10 cost-free ways to improve your home

There’s been a lot of talk in recent weeks about how the current situation is the perfect opportunity to get on with DIY and decorating projects, yet it’s also left many of us facing a major drop in income. Having a home where you feel happy and comfortable is perhaps more important now than ever, but making improvements might seem impossible when you’re struggling to pay day-to-day bills, let alone find funds for furniture and materials. So, I’ve rounded up 10 ways to make positive changes to your living environment without spending any money.

Some of the below tips will help you make the most of what you’ve already got; others could form the starting point for a wider home transformation as and when budget allows. There are also a few cost-free ideas for freshening up spaces that you’re suddenly spending a lot of time in. Whatever your situation, I hope you find them useful.

Declutter

Getting rid of clutter will make your home feel bigger, calmer and more inviting – and you’ll have a much clearer idea of what might be possible once you’ve cleared out excess stuff. It can seem like a daunting task, especially if you try to tackle your entire home in one go, so my advice is to begin with one manageable area such as a drawer or cupboard and then move on to another. Take everything out, and for every item ask yourself ‘do I use it?’ and ‘do I love it?’. If the answer to both questions is no, then it’s time say goodbye. If you’re unsure about anything, put it to one side and revisit it after a few days – if you haven’t missed it, you can probably let go of it. Scanning old paperwork so you can store it digitally is another quick win.

Whatever you do, try not to create unnecessary waste – I know most charity shops and recycling centres are closed at the moment, but it’s better to bag up unwanted items to take at a later date than send them to landfill.

Experiment with different layouts

Rearranging a room can give it a new lease of life. Start by standing back and looking at it as a whole – are there any awkward corners? Or any day-to-day niggles that you’d like to fix – perhaps a coffee table that’s too far away from the sofa, or a dining chair that scrapes against the wall every time you stand up? Also think carefully about how you’d like to use each space. For example, if your living room is arranged around the TV but you’d like to encourage more conversation or family interaction, you could try repositioning the seats so that they’re angled towards each other rather than the screen.

Once you have a potential layout in mind, you could use floor-planner software to test it out, but sometimes I reckon it’s best to just start moving things around and see what happens. Of course there’s always the risk that you spend an afternoon rearranging furniture only to decide you actually preferred it the way it was, but that’s not wasted time – it’s all part of the process of learning to appreciate your home and discovering what works best for you.

Give each space a purpose 

If there’s an area that you just can’t get right but you can’t work out why, chances are it’s lacking a purpose. So, wander from room to room – or corner to corner, if you have an open-plan layout – and take time to understand what you need each one to do for you. There are the obvious things – somewhere to cook, somewhere to eat, somewhere to sleep – but others will depend on your personal circumstances. Allocating defined functions to each area and working out what needs aren’t being met will help you make the most of whatever space you have, whether it’s a small studio apartment or a large house. It will also help you identify any ‘dead’ zones that have become general dumping grounds and could be repurposed. For example, could a little-used guest bedroom be turned into an office? Do you have a place to unwind away from others, and if not could you carve out a cosy seating nook by placing a chair in an alcove or a floor cushion by a window?

Create interesting displays

Arranging displays on sideboards, shelves and the like is a fun way to change things up and express your style and personality. And it’s an activity I always enjoy doing – it’s a chance to absorb myself in something creative, forget about the outside world for a couple of hours, and rediscover objects that have meaning and happy memories attached to them. There are a few easy styling tricks that you can employ, too – read my top tips here.

Use what you have

It’s amazing what you can do with bits and bobs that you have lying around the home, so rummage around in cupboards, attics and sheds to see what you stumble across. Try to be inventive and think beyond obvious uses. Do you have a curtain remnant that you could turn into a cushion cover? An old floorboard or an offcut of wood that could become a shelf? A stack of pretty books that could act as a side table? Or even a paint tester pot that might be just enough to touch up a scuffed patch of wall?

You can also ‘shop’ your home, swapping accessories around and restyling spaces with items that you already own. You’ll be surprised by how easily you can transform a room, and by how often some forgotten object that’s gathering dust in a corner ends up being the perfect finishing touch for another area. It’s also a good way to adapt your home to the changing seasons – for example I tend to bring out breezier linen throws and cushions in spring and summer, and snugglier velvet and woollen ones in autumn and winter.

Focus on atmosphere rather than aesthetics

I always think the key to a happy, comfortable home is focusing on how you want spaces to feel, not how you want them to look. You might want one room to be cosy and cocooning but another to be open and airy, so bear this in mind when rearranging / restyling and act accordingly. Texture and colour are very important here, but so is scent. I have a well-documented addiction to scented candles, but they’re not the only way to introduce different aromas into your home – bunches of herbs, dried citrus peel in a bowl or a few drops of essential oil dabbed on a light bulb (so that it’s activated by the heat) can produce wonderful effects. Don’t forget about acoustics, either – moving a rug to dampen sound in an echoey space will have an instant impact on atmosphere.

Hang artwork

The right artworks can transform a space. You may want to invest in a few new ones, or buy frames for existing ones that you haven’t yet got round to hanging, but you don’t have to spend a thing – I’ve created a display in my home office simply by sticking a few favourite postcards to the wall with masking tape. You could even have a go at making your own masterpieces by using leftover paint or paper collages to form abstract compositions – there are plenty of ideas here.

Bring nature inside

Countless studies have shown that introducing natural elements into the home can reduce stress and anxiety, and maintaining a connection with the great outdoors seems all the more important now that it’s difficult to experience them in person. What’s more, it’s something that’s easy to achieve without parting with any money. I often bring in branches, flowers and grasses foraged from my garden or a nearby field, and they can be just as striking as any shop-bought bouquet. Even a few leaves snipped from a hedge or tree can look pretty when arranged in a vase, and the greenery they add to a room is very uplifting.

Indoor plants are especially beneficial as they purify the air, and it’s possible to grow them from scratch by burying avocado stones or lemon pips in a small pot of compost. You can also propagate many houseplants (find out how here), and on my street we’ve started posting cuttings through each other’s letterboxes so that we can all get hold of a few new varieties!

Maximise light

Natural light is another essential. It regulates our body clocks and has a huge impact on our mood and energy levels, yet it’s often an afterthought in interior design. If you want to increase light levels in your home, there are plenty of things you can do for little or no outlay. You might not be in a position to start knocking down walls or installing more windows, but you could look at removing unnecessary internal doors or, in rooms where privacy isn’t a problem, taking down curtains and blinds. You can also bounce light into darker corners with a well-placed mirror or a reflective bowl or vase.

Dream and plan

Finally, why not use the extra time at home to dream big and work out what you’d do if money were no object? It may seem counter-intuitive when funds are tight, but thinking things through carefully and drilling down into how you’d really like to live will give you a better understanding of your needs and help you make the best use of your budget once you are in a position to undertake bigger projects. Just make sure you frame it in a positive way, and focus on your home’s potential rather than its flaws. It’s something I’ve been doing myself over the last few weeks, analysing how we could rejig the upstairs layout to allow for a bigger bathroom. It’s not something we’ll be able to embark on any time soon, but realising that there is scope to create a space we truly love, no matter how long it takes, has made me see our house in a new light.

How about you? Have you found any ways to improve your home without spending any money? And have you undertaken any recent decorating projects that you’re happy to share? 

All photography by Abi Dare