decorating updates
Have fun with these simple but creative ideas that’ll ring the changes without turning into a full room redo
Have a go at these simple revamps and tweaks
1 Garden party Decorate your outdoor space for summer gatherings. Hang paper pom pom decorations from the trees and dress up the table and chairs with a bright tablecloth and matching seat pads. Fill glass jam jars and china jugs with vibrant cut blooms and decorate with ribbon.
2 Paper runner
Craft a super-easy table runner using pretty paper doilies (see left). Gather up doilies in an assortment of patterns and sizes, laying them out on the floor and overlapping the circles here and there. Stick together with dabs of glue.
3 PRETTY idea
Make a bunting cake topper with coloured washi tape. Take a length of bakers’ twine and fold tabs of tape along it, cutting them into triangular flags. Hang across two paper straws, tying in place. Insert into your cake.
4 Magical lights
Create DIY firefly lanterns using Mason jars and a couple of sets of small, inexpensive battery-operated fairy lights. Place a set of lights in each jar and tape the battery-pack to the inside of the jar lid where it won’t be seen.
5 Drinks station
Set up a self-service drinks station if you’re entertaining outdoors, so guests can help themselves and no-one gets stuck tending the bar. Serve non-alcoholic mojitos by making fresh lemonade and adding sparkling water, fresh mint and slices of lemon.
6 Work in harmony
Update your work space by ditching dull colours for a more uplifting colour scheme. Green is said to bring balance and calm, and boost creativity, so energise your space with leafy green accents on soft furnishings and prints, as well as a house plant or two.
7 Totally tropical
Revamp plain windows or disguise a not-so-brilliant view with frosted window film. It’s easy to apply yourself, just buy it cut to size and apply a sheet to each pane of glass. Choose from plain or all-over patterns, or try a fun motif such as this pineapple design.
8 Garden organiser
Sew a wall tidy for the garden shed with a section for each month so you can store seeds in order. Use a panel of floral fabric for your backing, fixing two strips of hessian across it then sewing channels to create the pockets.
9 Pretty up with pom poms
Trim a lampshade by adding your own pom poms in a contrast colour. Using a hot glue gun to secure, add trim top and bottom. Hang shades from coloured flex and cluster in twos or threes to create an eyecatching focal point.
10 TAKE A CHAIR
Transform a shabby wooden chair with a chalky paint treatment, then use it beside the bed in place of a table. Try Frenchic’s Lazy range of chalk paints, which need no prep or wax finish – just give furniture one coat and buff gently once dry.
11 No sew cushions
Make cushion covers from colourful silk scarves. Lay a scarf flat and iron. Pop a cushion pad in the centre, bring in two opposite corners and fold under. Bring in the remaining two corners and knot in a bow to secure.
12 EASY MAKE
Make magnetic tea towels that stick to the fridge or cooker. Fold over one corner of a tea towel, popping a small magnet inside. Stitch down the corner to secure in place.
13 Pinboard wizard
Utilise wasted space on the inside of a kitchen cabinet by covering the back of a door with a thin sheet of cork – it’ll give you somewhere to pin notes, recipes and shopping lists and keep worksurfaces clutter free.
14 Shelf life
Ditch fitted wall cabinets and go for a more relaxed look with wall-to-wall wooden shelves. Whitewash shelves and the wall behind to give a plain backdrop then colour in the space with bright kitchenware, storage canisters, coffee pots and a kettle in co-ordinating shades of blue, grey, pink and mustard yellow.
15 Think pink
No headboard? No problem. Turn the wall behind the bed into a focal point by painting in bold coral pink. Dress up the bed with patterned bed linen, pillows and throws in shades of coral and grey and add a canvas on the wall above the bed in a co-ordinating colour theme.
16 Clutter buster
Stick a strip of magnetic tape – £6.50, Hobbycraft – to the inside of your bathroom cabinet door and use it to hold all those little metal items that usually get lost, such as tweezers, nail clippers and hair pins. Use simple office clipboards (£2.99 each, Ryman) to hang paper prints or children’s artwork. Position picture pins on the wall, in a single row or a grid formation, and clip up a group of favourite pictures, which can easily be swapped around.
18 Garden revamp
Give cheap plastic planters a realistic-looking cast iron, bronze or limestone finish using an easy treatment – Rust-oleum’s Natural Effects spray paint, £9.49 per 400ml, Homebase.
19 MIX AND MATCH
Swap drab office furniture for a fun alternative. Go for a mix-and-match worktop and trestle option in unfinished wood that you can paint yourself (try Finnvard trestles, £25 each, Ikea). Team bold turquoise with sunny yellow walls.
20 Compact dining nook
Squeeze a breakfast bar into a small kitchen by opting for slimline base units and worktops that take up minimum floor space – go for units 300mm deep, rather than the standard 600mm. Pick glossy white tiles and mint green walls to keep the look light and airy.
21 Coastal view
Create a calming, seaside feel in your bathroom by painting the walls in shades of sky and ocean blue. Start with the paler top colour first then, once dry, use masking tape to create a clean edge for your base colour. Add fittings, towels and toiletries in white.