Oh we can get obsessive when it comes to our interior design, can’t we? We can get ourselves so worked up about the latest styles, trends in fabrics and colours, the various merits of contemporary vs traditional style and the intricacies of what our Feng Shui might be saying about us.
It’s not for nothing that we get ourselves worked up into such a lather, of course. Our home is, after all, our castle. It’s where we go to relax after a hard day’s work and where we withdraw to when the world outside tests us to our limits. For many of us, our home is also our office and our gym, too. In an era where doing just about anything from going to the cinema to dining in a restaurant seems prohibitively expensive, many of us have begun to look to the home to be the place where beautiful memories are made. If we’re spending more time at home than ever in the Western world, it stands to reason that we want to ensure that we do so in surroundings which are beautiful, comfortable and representative of our unique personalities.
Still, gorgeous interior design needn’t be a stress. It needn’t be an endless race to keep up with the Joneses and import the latest fabric samples from Milan. It’s simply a case of creating an environment that you can fall in love with. The great news is that rarely is this a case of making huge, sweeping (and expensive) renovations. It’s simply a matter of taking care of (and drawing attention to) the little things.
The little things can make a big difference when it comes to your home decor. Here we’ll look at some of the little things that may be humble and inexpensive enough but can have a highly transformative effect on your home…
One of the most important things to do for your home… and it won’t even cost you a penny. In fact, do it right and it can even help to make you money! Over time we can come to accumulate vast quantities of possessions. It’s a natural consequence of a culture that treats shopping as a leisure activity. Nonetheless, as fun as it is to bring back lots of pretty new things… It doesn’t take long for those things to become forgotten, neglected and relegated to the realm of clutter.
Clutter can not only take a toll on your mental health and make it harder to relax in your own home, it can also make your home look and feel smaller, giving you less usable space to work with. Thus, if your home appears to be losing its lustre, clearing out the clutter should be your first port of call. Go through each room and do a ruthless audit of your home, adding everything you no longer want or need to a pile. You’ll be astonished how quickly that pile adds up. Take that pile to a charity shop or, if you have the time or the patience, sell it online.
You’ll find that your home looks bigger, more spacious and more relaxing.
Another tiny thing that can make a big difference to your home is your use of scent. Matching different scents to each room can really enhance the effect of your decor and make your home a more pleasant and relaxing place to be.
However, I advise against flooding your home with scented chemical sprays. Unlike foods or pharmaceuticals these products are not necessarily designed to be harmonious with the human body. In fact, in some cases, aerosol scent sprays can be found to contain harmful or carcinogenic compounds. The word “fragrance” hides all manner of sins.
Instead, use essential oils to enhance the effect of each room. These are cheap, long lasting, gorgeous smelling and completely natural without nasty side effects.
If your kitchen is starting to look a little bit lacklustre, renovating it can be a very costly endeavour. Save yourself a small fortune and focus your attention on the parts you see the most. For example, many of us spend a lot of time preparing and washing food at the kitchen sink as well as doing the dishes there. Thus, getting yourself down to Tap Warehouse and getting a new kitchen sink can make a huge difference at a fraction of the cost of renovating the whole room.
What’s more, sanding down your cabinets and giving them a fresh coat of gloss, or merely giving them a lick of paint and some new handles can make them good as new for barely any cost.
Full time I'm an ambitious Head of Marketing and Communications in the luxury industry. Part time, I'm an enthusiastic British Fashion, Beauty and Lifestyle blogger and YouTuber from Manchester, UK. This blog has been my outlet for the past 7+ years, and as a longstanding, Award-winning blogger I take the most enjoyment from creating content I truly love and believe in. All authentic. Always.