How To Quickly Make Any Room Look Better

Most of us want to live in a nice home but, often, finding the time to decorate is difficult, especially if you have children running around as well. Fortunately, there are lots of home improvement jobs that can easily be completed in a few hours so you can squeeze them in to the tiny gaps in your schedule; before work, lunch breaks or after dinner. Here are some of the things you can do quickly (and on a tight budget) to make any room look better.

Install new skirting boards

The one fixture homeowners rarely update is their skirting boards. This is largely because people think that they need to hire a carpenter to get that job done. In reality, this is a task that most experienced DIYers can tackle and trust me, it makes a difference. In both of our houses we’ve inherited thin, mean-looking skirting board that’s driven me wild so, as we’ve worked through and decorated, I’ve swapped it all over to a taller style that I think makes the house look a little more elegant! 

As you can see from this skirting board website it is now possible to buy whatever style you need and have it delivered to your door. All you need to do is to pry the old skirting off the wall carefully; the more care you take here, the less work you have later! Fill in any holes and glue or nail (or both!) the new boards into place. You only need basic tools and potentially you can break up this DIY task into short bursts of work. An approach which will make it easier to fit this job into your busy life.

Declutter

An untidy room never looks its best. You will be surprised by how much of a difference simply decluttering makes. It is also worth considering whether all of the furniture you have is actually needed. Reducing the number of large items in a room really opens up and improves most rooms. One of the hardest things when decluttering is knowing where to move the items you no longer want to. Instead of shifting them around the house consider if you really need them anymore and if the answer’s no, get rid! Try Facebook selling pages, eBay and Gumtree to make a little extra cash from them or gift them to charity, refuges or the local tip if not! 

Improve the storage

To stop the room getting untidy again, consider improving the storage. Often, this can be done simply by doing something like buying plastic bins with lids that help you to make better use of the space you have available. Some of my favourites are the ones with wheels that will easily slide out of the way under the cot or bed – easy storage and out of plain sight; ideal! There are lots of easy ways to create more room in a cluttered wardrobe as well, giving you more usable space within it. More storage means a tidier living space and an instant feeling of calm, just don’t forget to keep it that way.

Redecorate one of the walls

When you have not got time to fully decorate a room just redecorate a single wall. Other suggestions for quickly changing the look of your walls include using wall stickers, creating accent panels and stencilling. If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen I’m a big fan of the quick wall update, we’ve recently added a wall feature using washi tape in our son’s bedroom; took me twenty minutes to do and has brought the whole room together – that’s my type of decorating!

Hang something new on your walls

Alternatively, you could simply swap your current artwork for something new. If you use the hooks you currently have in place it will only take you half an hour to order what you need and put them up when they arrive. Better yet, consider using something simple like Command hooks or strips as they’re easy to hang and there’s no need to bang nails into the wall! You could also consider hanging something unusual on your walls. For a den or office, street signs can have a transformational effect. Or how about using small pots to hang succulents on the wall? These pots were off of Amazon, combined with some faux succulents they make a great effect!

Update your soft furnishings or linen

Swapping your old cushion covers, throws, bed linen and towels for new versions, takes very little time. Often, you do not need to change them all to make a big difference, instead go for a feature cushion or two to update the look and keep the rest very neutral. The best thing about cushion updates is you can use the old pads from your previous cushions to keep the cost down as well.

Use paint to brighten up a room

There are lots of ways to use paint to enhance your home. Something simple, like rubbing down your table and painting the top can be done in a morning. Even painting a door or dado rails can make a surprising difference to the overall look of a room. Not sure you fancy taking on a painting job? Get some sugar soap solution, dilute it as directed and give the walls a good scrub down; you’ll be amazed what a difference it can make to the room’s appearance, especially if you have little ones or pets around! 

With all of the above ideas, the best bit is you can attack them in small chunks – a lunch break here, an hour after dinner there… a few small chunks and you’ll have some big transformations; trust me!