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Easy Home Improvement Projects Under £100

It’s true that home improvements are often expensive, but that doesn’t mean we can’t take on an easy home improvement project on a budget. There are plenty of DIY projects that transform your home for very little effort and cost.

Whether it’s painting tired looking kitchen cabinets or hanging some affordable art, there are plenty of ways to improve your home on a budget.

Move Sofas Away From Walls

Image from Bibby + Brady

It may seem counter intuitive, but pulling your sofas away from the walls makes a room feel larger and more enticing, A great way of incorporating this design trick in even the smallest of spaces, is by adding shelving behind the sofa.

Adding bookshelves behind a sofa makes the room seem larger by drawing the eye upwards and you don’t need to a huge amount of space to make this work. Just enough space between the sofa and bookcase for access is sufficient for this easy home improvement project.

Paint Floorboards

Floorboards painted in Farrow and Ball, Downpipe

Paint is one of the cheapest and most impactful changes you can make in your home. If you’re living with nasty carpets, that you can’t afford to replace, then it’s well worth having a peek underneath, to see if there’s a hidden gem lurking beneath.

We have chosen to go carpet free throughout the majority of our home and I’m working on removing it from the last 2 remaining carpeted rooms. I find carpet gets dirty quickly in a busy family home and I much prefer the character of floorboards.

Some people may prefer their floorboards to look pristine to consider painting them or sanding them back, but personally, I have no issue with a few gaps or cuts in the wood. I embrace the character.

To paint your floorboards, all you need to invest in is sandpaper, primer and paint. Oh and some time as well!

Paint Walls

Walls half painted in Farrow and Ball, Cinder Rose

On the subject of paint, let’s not forget how transformative a wash of fresh colour on the walls can be!

You could invest new paint for a complete redecoration or, if you have leftover paints in your garage, why not experiment with half painted walls, or something similar? For ideas on how to transform your home using paint, read my blog post on 4 clever ways to use paint.

Paint or Stain Furniture

Another fantastic way to use up paint and update your home, is painting or staining tired pieces of furniture. This is possibly one of the simplest easy home improvement project you can undertake!

When we moved into our current home, we gratefully inherited some of the previous home owners furniture with it. We were able to make use of this in a way that fitted with our own furniture, by painting and staining what we were given. For example, we painted the white wardrobe in the photo above using Annie Sloan chalk paint.

Add Cornicing

Faux cornicing is an incredibly cheap, but effective way of adding character to your home. We recently added this B&Q cornicing to our landing. It was a bit fiddly to make the cuts and to get it to fit together seamlessly, but I’m really impressed with the results (though I still need to finish decorating around it. Starting a job is always easier than finishing it!).

Faux Panelling

Image from nextluxury.com

Faux panelling is incredibly trendy right now and surprisingly cheap to install as a DIY project.

All you need is beading, a mitre box, a saw, glue, spirit level and a tape measure. You will likely also need some filler and caulk to tidy up the edges.

Pinterest is overflowing with inspiration for different styles of panelling and DIY guides.

Spruce up a Patio with Stencilling

Image from Hayley Stuart

If you’re living with a lack lustre patio space, but don’t have the budget for a complete do-over, then stencilling may be a good option.

I have been told that this isn’t a makeover for the faint hearted. It’s a slow and arduous process, that leads to achy knees by the end of it! That said. it’s highly effecting and can look amazing once it’s done.

Just make sure you’re prepared for the annual upkeep. This will need thorough and careful cleaning, as well as touch ups, once a year. The patio in the photograph is by Hayley Stuart, who has helpful story highlights, all about her painted patio, on her instagram page.

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