We have time and again seen dreamy pictures of homes and houses on the internet and fantasized about having that perfect nest. A cozy bed to relax after a tiring day, a study space to fuel our creativity, an inviting dining space for Instagram worthy dinner parties, a lounge where our friend can get together for 3 A.M. conversations. There is only one thing stopping us from achieving our goal. LACK OF MONEY! So how do you transform your house into a drool worthy home without straining your pockets? Do It Yourself!!!
1. Pictures and Wall Hangings:
Empty walls speak of empty minds. Pictures add color to a drab looking room and can speak volumes about your personality. What’s more is you can hide all the ugly spots on your wall, such as moistness, chipped paint, hand impressions, etc. with bright and lively photos, (although that isn’t a long term solution) and add character to your space.
Pick a wall, to transform into a feature wall, draw and decide how many pictures you want to put up. You can make a collage, a pattern, or just put them up randomly. Choosing pictures can be a little tricky, as you want them to color coordinate with the rest of your space, but also add a bit of a contrast. Images may be your family photos, superhero wallpapers for a younger look or a teen space or a dorm room, travel quotes, inspirational or quirky/funny quotes, abstract pictures, geometric prints or paintings from your favourite artist. For free or paid printables you can visit Etsy, Pinterest, Tumblr, Shutterstock, and many more. The best thing about this is you can keep recycling the pictures if you get bored of them, thus refreshing your room ever so often.
2. Light it up!
We all suffer from the tubelight syndrome in India. Putting up innovative lights, can not just brighten your room but even your mood! There are tons of ideas on the internet to light up your room, from something as simple as putting fairy lights around your bed back, curtains or wall hangings to give them some shine! Alternatively, you can put up bulbs around your mirror for a movie star look.
The simplest way however is to get a couple of mason jars, (available at any crockery store for as cheap as Rs. 75 – 150) or old glass bottles. You can stuff them up with fairy or led lights of your choice, (yellow for a subdued look or multicolored for a fun festive look) Now, stack these mason jars into a pyramid, or any formation you’d like. Turn on the lights, and watch them create a magical glow! This would make for a great centre piece, or night lamp for your space.
Another way to spice up your backyard, is to put lights. Fairy lights wrapped around your favorite tree, or glow in the dark seating, radium stepping stones are some ways to add spark to your backyard. A novel idea to achieve the perfect artsy rustic look is to select a mid-sized tree branch. You can either chose to paint it black or leave it raw. Get 1m-10m long LED lights/Fairy lights/bulbs on a string, and wrap them loosely and roughly around the branch. Now hang up the tree branch either on one of the walls, or from a temporary ceiling to get that romantic outdoor dinner date look. You can also wrap the bulb wires with rope, and hang them at various levels for an informal party look.
3. Rope is Dope!
Rope is the most underrated and cheap accessory one can find! It looks remarkable and costs almost nothing. Using rope, of varying thicknesses and materials, you can completely transform your space, and make it appear rustic and contemporary at throwaway prices. Do you have plastic bottles, glass jars, old vases lying around useless? Well, cover them up with rope! You can upcycle these and use them as vases or brush holders etc. Another brilliant twine hack is to make a pendant light out of it. All you need is a balloon, fevicol, some twine / rope / wool, and fairy lights. You can also make wall hangings, signs, lamps out of rope. Wind the rope around unused tyres, to convert them into a dazzling ottoman!
4. Go Green!
Stuck in a desk job all day? No time to soak in nature? Well, if you can’t go to nature, bring nature to you! Money plants, colorful climbers, bamboo stems, colorful pots or (simple ones with rope wounded around), indoor herbs, not only add color to your space, but also give a freshness to it. An extremely easy way to enliven your room, desk, balcony or any space, this hack is easy on your pocket and very easy to maintain. Do not shy away from displaying your greens in innovative and fun ways. You can hang up small plants, frame leaves, add some unconventional plants such as cactus or Aloe Vera. You can even convert unused items in your house to pots. Fill old shoes, tires, old drawers, doll heads, kettles or broken telephones with clay and sow your favorite plants. Display these ingenious pots and planters as centerpieces or foyer pieces and wow everyone with your plants.
5. Recycle! Revamp! Reuse!
There are scores of unusable items lying around in our house eating space. Well, not anymore! Fuel your creative side and renovate these useless items into works of art!
Anyone got an old ladder lying around, from a paint job from 10 years ago??? Clean the ladder with a wet cloth and spray paint it with desired color, u can chose to go wild and paint it a dark navy blue or shocking pink, or go for safe colors like whites or greys. You can then use this ladder to put up lights, photo frames, pots, knick knacks, etc and make the ladder a talking point in your house. Instead of propping the ladder against a wall, you can also hang it up horizontally to make a cost effective book shelf.
Another fabulous upcycle job can be achieved by old fruit craters or wood pallets. Still have a pinewood crate box from the mangoes you had in Summer 2005? Use it to make an awesome new settee. Spray paint the old fruit crate and simply take a soft pillow, a fabric of your choice, and fix it to the closed end of the pallet box (using a rope, string, or even a glue gun.) You can also break down the crate to obtain several wooden pieces, which you may then convert into a sign or wall hanging. All you have to do is to draw a stencil or print one, of whatever you want the sign to read. Try using words like “Love” or “Family” or “Hope” in fancy decorative fonts. Secure this stencil onto your clean and dry wooden piece using scotch tape, and now fill it in using bold markers, paints, or spray paint. An extra tip is to rub the freshly dried paint with sand paper, to give the sign that edgy, rustic look.
These methods are easy enough for everyone to try. These ideas will come in handy if you are a bunch of guys living in a P.G. or a small family in a rented place, new parents, for updating your space economically. So go try these mind blowing tips and hacks and make your house the envy of all your friends!