5 Tips to Refresh Your Home Without a Complete Overhaul
We are coming into the Spring and Summer seasons with lots of entertaining and company coming over to look forward to! Now is the time to bring new energy into your home and see things in a new way. As a professional interior designer in Bergen County NJ, I am often asked to help out to give my clients home that fresh look.
Here are some tips for doing this in a quick way:
#1. Don’t go crazy!
Don’t focus on trends you see in magazines and try to make your home look like what you see in the photo. Design evolves over a period of time. It takes deliberate approaches to solving the issues in the home that don’t sit quite right.
You may not be aware of those little things that bother you but they are there.
#2. Look around your own home.
There is no need to go to shop for more until you shop in your own home. I like to explore the china cabinet or the pantry where all the “stuff” is stored. You often find things that are gifts that you never thought about using. Maybe something you have in one room could function better somewhere else in the house?
I like to think about function. Suppose you don’t have a bar but you do have a console table. Suppose you could set up the table to be a bar rather than its usual purpose, as a place to display a collection of items. Never thought to do that?
#3. Accessories can make a big difference.
If we move your pieces around you get a completely different presentation. Suppose you move the mirror over the fireplace mantle in the family room to the entry foyer, letting in the light. Then you could place the art from the hall over the mantle. Big change. No charge!
Moving art, rugs and pillows are an effective way to transform how a room feels.
This reminds me of a little story. When I was studying Home Furnishings in college, I got a great inspiration to redo my parents’ living room. I promised the guys across the street that I would make them dinner if they would come over while my mom was at work and help me “rearrange” the living room. I pointed and they moved. ..including a baby grand piano! My mom was pleasantly surprised when she came in the door and the guys had a great meal!
There is great potential in changing things up!
#4. Declutter.
Ask yourself, “Does this piece contribute to the vision I want in my home?” Does it have sentimental value? Does it make you smile? Or, did you just plop it down right there one day and never thought about it again?
Your rooms need to breathe and too much stuff gets in the way.
EDIT.
#5. Add greens.
Plants and flowers make a space feel alive. They help you remove toxins from the home and add oxygen so you breathe better.
I bring home fresh flowers every week and put them on the kitchen table. Then, when I have breakfast, they accompany me and make my mood bright and cheery.
