Serious home renovation can be expensive. No matter your financial situation, having a little extra cash in your pocket for when you need it never hurts, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still make your house feel like a brand-new space without completely breaking the bank.
This handy guide provides some straightforward, cost-effective home renovation ideas that will elevate your living space without requiring a high budget.
Join us as we go back to basics and take a moment to reflect(!) on how mirrors are made, how they work, and where they came from.
1. The Front Door/Entrance
Where better to start than the front door? As the main portal to and from the outside world, an attractive front door – as something to come home to or visit – is somewhat underrated in our opinion. So, how best to approach it on a budget?
As will become a theme throughout this guide, one of the most effective ways to transform the look and feel of a space is with intelligent use of colour, and front doors are no different.
Whether you want to give a burst of colour to surrounding roughcasting or simply give your black and white neutrals a fresh coat, this can quickly offset the effects of daily use.
The same applies to a fresh new letterbox, door handle, or decorative glass. As Scotland’s leading specialist in cut glass, we can provide high-quality options, including lead and coloured film, bevels, brilliant cut lines, and sandblast designs.
2. Rethink your approach to clutter and storage
Now that we’re in the door, let’s start with the interior basics. Doing away with or reorganising clutter is guaranteed to give your interiors a new lease of life. It’s well known within the mental health community that excess clutter can have a detrimental effect on our mental health and those we share the space with. It might seem obvious, but start with the stuff you could do without, and be ruthless! If it’s not bringing you joy, it’s got to go; pass it along to a charity shop where possible.
Now that you’ve eliminated the clutter you don’t need, what about the rest? What can you do besides stuffing it in a cupboard or attic, never to be seen again? If you’ve got the space, new
storage units allow you to display and make new spaces for eye-catching placement of belongings. However, if you’re on a tight budget or are low on space, installing shelves is one of the easiest ways to add levels to a room. If you’re lucky enough to have high ceilings (or even if you don’t), adding floating shelves can be a cost-effective and straightforward way to do so.
3. Install glass doors
Open-plan homes can be great for giving more light to a space, but in a country like Scotland, particularly in the Winter, this can become draughty and cold, leading to more cash spent on heating a room than would otherwise be necessary.
While glass doors may be more of an investment than other entries on this list, the money saved on heating bills will provide a reasonable offset, reducing overall cost. As well as acting as an effective draught excluder, glass doors can also effectively modernise a space while maintaining the brightness of an open-plan area.
4. Install stair runners and rods
Stairs are among the first things people see in many homes, so if you’re not completely satisfied with them, renovating them should be a priority!
If you feel your stairs need to step up their game, sometimes getting rid of an old carpet can give things a little refresh. If you’re lucky enough to have attractive stairboards, it might be enough to give them a fresh coat of paint, but if not, why not try some stair runners?
Adding an air of sophistication to any staircase, choosing a colour in a complimentary colour scheme alongside some statement stair rods can make for something seriously eye-catching.
Should you wish to change the colour of the runner, this is far easier to achieve than refitting a carpet, allowing you to cycle through colours and designs as you see fit. Fitting stair runners can be completed without the help of a professional, but if you have any concerns about slippage, it is worth hiring a professional to avoid any potential safety hazards.
5. New lights/new bulbs
One of the most straightforward and inexpensive ways to update the look and feel of a space is by getting new light fittings, lampshades, or lightbulbs.
Whether using an elevated standing lamp to draw attention to a particular wall or something more elegant for late-night reading, lamps change the rooms shape and can be a feature in themselves.
The same can be said for an attractive lampshade, as it changes the shape that light casts and can further stylise a room.
When it comes to bulbs, the colour, brightness and type of bulb you choose can add some much-needed atmosphere to a room. With the correct bulb and lamp (and maybe a few choice prints), the mood of a plain living room can be quickly transformed into that of a subterranean speakeasy, perfect for welcoming guests for a cosy drinks night.
6. Open up a space with a new mirror
One of our favourite ‘hacks’ when revamping a space is using mirrors. Mirrors are an excellent renovation solution for many reasons. Whether adding a larger piece as a focal point or looking to give a room a little more depth, mirrors are a great way to open up and brighten a space.
One of our favourite ‘hacks’ when revamping a space is using mirrors. Mirrors are an excellent renovation solution for many reasons. Whether adding a larger piece as a focal point or looking to give a room a little more depth, mirrors are a great way to open up and brighten a space.
Whether you choose a hanging or standing mirror or something a little more dramatic, such as a tinted mirror or even a mirrored wall, each can be a feature in and of itself and leave your room feeling refreshed. No matter your preference, you’ll find many mirror options to suit your space with Forsyth, including a cut-to-order service.
7. Add a splashback
Moving to the kitchen, a feature that’s picking up some serious traction is the splashback. Hygienic and easy to clean, splashbacks provide a ‘splash’ of colour, bringing life to even the most drab kitchen space.
Our splashbacks, back painted with acrylic resin-based paint, are UV stable and fire-resistant, suitable for kitchen or bathroom use.
When it comes to picking the right size and shape, Forsyth can also ensure that your splashback is perfectly fitted to your space. With our state-of-the-art computerised machines, we can produce glass with cutouts, notches, and shapes to accommodate sockets, light switches and cooker hoods. Learn more about our splashbacks here, or book your consultation to get started.
8. Repaint skirting boards and cornices
This is one of the most subtle but effective ways to spruce a space up. Although skirting boards and cornices can easily blend in, it’s easy to notice when they’ve fallen into disrepair.
Whether it’s cobwebs, dust, chips in the paint or other wear and tear, taking the time to give these features the attention they deserve can make a room’s present colour scheme pop, particularly if you have a statement paint job on a room wall, such as a dark green or orange.
While skirting boards and cornices are typically painted white and are uniform throughout a home, there’s no reason why you can’t change it up to compliment a rooms particular colour scheme. Doing so can change the mood of a room, so while the results can be dramatic, it’s worth doing a patch test to ensure it’s a dramatic you like.
With so many excellent home renovations available for lower budgets, we hope we’ve given you some food for thought and enough ideas to get you started on at least one or two projects. As always, if you’d like to involve Forsyth for a quote or a second opinion, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We can’t wait to see what you come up with!
