Interior design need not cost the earth. Many people have gone to extremes to make their homes beautiful, sometimes even getting into serious debt. This doesn’t have to be the case. We can all achieve beautiful interiors with little things. These little things come cheap are easy to find. Here are 4 different ways you too can snap up something cheap to create a beautiful home that looks expensive and professionally designed.
Four little things for beautiful interiors
1. Newel caps and carved ornaments for beautiful interiors
carved ornaments
Take a couple of carved ornaments which you can get for less than £1.00. Paint them.
newel cap
Combine them with a newel cap. I got some from a shop (for the change in my purse) that was discarding them because they were old stock.
Glue the decorative, carved ornaments and the newel cap onto an old stair way. Sand and paint and see the transformation.
the combination looks royal
the overall difference
Tip: You can also use any type of carved ornaments on your doors and other places around the house. A good, DIY glue is all you need to attach them.
2. Window seats for tasteful, beautiful interiors
Window seats can add so much beauty to any room or area in your home. They’re cheap and easy to make. All you need is a bit of sponge and some tasteful fabric. You may have some fabric lying about just waiting to do something with, but you haven’t yet taken the plunge. A window seat needs just a little bit of material, but the difference it makes is remarkable. You can see the other fabric ideas that make for beautiful interiors at this page.
no window seat
window sill adds beauty
3. Floor stain is cheap and makes beautiful interiors
It’s not always cheap to lay a new laminate floor. We haven’t yet been able to do so. We can’t have carpeting due to family-health issues. Our floors have always been wood, laminate or tiles. We stripped the old carpets out of every room when we moved in a little over a year ago. See the extreme home makeover here. After we removed the carpets we were left with raw, wooden floors that made us feel we were living in the saw mills (where they store freshly-cut wood). I got some cheap wood stain, and after removing all nails, staples etc and cleaning the floor thoroughly, I allowed it to dry. It was then very easy to apply wood stain with an old cotton rag. (I switched to a brush half way though because this made the job go faster).
difference in stained and unstained areas
In the picture above you can see the difference between the raw wood and the stained area. The picture below shows you the overall effect of the wood stain. One tin goes a long way. Note: wood stain dries slightly darker than it says on the tin.
the floor is modern, clean and slightly reflective - not bad for a fiver
4. Pay attention to details for beautiful interiors
Just thinking about doing something in your home to beautify it is not enough. You have to make an action list, not a ‘to do’ list. Write down not just what you want to change, but why you want to change it, what is going to make it better and the steps you’re going to take in order to change it. Here’s an example of something dull and boring (and old) that needed changing.
the side of the stairs was boring and old
I decided this needed to look different. The white just wasn’t working. I felt colours would look better. However, I didn’t want to live in a house painted in several bright colours. A little goes a long way and this is what was going to be achieved. Now, I’ve always believed that stripes look great. I see them recurring on various scales in beautiful interiors. Here’s what I did.
new look of side of stairs
These colours were used in the hall, so they work perfectly for the side of the stairs. The method is simple. Put masking tape on surface in sequence. Paint parts you want and leave some unpainted. When the first colours are dry, cover them in strips of masking tape and paint the unpainted sections. You can choose to paint the colours all in equal width or use a mixture of wider and slimmer masking tapes . Remember you need to wait for the first layer of paint to dry before you use masking tape on it to protect it from the other colour.
Bonus tips for beautiful interiors
Beach stones (click on image to go to tutorial on how to make these)
painted and decorated beach stones
candle and beach stones in fireplace
Now you know how little things can make a huge difference to your home, you too can use them to make beautiful interiors from simple, affordable stuff that brings elegance to your home. If you have any questions, use the comment box below to leave me a message or use the contact form. While you’re here, why not check out the other home improvement ideas on this blog. As always, thanks for your visit and comments. Do come again.
What little things do you do to your house for a beautiful interior?
What little gem did you pick up for next-to-nothing that changed the look of your house for the better?
Find other Thursday Two Questions at Self Sagacity.
I was scared of interior designing as it may cost much but you have made it simple in this article.Thanks for your wonderful tips.It is going to be very helpful for my new house.
Congrats on getting your new house, Evangeline. I hope everything goes well and that you can get lots of tips on this site to create a beautiful place for yourself and family.
you are brilliant, and i would do all four (five?)
of these lovely ideas in my own home!
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What a difference! Looks so cheery with those colors. I wouldn’t have thought to take out that storage area and use the space.
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We don’t have the budget to purchase stuff , so I just rearrange and de-clutter as much as I can.
Aloha.
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I love what you did with the stairs especially the newel cap.
I just changed some of the throws and pillows I have in my living room for one that have a fall look. I also added some candles, small gourds and leaves for an autumn feel. I try to change some items at the change of each season.
No new items lately but I’m on the hunt for something to use as new hardware for my kitchen cabinets. I would like to find used ones from an antique or junk shop.
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Dreamin. I love blogging. You all express your feelings the right way, because they’re your feeling, focus on your weblog it’s great.
There is nothing I’ve done to add beauty or charm to my house in a long time. In fact, I want very much to move into a larger space. We are in such a tight place and with 32 years of accumulating stuff then we really need upgrade or down size one. I love how you add such a quaint cozy feel to your home. Thanks for the DIY tips!
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Thank you, Cathy. I think if you decide to get rid of half of your stuff, you’ll find you don’t need to upgrade at all. I try to get rid of stuff twice a year. It’s a practise I would recommend to anyone.
Wow, those are very nice additions. I like the caps very much. Thought about doing them all the time for my wood stuff, chairs, cabinets. I like to do the beach stones one day, what kind of paint did you use? Exterior definitely, but any tips?
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Amanda, if you click on the image (beach stones) it will take you to the tutorial in which I showed how I did it.