Makeover
Your Home For Spring And Summer (Without Spending Much Time Or Money!)
by
Colleen Moulding
1).
Get rid of the clutter. This will instantly make the room look bigger,
tidier and make it easier to clean. Get rid of the letters on the
shelf, the magazines piled on the coffee table, the shoes in the
corner and the toys behind the sofa. Pass things you don't need
on to charity and goodwill stores, women's shelters etc. They will
be much appreciated.
2).
Stock up on the cloths and cleaning products you need to make the
chores as easy as possible and one by one clean each room from top
to bottom. Start with the areas that bother you the most, the ones
that you try to hide from visitors and you will be so pleased that
you have conquered these spaces it will motivate you to keep them
that way and get all your other rooms ship shape too.
3).
Treat your rooms to inexpensive accessories in zingy colours to
welcome the sunshine, matching up say table mats, candles and flowers
in a dining room, cushions/pillows, vase and rug in a living area,
curtains, mugs and oven mitts in
a kitchen. These don't have to be expensive items, the strong colour
will do the work
for you.
4).
If you have them, change heavy winter curtains for something lighter.
If you're not overlooked consider voile drapes that dress the window
but filter the light in. Make them even prettier by attaching tiny
silk rosebuds or bright silk gerbera heads from craft
stores.
5).
Line all your drawers and cupboards with beautiful paper. An odd
roll of previously expensive wallpaper can often be picked up for
a bargain price and can
be ideal for this job. Other possibilities are gift wrapping paper,
hand stamped or
stencilled papers or simply fragranced drawer liners bought on sale,
straight after Christmas
can be a good time to find these.
6).
Make yourself a little sitting out area with a garden chair and
a couple of pots of pansies or petunias. Add a pot of herbs or lavender
for fragrance and you can work your way out from this area making
a garden as you go. Collect together pots of primulas or busy lizzies
(impatiens) and use them to edge steps or line up along the top
of a wall for instant colour. Use pebbles, shells, cones, mirrors,
tin buckets and pottery in your garden as well as the usual terracotta
pots and plants. If you don't have a garden or any outside space,
make a little sitting area near an opening window. Place some flowering
plants on the window sill and lots of green plants and silk or fresh
flowers around for a conservatory feel indoors. Hang
some wind chimes and let the breeze make music for you.
7).
Paint a dull area a soft buttery yellow for an instant touch of
sunshine, or make a busy area tranquil with a pale sage green. Use
tester pots to spruce up and coordinate lampshades, photo or picture
frames, wicker baskets and flower pots too.
8).
Rearrange your furniture. Sometimes just repositioning a table near
a window so that you can enjoy the garden at meal times or an armchair
closer to the hearth for cosy evenings can completely change the
ambience of a room. Try hanging a mirror so that it reflects light
back into the room, lighting up a dark corner or to reflect a wonderful
view if you are lucky enough to have one.
9).
Frame a large poster to give a room instant impact and style. Museums
and art galleries can be a good source of quality posters at reasonable
prices. Change
them with the seasons for different looks.
10).
Make a fabric covered screen from cut to size pieces of mdf board
fixed together with piano hinges to screen off eyesores or clutter.
Or paint and stamp, stencil or decoupage if you prefer.
11).
Make floral patterned cushions/pillows from retro tea dresses picked
up cheaply at jumble sales or thrift shops. The used fabric has
a lovely soft faded
look.
12).
If you have any chandelier style lights, consider hanging pretty
glass beads from craft shops, antique fairs or little girl's necklaces
on to the arms to
sparkle in the light.
13).
Bring in armfuls of pussy willow or forsythia branches and watch
them open up in the warmth of your room.
14).
Pretty up a little girl's room in less than a day by fixing up a
simple muslin canopy over the bed or a sheer mosquito net from camping
supply shops, hung on to a screw in hook and the ring that comes
with it. Decorate the canopy with pink or white silk bows or butterflies
from a craft store. Add large pink ribbon bow tie backs to curtains
and smaller pink ribbon bows to cupboard and drawer knobs as an
extra pretty touch. Add self adhesive border around the room or
around the window in a fairy, ballet, or pretty doll design and
decorate furniture, toy boxes, waste paper bins or walls with individual
motifs carefully cut out from the leftover border and simply stuck
into place. Weave white Christmas fairy lights around a branch or
twigs for a finishing touch and a place to hang bracelets, hair
slides and ribbons.
15).
For little boys, why not fix up a play tent above the bed. Add torches,
radio and comics for an indoor den he'll want to show off to his
friends Other quick ideas for boy's rooms are stick on glow in the
dark stars, moons and planets and peg rail for the collection of
caps no young man of today can be without.
About
the author: Colleen Moulding is a freelance writer from England
where she has had many features on parenting, childcare, travel,
the Internet and lots more published in national magazines and newspapers.
She has also published a variety of women's and children's fiction.
Her
work frequently appears at many sites on the Internet and at her
own site for women and children http://www.allthatwomenwant.co.uk
a magazine, web guide and resource for women everywhere. Why not
drop by? It was made for you!
Subscribe
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