12 Ways to Re-decorate Your House During Lockdown

When it comes to knowing how to decorate your house during the lockdown, things can start to get confusing with some many tutorials and ideas readily available. You may be one of the 59.8% of UK consumers that have used or plan to use their free time in lockdown to re-decorate your home. And, with online shopping and some home improvement retailers now open again, it’s as easy as ever to get your hands on materials. Knowing how to use them and how best to re-decorate your home, on the other hand, is another story.

The recently-announced roadmap out of lockdown has us set to be welcoming visitors back into our homes as soon as May 17^th, so we’ve put together twelve ways to re-decorate your home to help you impress your friends and family.

How to Decorate your House During Lockdown:

1. Move Furniture Around

This one may be a little labour intensive (and be careful not to hurt yourself), but moving your furniture around a room or between rooms can make a major impact very quickly. Experimenting is key here; changing the angle or placement of even a few pieces can free up space and open up the room.

2. Paint Walls

A refreshed coat of paint can make all the difference to a tired room. Maybe you never got around to re-decorating the dreary look when you moved in, or your walls are just a bit plain and could do with some colour. Try choosing one wall as a feature wall – paint it a bright, block-colour or add a pattern or design. Painters’ tape is perfect for adding stripes, or you can buy wall stencils at many online retailers.

Top tip: Why not follow the latest interior design trend and paint your walls the Pantone 2021 colour of the year?

3. Fall in Love with Indoor Plants

Okay, this one is tricky – not only do you have to choose your plants and keep them alive, but you have to try not to get addicted! Indoor plants literally breathe fresh air into your room. Trailing ivy is ideal for your bathroom as it thrives in humid conditions, and GQ Magazine has a guide to the best indoor plants for your home. Even better, having some greenery around will help you feel calmer and more relaxed.

4. Change Your Colour Scheme

This doesn’t have to be a big task – if you have neutral furniture (such as beige, black, white or grey), all it takes is a change of accessory items. Put different coloured cushions on your sofa, buy (or paint for yourself) some colourful plant pots or hang some bright art prints around the room. Choose a couple of colours in each room to keep everything tied together and complementary.

5. Decoration Rugs

Well-chosen decoration rugs can completely change the look of a room and really bring the furniture together. Patterned or plain, modern or traditional, our online store has plenty of different rug styles, colours and sizes to brighten a room or form a gorgeous centrepiece of interior design. For help choosing which rugs will best fit your home, check out our post on choosing the right rug for your interior. Sometimes, all you need to do is move or swap around a couple of rugs to change your space’s look completely.

6. Upgrade Your Kitchen Cabinets

Although this sounds daunting, it’s in fact cost-effective, fairly easy and will make a big difference in your kitchen. Even if you aren’t feeling up to the task of painting marble patterns onto your counter-tops (a trend which took off in the last couple of years), contact paper works just as well to add some pattern to the counter-tops. And, even painting the cabinets themselves can change the look of the room. In a light, airy room, darker cabinets break up the space and form a beautiful contrast, whereas in a darker or smaller space, bright cabinets can really make the most of the room.

7. Upcycle Old, Plain Furniture

Small changes can make a big difference to older furniture, anything from wardrobes to cabinets or your home office desk. Some things to consider are swapping out drawer handles for new ones, restaining wooden pieces or spray painting almost anything that could do with a splash of colour. None of these are time-consuming or difficult, but the room will thank you for it.

8. Divide the Room

When it comes to knowing how best to re-decorate your home and furniture for maximising space, we lean towards placing large pieces against walls to leave as much floor space in front of them as possible. However, if you have an open-plan space, you can use your furniture and even decoration rugs to create ‘rooms’ within the place. Sofas are perfect for dividing up a living/dining space, and if you have armchairs, placing them at an angle rather than against the wall can inspire a more social space.

9. Rearrange Bookshelves

There are a few different ways to give this a try. Organising books by the colour of the spine can make a large collection come together artistically. You can buy bookends that are minimalistic or bookends that add something to your interior design. And for a smaller collection, try pairing them up with a few indoor plants or statuettes – make them work for the room rather than being more clutter. And speaking of…

10. Declutter

While a little clutter can be the difference between show-house and lived-in home, if you’re starting to see more things pile up than you have space for, it might be time to dust off the Marie Kondo method from a couple of years ago and free up some space for yourself. The less cluttered your space is, the calmer and more productive your mind will be.

11. Switch Up Your Lighting

Lighting can completely change the aesthetic in a room, so it’s important that you decide what look you’re going for when you re-decorate your house. For example, you could try to rely less on ambient (overhead, bright) lighting and instead incorporate lamps or string lights. This creates a softer accent light, perfect for evenings curled up in front of a film or reading in bed. These work best when placed near soft furnishings to really seal in that sense of comfort and warmth.

12. Craft Your Own Décor

If you’re creatively-minded or looking for a new hobby to take up to pass some time productively, it might be worth picking up a craft. Try making some woven wall-hangings, painting an abstract piece or make your own candles. This not only forms a gorgeous addition to your home but an intensely personal, one-of-a-kind piece. Even beginner-level projects can turn out incredible. And who doesn’t want to show off their own art to guests?

We’re looking forward to sharing our spaces with others again, and we’re sure you are too, so we hope you have found some inspiration here on how to re-decorate your house. For more re-decorating tips on a budget, then check out our dedicated blog post. Or, why not browse our collection of decoration rugs to add that finishing touch to any space?