Now that we are halfway into week 2 of lockdown, and the weather has disappointingly changed from the glorious warm sunshine of last week into cooler, cloudier days, now may be the perfect time to give your home a bit of a refresh. So here are a few tips on how you can do this, with limited resources during this time.
1. Layout
Does your home flow as you would want it to? Walk around your home and try to look at it with fresh eyes. If you walk into a room and think, 'yes this works!' then that is fantastic! However, if you feel it's not quite right, then ask yourself why? Think about what you can do to make it better. For instance, is there too much furniture in one particular room, or not enough? Is the furniture that you do have the right size for the room? Too big and it can make a room feel cluttered, too small and it can make it feel cold and empty. Unfortunately, now probably isn't the time to be changing your furniture but what you can do is play around with the placement of your furniture.
If you have too much in the room, think about if there is another room which would benefit from some extra furniture. Likewise, if not enough in one room, switch some in from a room with too much.
Now that you have the right balance of furniture for the room size, think about where to place it. By doing this, consider the overall style of your home. For a more classic or traditional home then a formal, symmetrical layout would work best. In contrast, an asymmetrical layout would suit a more casual, informal style.
2. Edit
We are all guilty of accumulating 'stuff' over the years. Be it ornaments, photos, candles, decorative items etc. Similar to what we have done with moving furniture around to rebalance rooms, now is the time to look at your decorative pieces and consider whether you still like them, want them and if they work with your desired style. By doing this, you will naturally be able to edit down those items. If you have the space to do so, put these items to one side for now, until normality returns when you will be able donate them to a charity, or sell on eBay or gumtree.
Of course, we all have items which we perhaps no longer like nor fit in with our desired style, yet they are sentimental pieces. To tackle this, see if these sentimental items will work better in another room. Quite often, simply moving an item into a new location will give it a new lease of life.
3. Upcycle Furniture
Another great project for now is to upcycle a dated piece of furniture. It is amazing what a lick of paint and new handles can do! Both paint and handles can still be ordered online.
4. Hang Pictures
Hanging pictures can be one of those jobs that is often put off. Now is the perfect time to get hanging! Do plan and take your time though. Make sure that you use a spirit level and mark out where you want to hang your pictures before either taking a hammer to a nail or using velcro stickers.
5. Decorate
Lastly, if you have been planning to paint or wallpaper a room yourself then why not take the opportunity now. Whilst some suppliers have sadly had to temporarily close, there are others who are able to fulfil orders using their delivery service. If you have not already chosen a colour then samples can be purchased online and I would always suggest trying out a colour in the room to be decorated before investing in a large amount of paint, to avoid a costly mistake. Paint a sheet of paper, at least A4 size (bigger if possible), and move it around the room to see how it works in different lights. Once you have selected your favourite colour, go ahead and order the amount that you need. Most suppliers websites have a useful quantity calculator.
I hope that these tips have been handy. We will all be spending so much more time in our homes over the next few weeks and months, it is important that our homes work for us and make us happy!