Giving Your Home a Makeover on a Tight Budget

The choice of colours you decide to use to decorate your home can make a huge difference. Just recently we decided it was time to give some of the areas in our home a bit of a makeover. We had to do things on a budget but the results were terrific nonetheless. We decided to start with a new look for our bedroom. The room was not the brightest and in fact could reasonably be described as a little on the dull side. It had a dark, wooden headboard with complimentary bedside units. the walls and the duvet and bedclothes were all various shades of white or cream, with little or no vibrant colours featured. The absence of any injection of colour gave the room a dull, cold look. So what did we do? We gave the room a much needed injection of colour by making one wall – behind the bed – a feature wall which we then papered with an attractive and eye catching wallpaper. We also decided to remove the old headboard which we replaced with a lovely modern fabric headboard and we added a sense of homeliness to this area with a burgundy plaid, a number of pretty cushions and some stunning aromatic candles.. The most dramatic changes we saved for our living room. Again, this room was largely decorated in cream, magnolia and white, including the furniture, the blinds, cushions and lamps. As it is a part of the house where we spend a lot of time, we thought it needed to look cheerier and more homely. To our amazement – and delight , we managed to come up with an entirely new mood for this room easily and inexpensively because all we really needed to do to make a dramatic difference was to change the fabrics. Essentially, we bought a new pair of subtly patterned curtains and then followed this colour scheme throughout the rest of the room by choosing some cushions in a similar shade, as well as matching lampshades for our table and wall lamps. Straightforwards tips, like adding a vase of fresh flowers or some striking scented candles in matching colours created the warm, homely atmosphere that had once been lacking We picked rather more scented candles – like the ones made by manufacturers like true grace candles and yankee candles - because we were aware that not only did they smell terrific but that in addition to this, they also burned for a longer time than some of the less expensive alternatives out there, and thus actually offered better value for money in the long run. This was one small indulgence. When you start to give some thought to accessories, though, scented candles are but one of many choices available. You are only really limited by your imagination, and of course, by your budget. Some of the simple accessories we mentioned earlier like lampshades and cushions you could actually make yourself from scratch if you were really intent on watching the pennies.




The next room for the makeover treatment was our child’s room. Again it was painted more or less uniformly in boring white. It featured a small desk and chairs for studying and playing on the computer. Again, the main task was to try and imbue the room with some sense of warmth and comfort. We started with the laminate flooring and decided to buy an attractive rug to brighten this up. We hung some bright wallpaper on the walls to add to the personal feeling and gave the woodwork a fresh coat of paintThen, we developed the study space by sitting two bookcases alongside one another and the final decorative flourish was a large, stylish light fitting which bathed the whole room in light




The author is the owner of The Scented Candle Store which supplies a range of candles including Yankee candles