Budget-Friendly Room Updates – No Paint Needed!

*This is a collaborative post*

A bit of a new one from me today, my first post on interiors.  As regular readers will know, I have recently stopped work due to my Multiple Sclerosis symptoms making it difficult to continue.  Although I feel a lot better for not having the 6:30 am starts and the all-day grind, I do have to admit that I am desperately missing the money.  Not that I was ever loaded – I used to work for the NHS after all – but I knew that I had a regular income and could save for something that I particularly loved.

My days now are spent blogging, yoga-ing, reading and, well, using the internet (as well as the usual household and parenting tasks of course 😉 ).  Being mainly at home has been lovely – I am definitely a home bird – but I have to admit that the combination of being at home a lot and having access to Pinterest is a bit dangerous.  As anyone who is on it will know, it is awash with gorgeous interiors, and this makes me see my own home in a completely different light.  In the past, I probably wouldn’t think too much about buying big pieces here and there to update it, but it is a different story now that I haven’t got as many funds.

Tiny Changes That Won’t Break The Bank

The thought of updating my home can often feel like a really big task.  The kids are getting bigger, they no longer want the rooms that they have had since they were 4 and 2!  I have the desire to change things, but not the big budget for lots of paint, or indeed the energy or physical ability, because of my MS, to actually redecorate their full rooms. Life is overwhelming as it is. But that doesn’t mean to say I can’t make small but significant changes and additions to their rooms and the other rooms in my house. Because of my physical ability, or lack thereof, I’ve found that the following ideas really help me to make changes without the need for me to mess about with paint, or trying to convince my husband to do it!

Kitchen

The kitchen is often seen as the hub of the home. It is the place that many families and couples congregate to not only cook and eat but to argue talk about their days, work or for children to do homework.  My kids both do their homework in the kitchen, despite us buying them both simple Ikea desks for their bedrooms.  The kitchen needs to be a functional space. So if it needs a bit of updating and sprucing up then why not start with colour?  We’ve recently updated our kitchen and I think it is the change of colour that has really made it.  Although we have a plain cream kitchen, we have added interest through blue and yellow pops of colour.  Springtime is my friend!  Yellow daffs in a vase, a couple of cheap blue bowls from a charity shop on our shelves and a retro print from Etsy, which I love. A ‘gallery wall’ of my favourite prints and/or family photos might also look nice – a good way to continue with the colour scheme and very trendy at the moment!  We also have also updated our tea towels and oven gloves to a different print that pops and adds interest to our kitchen.

Living room

Like the kitchen, a living room can be a space that has many functions.  Ours is – we relax every night with the kids in ours, but also socialise and have friends over when we can and my health allows.  My priority is to have a comfortable space, but also a stylish one.  Although I’d love to get some, we’re not at the stage where we can afford new sofas (and, to be honest, ours are functionally fine) but I could consider making a statement piece like a chair.  We have some great charity shops around here, so I could buy a cheap chair frame and then update it with a new seat pad, made from materials from places such as efoam and then covering with old fabric.  I actually did this the other year with an old telephone table that I found at our local antique shop and now have a lovely little seat in our hallway upstairs. For me, cushions, blankets, candles and plants are easy ways to update and change my living room around.  I love Christmas candles that smell like orange and spice and have a fabulous monstera plant that looks fab in our bay window. 

Bathroom

We have had the same bathroom since we moved into our house, over 6 years ago.  It is the one room that I apologise for when people come to our house, ‘this is the one room we haven’t sorted out yet…’!  It is definitely next on my list of updates. I’ve found that it can be a tricky room to spruce up without the need for a new remodel to take place.  However, we have an all-white suite, so I am hoping that a simple change of colour scheme through accessories such as towels might help.  My plan is to add some greenery, new towels, a new blind (just a cheap wooden roller blind will do), a new light fixture and a whale print that I have had for 5 years!  Luckily I still love it. Long term, we would like a new floor and new tiles, but they can wait.

Bedrooms

Bedrooms are another area that I have tried to update using colour and accessories, rather than paint or a change of furniture.  My daughter, in particular, loves trinkets and I have found cheap ones in shops such as B&Q and Primark – cheap enough for us so that when she goes off them (as she inevitably will!), they aren’t too expensive to replace.  I find that decorative wall hangings have made a difference to mine and my husband’s bedroom and I plan on making this macrame star one for my daughter for Christmas.  Repurposing old and cheap items can also give a room a fresh feel – we use old apple crates for my daughter’s bedside table, changed the knobs on our own old Ikea ones to make them look more modern and used funky wrapping paper as a piece of art in a frame.

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Actually writing this down has made me realise just how easy it is to update your home with only a bit of money.  I am in the middle of an ‘Ikea hack’ at the minute, so will come back and post about that soon.

I hope that this has given inspiration to anyone wanting to make a few changes – but who have to live a little bit more frugally like I have to.  Please feel free to follow me on Pinterest – I am always up for finding new accounts to follow too, it would be lovely to share my home obsession with everyone!

Until next time,