Home Improvements – Keep It Easy!

Ewhurst and Worlesdon Greensquares installations

Home improvements; it’s a term we hear a lot nowadays and something that is becoming increasingly popular in todays market but it’s easy to find yourself drowning in a sea of colour charts, wallpaper samples and mounting bills, so where do you start?

Don’t despair, just because you’ve been watching the DIY experts on television doesn’t mean you have to start demolishing your home and decorating in colours that make your eyes water. At the end of the day it’s about you and what makes you happy. Never be pushed and shoved in directions that don’t appeal to you, it’s perfectly ok to shudder with horror at the very idea of wallpapering or hand stencilling your bathroom. Start small and have some fun along the way!

One of the fastest and easiest ways to give your home a fresh look, is to slap a coat of paint on the walls, even the least DIY-inspired of us can manage that without too many problems. Just make sure you think carefully about your colour choices. If you have a black wall that you want to be white, expect it to take quite a few coats, sometimes it takes a bit longer to achieve your desired results but no problem, it’s not a race! There are a number of finishes you can choose from too, my personal favourite would be a scrubbable finish, easy to clean and looks better for longer.

Don’t make the mistake of falling into the ‘seasonal catalogue’ hole. Those Christmas magazines may look warm and cosy but if you feel yourself filled with a sudden inspiration to have a bright red and gold themed room, just stop for a second and wonder just how it will feel by the time summer comes round. Design for all seasons, not just one!

Don’t like your flooring? Don’t dive into a full-blown wooden floor installation, why not consider a handful of colourful, cost-effective rugs. These are much easier to change, especially when you decide that you don’t like your original colour choice anymore and could save you a fortune.

A few simple pictures on walls can make or break a room, make them personal to you, something you won’t get sick of seeing every day and something which doesn’t represent a short term fashion fad that will be gone by next week.

Once you’ve tackled a few jobs inside the home, consider your garden, after all it’s just an outside room, to be enjoyed as much as the inside. Again though, no need to go over the top, as long as your personal space appeals to you then it’s perfect. As a quick and easy spruce up you might like to consider painting that tired old shed in a bright colour. How about adding a few potted plants or an attractive piece of trellis to cover any ugly areas? And most important of all, make sure you have a comfy seat to relax in at the end of a hard days decorating!