You’ve just purchased your new home, moved in and now want to make it your own – but funds are tight.
Creating a cosy space is possible with clever interior design hacks that won’t break the bank. Here are just a few ideas to get you started.
1. Clear out the clutter
If you have items that don’t fit your new space or have seen better days, now’s the time to cull. Throwing a garage sale and selling all the stuff you don’t need will ensure it’s not cluttering up your new home and you might even make some money at the same time.
2. Paint the walls
If you’ve got a room or two that need freshening up, a lick of paint can be a cost-effective way to make your space appear bigger, cleaner and brighter, especially if you use a white or neutral tone that reflects light.
3. Make inexpensive art
It’s easy to find cheap but presentable frames at retail stores, which you can fill with photos, trimmed posters, beautiful wrapping paper, or saved postcards. Group art in sections on your walls for maximum impact.
4. Find the gold in discount stores
Your $2 shop may also hold simple, cost-effective accessories you can add to your décor, such as decorative glass vases and chunky baskets.
5. Head online for furniture
Online marketplaces can be brilliant for everything from antiques to retro lamps if you have the patience to weed out the good finds or wait for sales.
6. Turn trash into treasure
Keep your eyes peeled at charity shops and on clean-up weeks when people dump their unwanted homewares on the curb. If you’re lucky, you might be able to snap up some incredible finds, from dining chairs to bookcases. Similarly, if friends or family members are planning to get rid of any furniture you can use, offer to take it off their hands.
7. Give new life to the furniture you have
A gorgeous blanket can transform an old couch, and you can’t go wrong with a colourful throw cushion or two.
8. Use your wall space
Some pretty, low-cost hooks installed at different heights in the hallway can provide necessary storage for hats, coats, bags and umbrellas and help create a lived-in look to your entry way.
9. Go green
Spaces that feel a little bare in your home can be transformed with a pot or two and some lush, leafy house plants. Local markets can be a great place to buy cheap plants or search online marketplaces in your area.
10. Meet your neighbours
It’s not a design hack, but introducing yourself to the people you share a fence line with will help break the ice and could result in a friendship for life – or at least someone you can rely on to run the bins out and keep an eye on the place when you’re away.