How to Give Your Living Room a Makeover on a Budget

With the new year officially underway, many of us are raring to go – whether with New Year’s resolutions, new general outlooks or just a general sense of hope for the year to come. The new year is a great opportunity for a fresh start, and a fun time to consider giving your home the aesthetic refresh it may well need. But with cash tight for a majority of households at the moment, a complete renovation isn’t quite on the cards. How might you embody the spirit of new beginnings in your living room, without breaking your budget? 

​Artwork Overhaul

An understated way to completely refresh your living room is by undertaking an overhaul of your displayed art. There are myriad ways to approach this, but the essential takeaway is that statement pieces for living spaces can be found at astonishingly low prices. 
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In your free time, take to scouring local charity shops and online marketplaces for artworks and installations that might take your fancy. You might surprise yourself with what you find, whether a faded 1960s airbrush painting or woodcutting of an alpine scene. Your search can be catered to your ideal taste, but the real fun in thrifting for artwork is the creation of a completely esoteric décor – for little more than pence per piece.

​Re-Arrange Furniture

Of course, it is possible to rejuvenate a living room without spending so much as a penny. This can be achieved simply by re-arranging your living room furniture for a new feel altogether. Naturally, you won’t be able to re-arrange any custom-fitted items such as alcove shelving or wall-mounted units, but you can easily recontextualise them through the rotation of your sofas and coffee tables.

​Rugs and Throws

Textiles play a vital role in completing your living space, from the upholstery of your sofa units to carpets themselves – to say nothing of the rugs and throws that pull rooms together with their colour and design. Indeed, it is these that are cheapest and easiest to change in a space – making them the perfect option for an inexpensive makeover.
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A new rug can recontextualise a space just as well as a complete re-arrange, adding new patterns and colours that create new relationships between items on display. Likewise, different-coloured throws can add texture and depth to your sofas, creating a truly new-feeling a cosy space.

​Statement Wall

Last but certainly not least, you can change a quality of the room itself in creating a feature wall for yourself. This needn’t involve the bank-breaking services of a professional decorator, and can instead be managed with just an afternoon of your time.
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There are a couple of ways to approach this. One simple way is to mask of the boundaries of your feature wall and roll on a layer or two of new paint. Another is to use a single roll of wallpaper to create a new patterned statement wall. Whichever works best for you is merely a matter of taste!

​Collaborative post