Syovata Ndambuki

Remember the first time you bought your big, cosy couch? You swore to love it forever, didn’t you? But after years of seeing the same old piece of furniture in your space, it gets boring. Or perhaps you visited a friend and your jaw dropped after seeing all the beautiful things in their space. We all get to that point when we just want new things, but we can’t run to the shops every time we crave some newness. That would amount to unhealthy consumerism, plus it’s not a wise way to spend money. But what if I told you, there are ways to add some oomph to your living room, bedroom or kitchen without spending a fortune. Here are five ways to go about it?

Refresh the accents

If you are not going to remember anything else you read, at least remember this- when decorating a room from scratch, the rule of thumb is to divide your decor and furnishing into two categories. The first category consists of heavy furniture that is supposed to serve you for years, if not forever. Your couches, coffee tables, TV stands, book shelves fall under this category. The second category consists of the accents. These are things that play a more aesthetic than a functional role. They could be your throw pillows, wall hangings, throw blankets, area rugs, faux plants and mirrors. The rule is simple, your functional, long-term furniture should be a neutral colour, but your accessories and accents can be playful, colourful and vibrant. The main reason for this rule is because bright colours like yellow, orange, red bright greens, hot pinks and the likes boost “happiness hormones” at first but after a while they become boring. It’s just like eating sugary junk. Do you want it for breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday? It is recommended that these easy to replace accessories take up bright colours so that when you get bored you can always change them without spending too much.

Instead of buying a whole new couch, how about you change the throw pillow cushions (not the whole pillow). You could also throw in a throw blanket, buy a new bed cover, an area rug, some new plants for your coffee table or sprinkle some colour with new curtains- as long as you remember to refer to colour schemes.

Diversify the textures

Do you know that feeling-when you’ve done the most to spruce up your space, but something is just missing. You can’t wrap your finger around it though. Sometimes it just texture that’s missing. Perhaps you’re bored with your space because it’s too plain and simple- plain-colored couches, a plain-coloured carpet, boring, plain walls, one-coloured throw pillows and a simple, basic coffee table like the one in every other household.

How about you embrace diversity in the textures and patterns. Plain colours are great but patterns and textures have a lot more visual weight. They draw a lot of attention to themselves and you can use them to shift attention fromthe plain and boring furnishings. Thy serve as powerful focal points as they draw the eyes in.

Some simple textured accessories to consider include, crotchet throw pillow covers and blankets, woven or rope drop lights, rattan baskets, kiondo for your plants, a wooden stool or shelf with rich natural grain, paintings or pictures with the illusion of texture or richly patterned area rugs.

Paint a wall

Painting walls is the simplest way to transform a space effortlessly. Fresh, colourful paint on a wall can breathe a new lease of life into a room. And you don’t have to paint the entire room, just a wall or half of it. There are many Pinterest ideas on how to paint accent walls or create illusionary recessed walls. Watch as many tutorials to learn the basics, like how to get the exact colour you want, how to ensure your paint job is clean and how to pick healthy and safe paints.

Accessorize the walls

Imagine dressing the bottom half of your body and leaving the upper part bare? Does it make sense? On this note, take a good look at your walls, are they adequately-decorated? Leaving your walls bare makes your space unproportioned. If you’re beginning to get bored with your space, perhaps it’s time to start shopping for wall hangings. I have to warn you though, decorating your walls is not as easy as you might imagine. You will need to consider colour balance, contrast, theming and proportion. For instance, if you decide to decorate with a gallery wall, the frames should not be too small or too large in comparison to the furniture. Tiny frames can make a space to appear cramped or cluttered. What you choose to put inside the frames and the frame colour should also adhere to the theme colours in the rest of the space. Remember, repetition and balance are very important design principles.

Declutter and deep clean

Finally, with this move, you don’t have to spend any extra coins. Sometimes a space feels tired and boring because it hasn’t had a deep clean in a while. Your old books are piling up and gathering dust and all the unused accessories are becoming an eye soar. How about you learn to declutter and deep clean your house every so often. Cleaning your upholstery can refresh your furniture colours, while decluttering will free up space and create room for you to enjoy your house. In the process, you might discover some decor gems you bought and discarded a long time ago. You might even figure out a new way to use some of the furniture pieces that have been lying around unused for a while. Sometimes you don’t need new things, you just need to appreciate what you already have.