Hit The Refresh Button

It needn’t cost a fortune to transform your home. These expert tips highlight the cheap and cheerful projects that will do the job

- Julia Newbould

Spending more time at home has given many of us the opportunity to change and refresh our homes or to fix any faults, and this includes taking on interior design projects.

Interior design can range from a deep clean, a decluttering and a lick of paint to remodelling rooms, updating wall coverings, bringing in new furnishings and much more. Starting with a budget can help define the scope of what you can achieve, and how you can get the best value for your money.

Decluttering is a cheap first step

Sally Flower, a KonMari practitioner trained by Marie Kondo, says that if you’re selling a property, decluttering is the best place to start. “It’s one of the smartest things you can do, both for the costs of transportation [to a new home] and the invaluable improvement at the inspection,” she says.

And whether you’re ready to sell or not, it’s a good tip for when you’re thinking about improving the value of a property.

According to Flower, the first thing to do before embarking on your new project is to work out your idea of design. “Understand what your palette is, what talks to you. You can get really lost if you walk into a space, even Kmart, and be caught up in what’s being sold to you,” she says.

“Before you purchase anything for your home, declutter anything that isn’t talking to you and that is not making your home feel like where you are in life right now.”