Even if you employ a cleaner, Kaiko says it can be easy to miss the less obvious places.
โPeople neglect their skirting boards,โ he says โItโs something I always notice โ whether they have vacuumed their skirting boards. A deep clean is always a good idea.โ
Brushing up on paint
Using colour is a personal choice but repainting your home is one of the simplest ways to take your interiors from glum to glam. Dulux colour expert Andrea Lucena-Orr says most people approach repainting in a piecemeal fashion, focusing on one or two rooms at a time, which is not only easier to manage time-wise, but more affordable.
Painting one room at a time is a manageable, low-cost weekend project. For a contemporary look, go with colours reflected in the natural world.Credit: Lisa Cohen/Dulux
โWorking on one or two rooms is how most people do it because you are living in it at the same time,โ she says.
For a thoroughly contemporary look, Lucena-Orr says colour drenching, where the same colour is used on the walls, ceiling, skirting and trim, is popular. For variation, she says rooms with high ceilings can be painted in two tones above and below picture rail height.
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โIf you want to make it feel larger, you do the lighter colour below the picture rail and a stronger colour above,โ she says.
Warmer, natural palettes, from olive green to taupe and apricot are all in vogue right now. And if you tire of it in a couple of yearsโ time, you can pick up the rollers again and start over.
Getting a handle on it
When you think about how many times you open a door or drawer, itโs perhaps not so surprising that they start to show signs of wear and tear. If youโre keen to elevate the look of your spaces, switching handles for the bathroom vanity, bedside table or wardrobe doors is an economical option, Kaiko says.
โUpdating those touchpoints in the house like door hardware and cabinetry hardware where you interact with the house physically might be a really nice way to elevate and update your home,โ he says. โYou can buy door handles from the hardware store and itโs a really easy thing to do as a DIY exercise.โ
Alternatively, your handles might just need some TLC. Take the time to give them a thorough clean and polish to bring out their best.
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Plant an idea
For practitioners of feng shui, adding living plants to interiors is a must because of the belief that they bring โpositive energyโ with them. For Kaiko, theyโre an inexpensive, moveable alternative to a piece of furniture or artwork.
โThey make a great focal point in any space, and you can fill up dead space,โ he says.
If you donโt have much experience with plants, something hardy with glossy leaves, such as Devilโs Ivy, which will grow from a cutting, or the classic peace lily are good starting points. Remember to water them, though โ nothing says โshabbyโ like a dead plant.
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