How to give your old home a new look
There is more than one way to give a home a new lease of life.
Any home can feel old despite its age. The tired look of furniture or the dull layout of certain rooms, even the worn look of timber can give a place unwanted and outdated feel.
How do you bring a new and revitalised look to an old home without spending thousands and thousands of dollars doing it?
That is where the right planning, a bit of imagination and thinking outside the box can be the answer and deliver the best possible results.
How a small renovation can make a huge difference
As soon as people hear the word ‘renovation’, they often assume that it means taking on a complete remodelling of a home.
A renovation doesn’t have to involve everything from re-plumbing to stripping out all the cabinetry and ripping up the flooring.
Even a small renovation can make a drastic difference to the appearance and the way a room is used.
As an example, you may take on the renovation of a bathroom or kitchen. Maybe the bathroom cabinets look tired, old and worn. It could be that the mirror and tapware are showing their age and out of style.
The kitchen might look as if it hasn’t been touched in 20 years or that the furniture and cupboards seem drab and uninspiring.
This doesn’t mean you need to spend months or a huge amount of money to rectify the situation.
You can give the impression that you have blown a hefty budget on renovating your space without going even close to a large outlay.
Adding an overall style
There is a special way of going about a renovation that doesn’t involve spending a large sum of money.
This is where having an overall theme and style to your home can make all the difference to the overall look.
By adding special elements that work well each other, you can have a continuity that flows throw each room and gives the entire house a feeling of everything fitting together.
As an example, you might choose to make more of the natural light your home is blessed with. Bringing in a coastal interior design theme is one way to lighten the place and add a special character to the home.
With a few specific additions of beach style furniture and décor, you can conjure up a feeling of living by the sea. This can create an uplifting and relaxing atmosphere without you needing to do much more than add a pair of wicker chairs and paint the walls or cabinets white.
A few cleverly placed decorations in an ocean theme – a fish shaped mirror for the bathroom, a seashell motif for cushions and throw rugs and even the use of blue and white as a colour scheme can make the home appear larger and roomier. It is because of this continuity of style that you can gain a fresh look that adds a new dimension to the place you live.
Special touches that can bring a whole new feel
There are a number of simple and special touches you can include in your renovation ideas that can bring significant results. There is no need to jump straight to the step of replacing items when there are often easy ways to restore them.
We’ve all seen how a basic clean and polish of furniture can bring a whole new lease of life to things.
Then there’s going that one step further and using something that brings out all the qualities and charms of the wood. This is where the delights of a high-grade Danish oil can deliver a rejuvenating effect to the timber and make the most of its character.
This can be utilised in other features such as wooden benchtops, cupboards and exposed beams. Any timber can be given a facelift and highlight the positive aspects of its natural warmth and personality.
Taking this interior improvement out into the exterior of the garden is another golden opportunity to renovate without any huge outlay.
Decking and exposed timberwork already adds a special element to the features of your home. By prepping and cleaning that area, you can revitalise your outdoor area with a simple coat of the best decking oil for Merbau.
The immediate result is a more vibrant and stylish look to the wood, and you have the bonus of adding a protective measure to an often forgotten asset of your home.
Special changes to your old style home
You may not need or want to make too many alterations to your old style home, or you could risk losing some of its old world charm.
That’s not to say that you can’t use modern ideas and approaches to add character to the existing space. Even a period home in older suburbs can utilise a well-crafted piece. You can often see the clever use of frames, panels and metal mesh Melbourne inner city homeowners use. There can be similar effects in the traditional areas of Sydney, Adelaide and Perth.
There is no need to have a modern effect that is jarring and disruptive the period character of your home.
Metallic touches can bring out the stunning features of classic brickwork and enhance natural features both inside and outside the home.
There is also the practical purpose of disguising or hiding elements that you do not want in plain view.
Changes that preserve the character of the home
The beauty of an older home is that there are characteristics in its original making that are hard to replicate today. There could be anything from the use of certain materials or the craftsmanship techniques that are no longer available.
Unearthing those special elements such as removing carpets and showcasing the traditional floorboards, adding some feature lighting or just painting the home in a subtle but brighter shade can prove to be invaluable.
There is no need to completely remodel your old style home when you can use clever renovation ideas that bring the same stunning results without running your budget into the ground.
Make a plan and set the stage to bring out all the character of your home.