10 Easy Ways To Brighten Up Your Home On A Budget

If your home furnishings are getting boring, there are some easy ways you can breathe new life into your interior spaces without blasting a hole in your budget. Changing one small thing can make a big difference. Your decor should do all the functional things you expect and also offer something unexpected to wow you — and your guests. If your rooms are a big yawn, it’s time to brighten them up. These ten simple updates will feather your nest courtesy of some creative know-how instead of cold hard cash.

1. Cushions

Cushions can add instant colour to conventional coloured sofas (such as browns, blacks, white and greys) or lounge suites. Simply adding new cushions will add some vibrancy and colour to your living area.

We love (left to right): United Interiors Paradise Found Cushion, Art Club Concept Dawn Cushion, J. Elliott Home Fleurs Cushion and Linen House Quartz Cushion.

2. Wall Art

Wall art can add a focal point of interest to a room and using the right colours can brighten up a dark area. You don’t need to spend hundred’s on artwork for your walls. There are some great DIY wall art pages on the internet, which shows you how to make wall art from canvas and paints to using material and frames. An easy way to add interest to a wall is to group a selection of picture frames with photos in them. Another easy and cheap way to to make wall art is to buy frames from Ikea, The Reject Shop or discount stores, print out images or quotes you like from the internet, put them in the frames and voila! your own custom designed print.

3. New Linen

New bed linen is a simple way to transform your room. Purchasing new linens, or buying the right linens such as luxury bath linens, is essential to keeping your home looking fresh. The right towels, bedding, and curtains can make or break a living room, kitchen, bathroom or bedroom.

4. Plants and Flowers

Houseplants bring nature indoors with colour and texture, and they can be surprisingly easy to maintain. Indoor plants are also a hot interior trend in 2020.

Pots that include their own water reservoirs and water retaining soil additives make caring for plants less hands-on than it used to be. You can find a plant variety for almost any sun exposure, too. Many houseplants are natural air purifiers working quietly to clean the stale, chemical-laden air your super-efficient weather stripping and other insulation has trapped indoors.

Many house plants are natural air purifiers working quietly to clean the stale, chemical-laden air your super-efficient weather stripping and other insulation has trapped indoors.

Even if you’ve killed what feels like a forest in the past (like I have), there’s an excellent, unexpected reason to give plant-keeping another try. We noticed a huge range of “kill proof” indoor plants at Bunnings on a recent trip there.

5. Ornaments

Ornaments add colour, interest and a focal point for sideboards, tables and shelves. The key to an effective look is to have a group or small groups of similar coloured or themed pieces. Also try and keep the look uncluttered. Too many ornaments can make a space seem smaller and dark and you are wanting the opposite affect.

6. Light it up

You can do a lot with lighting to make your room appear brighter. A ceiling fixture with a glass shade will reflect and amplify its light, but it’s also a good idea to add table lamps and floor lamps to create a really warm and cosy effect. Having a variety of light sources not only brightens a space, but adds character, too. Another way to add light to a dark room is to add a skylight. You can buy DIY skylight kits from hardware stores for around $90.

7. Paint it

This is a popular suggestion because it works every time (as long as you pick the right colour). As room refreshers go, a new paint job can brighten your walls, cover those dings and scratches, and give you a great opportunity to use colour to your best advantage. The right wall paint can coordinate your room décor and even showcase special elements like a fireplace when you incorporate two or more paint colours in a single room.

8. Add white

The easiest and most popular way of brightening up your home is to whiten it up. White accessories or ornaments, furniture,  sofas, window furnishings, even for your floors—brightens a room, creates the illusion of a larger space, and highlights everything around it. Best of all, white can suit any taste or style, whether yours is traditional, modern, or somewhere in between. Here’s a tip: Warm whites soften areas and add a sense of comfort, while bright whites give modern, minimalist spaces that extra-sharp zing.

9. Add a Rug

Dark flooring can be beautiful and elegant, but it can make a room look smaller. Try laying down a rug in a light colour. This can really help to lift the look of a room, and is a lot cheaper and quicker than replacing flooring.

10. Mirrors

Mirrors bounce and reflect light, making a room feel brighter and appear larger. Even if you have minimum wall space, use it to hang a mirror. Maximise the effect by positioning so that it reflects a light source or natural light from a window.

What do you do to brighten up your home?