One of the best things about making the transition from renting to buying a place to live is the freedom of being able to do what you want with your home.
Whether it be painting your front door, moving furniture around or getting a completely new kitchen, making changes to your place of residence can actually be enjoyable.
However, this can all come at a high cost which if you’ve only recently purchased the property can be fairly financially demanding.
That’s why as a house owner for 5 years, I thought it would be worthwhile putting together a few tricks of the trade that I’ve learned:
- Budget – Before you start doing anything, it’s wise to investigate the amount that you have to play with first. If funds were to run-out halfway through you’d be in a whole lot of trouble especially if you’re redecorating an important part of your house such as your kitchen.
- Priorities – Considering what needs you and the rest of the people you live with have before you make any official plans. For example, if both your front room & kitchen needs redecorating, think about which room you spend the most time in or care about the most before making an official decision.
- Multifunctionalise – Having pieces of furniture that can be doubled up and have multi-functional uses, can be both stylish and convenient as well as a good money-saving technique. Cool examples of this include Coffee tables that can be converted into a work desk and a coffee table that also has room for storage.
- Extend Your Furniture’s Life – If you’re on a tight budget, attempting to extend your furniture’s life rather than just buying new furniture may be a more sensible option from an economic point of view. A simple spray paint and some new fabric will greatly increase the amount of time before you have to get some new kitchen chairs. Investing in stain or grout remover will also be a lot cheaper than simply buying new furniture.
- Going 2nd hand – There’s plenty of space on the internet to by 2nd hand furniture for a cheap price without suffering on quality. We’ve all heard of eBay & Gumtree and those platforms are perfect if you’d like to go online. However, for those that would prefer to see furniture in the flesh, there’s plenty of 2nd hand furniture stores around that are well worth a visit.
- Stock Up – There are some items that may be worth stocking up on in bulk if you have space. Decorating products such as fake flowers/fruit, spray paint, old books or wall decals can play their part in decorating your home.
Fancy reading more about bulk buying? Check out our guide here
To conclude, it’s obvious that you don’t have to spend a fortune on DIY around your home and with a bit of planning, you can upgrade your home without having to spend a huge amount on professional interior design.
