack down very small in vacuum bags so aren't much to store and I think they really make a difference.

Another thing I thought of is toning colours rather than lots of contrast. Also a big fan of art-you can get cheap prints online on the art websites but it’s worth getting decent mounting and framing. I have vintage ads in my kitchen with fancy frames. Or eBay. Don’t buy it from the chain shops. Then tie in soft furnishings-look at House and Garden online for ideas.

You need CRAP - curtains, rugs, artwork and plants!