Home makeover ideas 💡

I’ll start by letting you know that it’s almost impossible to have everything figured out at the start of a home makeover process. WHY? You ask. Well, not only do tastes change, but the most unavoidable reason is that household furnishings & accessories tend to create harmony or chaos within a space, and you’ll only discover this when they are close to each other. This means you might have to do multiple trials before you are fully satisfied with the final result.

I’ll share with you a few ideas that you could adopt while doing a makeover for your living room, dining area, study room, or bedroom. The same tips can work in any of these spaces. By the way, check out this article to get more tips on how to achieve a well-organized home makeover.

In this piece, we’ll consider how wall spaces, floor spaces, balance & harmony, colors, and lighting can affect the final appearance of a space.

Walls

Take advantage of the empty space on your walls by placing artwork that matches your design. Factor in the items that are placed below these art pieces in order to accentuate their look. Wall hangings not only help to beautify your walls while producing a focal point, but also give a sense of glam and sophistication when the right pieces are selected.

Tip: Consider achieving symmetry wherein the piece is hung at the same distance on either side from the center of the furnishing placed below it. It should also be hung at the right height; not close to the floor, but at a height that does not awkwardly demand too much on the viewers in terms of how much they need to stretch or elevate, for them to appreciate the beauty of the combination of the art piece & the furnishing placed below it.

Floor spaces

Feel up empty and almost awkward floor spaces with items like plants. The advantage of plants is that they add a feel of nature & calmness.

Tip: Your choice of plants should suit the size of the room and the elements surrounding the latter. Consider the height of the plant together with the width of its enclosing pot.

A console table is also a great item for feeling up space; these suit the spaces closer to your main door or wide walkways. Console tables are practical, as they provide great storage spaces for items that you quickly need to access from your entry/exit areas, like sandals, keys, umbrellas & small purses.

Balance & harmony

Symmetry — To achieve a balance between elements in a room, consider symmetry between the furnishings, by how you arrange them. For example, putting similar stools side by side with the same distance on either side of them, or placing similar sofas opposite each other with the same dimensions on all sides, with respect to the surrounding items.

Pattern & rhythm — this is another great means by which you can achieve balance & harmony. The patterns of your textiles eg cushions, curtains, and rugs or carpets can greatly contribute to the cohesion between the items and therefore the final look and feel within the space.

Colors

Use the color wheel to create color harmony between your walls and furnishings. Neutral colors like grey, white and black are known to complement all other colors but I find that these colors help us play it too safe. I think it’s great to blend colors as this brings a lot of personality into a space, of course, you need to blend colors that will not compete and create chaos within the space.

Tip: Take into consideration what the space will be used for. Some colors like cream, ivory, and blue are known to bring calmness into a space so these are good for living rooms and bedrooms, while those like orange and yellow are associated with playfulness, excitement & energy. Purple would also be good for a study room as it brings a feeling of creativity.

Lighting

Lighting is an essential aspect of an interior, as it helps to reveal the mood and expose the beauty of a space. On top of the natural light provided by the sun, invest in ambient lighting, which is the general lighting of a room, that covers the entire space. This can be accentuated with lamps, and wall fixtures, among others.

Accent lighting can further be used to create focus on walls or objects, whereas task lighting can be used to enhance lighting around task areas, for instance via the kitchen backsplash or around a reading nook.

I hope one or two of these tips can help you achieve your home makeover goals. Enjoy the process!