Small Home Renovations with a Huge Impact

27.07.2020

When we think about home renovations and upgrades, it’s easy to be drawn to larger projects. Kitchen remodelling is a common topic in this space, for instance, as are re-tiling bathroom floors and swapping out large appliances. In some cases these kinds of changes are necessary and they can certainly make an incredibly positive difference in a home environment. Often enough though, simpler renovations can also make a significant impact on a home from a design standpoint.

With that said, here are a few specific small home renovation projects to keep in mind the next time you feel like upgrading your home interior.

 

New Lighting

Lights are usually the last thing people notice when they enter a room. However, they also have some of the greatest impact in terms of mood and atmosphere. As such, we recommend installing a couple of dimmers to help you get just the right amount of light in your interior spaces. Whether it is for a movie night or a family gathering, having the opportunity to adjust the room’s brightness can make a world of difference.

Additionally, there are other ways to alter rooms’ lighting without even needing to install dimmers. Along these lines, Curbed presented some lighting tips that can get you off to a great start, without the need for a paid electrician or even any particularly expensive upgrades. For instance, you may be surprised what a difference it can make to take out all of your bulbs in the room in question and replace them at the same time with fresh LED alternatives. Another tip was to establish multiple layers of light simply by bringing about a clear difference between a room’s lighting with overhead bulbs and with floor and/or table lamps.

 

Fresh Paint (Or Wallpaper)

A fresh coat of paint, or some new wallpaper, can arguably be the best way to spruce up interior design and give a room an entirely new feel. It can take a bit of work to do it right, but this is by and large a fairly affordable upgrade, and one that makes a world of difference. Plus, it’s fun! Our post on identifying ‘5 Interior Paint Colours Perfect for Each Room in Your Home’ can give you some ideas about effective shades to start with for certain spaces. Generally though, this is also an upgrade that can inspire you to think about what you really want from a room, and how altering the walls and ceiling in different ways might improve the aesthetic. For that matter, some of our spatial planning services are also designed to help in this regard.

One more note we’d make with regard to this point though is that it’s also wise to do a thorough inspection of wall and ceiling space before painting or adding wallpaper, so that you know you aren’t simply covering up blemishes or damaged areas. This can start with a simple look around, though there are some more in-depth options to think about as well. The easiest of these might be the Leakbot technology reviewed by The Telegraph, and designed by HomeServe. Described as a potential new “industry standard solution,” this tool is essentially meant to detect leaks when they come about, so that you’ll know if you have a potential problem budding in your walls (or elsewhere). HomeServe is a reputable home services provider that facilitates 1.8 million homes in the UK, helping this sort of solution to quickly become a trusted option in speedily handling leaks and similar issues.

Being attentive to that sort of thing can help you ensure that you don’t have any unseen damage or damp spots. Meanwhile, just to be safe, you’ll also want to make sure you move furniture or art covering parts of the walls before you’re ready to paint, just to make sure there aren’t hidden dents or chips. It may seem tedious, but it’s best to be certain that spaces you’re going to paint or wallpaper over are fully intact and dry before you start.

 

Framed Artwork

Framed artwork is another quick and easy way to make a significant difference in what a room looks and feels like. That said, it can be hard to obtain at the price point you might be looking for. Today, there are seemingly innumerable online services that will take photos or works of art and frame them, possibly with some added visual effects. But for the most part, these tend to look somewhat makeshift.

Then again, there are some ways to find more professional-calibre art to factor into your design efforts. Our Edited Collection is designed in part to address this need, in fact, providing a collection of framed prints meant to suit all different design schemes. It’s one example that there are ways to find high-end, curated artwork that you can make use of at a fair price.

 

Small Plants & Flowers

Not every room calls for green. But in appropriate circumstances, potted plants can establish a feeling of freshness and pleasantness that few other design decisions can yield.

Naturally, there are a lot of different ways to go about filling a room with plants. But one of the most effective, from a design standpoint, is to use fresh cut flowers (provided you have access to them of course). The main benefit is the freshness itself, which almost intangibly adds a greater quality to any floral display. However, cutting flowers yourself also enables you to be a little bit more creative. Rather than just purchasing a display as is, you’re able to cut and arrange the flowers, work with different combinations, and even choose vases that will be attractive in the space at hand. The results can be wonderfully expressive bursts of life and colour in your interior.

 

Permanent Decluttering

Getting rid of excess clutter is another perfect way to spruce up an interior, although we’d add that it should be a permanent change. That is to say, don’t think of the idea of decluttering simply as picking things up the way we all have to from time to time. Instead, use the opportunity to work out more lasting storage or waste solutions. That might mean installing new shelves or cabinets; it may mean placing a discreet waste bin in a room that doesn’t currently have one. Whatever your solution, next time you need to straighten things up, give some thought to how you can avoid having to do so in the future.

All of these ideas represent relatively small home renovations and updates. But any one of them — let alone all of them together — can have a significant positive impact on your living space. And in fact you can see how many of these concepts improve the look of a number of interiors you’ll see at Richard Grafton Interiors.

 

Piece solely for the use of richardgraftoninteriors.com

Piece by: JBlume