5 Design Tricks Every Home Renovator Must Know

If you’re curious about upgrading your home or simply rearranging your space but have no idea where to begin, you’re in the right place. We are about to go down the rabbit hole that is home renovation.

A word of caution: you can never be sure what you’ll find when you start tearing down walls and pulling up floorboards, especially in older homes. For a smooth and stress-free operation, seek professional assistance.

Right from the start, the architect or contractor can advise on quantities and sizes when buying materials, equipment, appliances, tiles, cabinetry, fixtures, doors, etc.

How you choose to design your space says a lot about who you are. Use the design tricks laid forth in this article to create a beautiful living space that speaks to you.

1. Pick The Paint

Before thinking about what to add or remove, start at the foundation: the paint job. Different aspects make a house a home, but nothing sets the theme and atmosphere more than a great paint job.

Think about the kind of atmosphere you want to set in the desired room. If you want a cozy, relaxing room, get a darker colour like red, dark yellow, or dark blue. If you’re a nature lover, you can choose a muddy, pastoral green reminiscent of a garden or a pecan brown to make you feel like you’re in the savannah. Warm, energetic colours indicate a place where loved ones gather for coffee and heartfelt conversation, while lighter, colder hues exude a classy and upbeat nature.

Bonus Tip: To remove paint from doorknobs and hinges, boil them with baking soda inside a stainless steel pot.

2. Discover Your Style

Now that you have your paint job in mind think about how to decorate and furnish your home.

If it’s an earthy theme you’re going for, match the paint with wooden, natural furniture. Add a dark green carpet and curtains, coupled with brown lampshades, to make you feel like Mother Nature has wrapped you in her arms.

If you’re the free and unchained kind who wants a sense of otherworldliness, you could pair purple walls with light-coloured furniture to make you feel like you’re travelling through a wormhole to distant galaxies.

Too much?

Perhaps minimalism is your thing. You don’t have to populate your house full of furniture. A few stand-alone items are enough to make a design impact.

The success of your home renovation depends on your current interior merging seamlessly with the new additions, so step back every now and then to look at the bigger picture.

Don’t rely on current trends. When it comes to home décor, the best design trick is to understand your own style and roll with it. Take this amazing style quiz to get started.

3. Bring In The Light

What is the cheapest, most effective way of attracting more natural light? Don’t make any large holes yet. Try a few of these design tricks instead:

• Place windows in your door or a transom window above it. Even the wall can be replaced with a sliding glass door or a sequence of windows if you’re feeling ambitious.
• Remove heavy curtains and replace them with sheer ones.
• Re-position solid furniture that blocks the light from the windows.
• If you want to go the extra mile, paint the walls white or bright colours that naturally reflect the light.
• Use mirrors to reflect the light and make your space appear larger.

4. Choose Wooden Flooring

Designers don’t love wood only for its durability and no-fuss maintenance. Wood instantly transforms a space and comes in a variety of colours, designs, and textures. Wood floors make spaces look bigger than they are and are great value for money.

Choosing wood is a solid design tip for trendy homeowners who wish to increase the value of their home in a timeless manner.

DIY: rent a belt sander from a hardware store; it is much cheaper and easier to use than a drum sander. Don’t forget the sandpaper and the dust collection bag.

Combine light-coloured flooring with darker furniture or cabinets for a striking contrast. You can use different grains or colours of wood, from the ceiling to the floor, to shift the design tone within your space.

Go for patterns that show the natural beauty of the wood like wide planks, long lengths, and patina. Decorator Alex Papachristidis loves the parquet de Versailles, a diagonal style of interlacing wood.

Bonus Tip: When renovating wooden floors, consider what you can restore and what you have to replace.

5. Instant Elegance

Is the surface of your door rough and dry, sporting varnish flakes in some areas?

Renovating the front door is an easy way of upgrading your home and increasing its value. When renovating, always consider future buyers. Work with quality home builders to get this done right.

If you’re working on a tight budget, use a customised door model furnished with faux wood.

Moulding is a quick way to add elegance and charm to any space by smoothing corners perfectly; a true devil in the details. Think of it as the glue that brings the whole design together – the ultimate finish.

Moulding costs about $4 to $8 per linear foot for material and labour. It is relatively inexpensive, considering the design impact. Go as wide as you can with the trim.

Try different kinds of moulding: crown, high baseboard, columns, ceiling medallions, chair rails, etc.

Use hanging lanterns as an affordable way of injecting rustic elegance into your design. Buy them at yard sales or rummage through grandparents’ attic, and hang them at visible points around your home.

Renovating your home is not just a way to reshape the surroundings that you live in; it also allows you to share and express your essence with the outside world. Contact a home improvement expert today and begin the transformation.