You don’t have to spend lots of money to make your house cozy and stylish — you just need some ordinary household utensils, a little imagination, and a desire to change something. And, of course, you can always take a look at what Smalljoys shares with you from time to time!
So what can we do to turn our apartment into a real nest without great expenses?
1. Use ribbons instead of rings and pegs
Redesign your windows with colorful ribbons, like this. It looks fresh, airy, and imaginative.
2. Upgrade your drapes with an edge lining
You can change the way your drapes look without buying new ones by adding an interesting edge lining. You can stick a ribbon with pompoms on it or sew a decorative piping with an ornament. There are lots of options to suit anyone’s taste.
3. Handmade decoration for plant pots
If you freshen up your windows, why not do the same for the flowerpots on your window sills? All you need are a couple of single-tone pots, a bit of paint, and your imagination.
4. Make a felt-tip pen drawing on your lamp
A little patience and a felt-tip pen — and your own one-of-a-kind lamp is ready.
5. Decorate a lamp with materials at hand
You can conceal that lamp stand you don’t like with simple twigs, and decorate the stand of a floor lamp with a rope.
6. A handmade clock
You can make your own imaginative clock just like the ones in expensive interior design stores in just a matter of a few hours — it’s not as hard as it may seem.
7. Make a minibar out of an old cupboard
If your ancient cupboard still lives with you for no clear reason, make a purpose for it: create your very own and modern minibar! And it’s not necessary to keep alcoholic beverages in it.
8. Use corner shelves
The kitchen is the part of your apartment that always needs more room, whatever the size. That’s why, instead of large cabinets, you can use light open shelves.
9. Make an additional shelf for spices
It’s common knowledge that a kitchen can be crowded — including your storage space.
10. Use the doors of your cabinets
The inner part of your kitchen cabinets can be turned into a great storage device.
11. Make a rack for magazines
This simple yet efficient rack will help you keep your magazines and recipe books close at hand. The sides of your furniture are usually empty, so why not make them useful?
12. Make a canvas ’wallpaper’ for your door
Take some patterned canvas and cornstarch glue, and your boring door transforms into something creative. Such ’wallpaper’ is simple to take off, so when you’re tired of the pattern you can easily remove it and change it for something else.
13. Colorfully paint your doormat
Your doormat can also be interesting — just paint it with bright and unusual colors.
14. Make a bath rug of natural materials
Cork is a great natural material that dries quickly and saves heat. It’s also pleasant to step on such a rug. Making it out of wine corks will definitely arouse sweet moments from your past.
15. Hang a wall panel
Various cute little things are nice for decorating an empty wall — for example, old postcards or, once again, wine corks. A cork panel can also be used as a hanging organizer for pictures or notes.
16. Make a photo exhibition
Photo albums are great, but some pictures are to be looked at constantly. Photos can become a wonderful addition to your interior design if you arrange them properly.
17. Add some color to your door
This idea is perfect for those who want to liven up their home but can’t make radical changes. You can even do this in a rented apartment, because returning to the initial look is easy.
18. Painting your old linoleum
Old linoleum in the bathroom or kitchen makes even the nicest interior look shabby. Acrylic paint will give you a hand.
19. Make a hanging shelf out of a tabletop shelf
A desk often lacks space to store various knickknacks. In this case, a tabletop shelf can easily be made into a hanging one, and it’ll fold too. It doesn’t only make more room, but adds some color as well.
20. Decorate your clothes hangers
A great idea if you use an open wardrobe for your clothes. However, even if you have a closed one, these hangers will lift your mood every time you open the doors and look at them.
21. Put a thin bookcase in an empty corner
Corridors almost always have such small corners and niches where seemingly nothing fits. Nevertheless, you can use this space to hold a small bookcase. The bookcase is quite simple and doesn’t require expensive supplies.
22. Make a backsplash out of a map
You can make a backsplash for your kitchen out of virtually anything. However, you can use whatever you like: paper, decorative napkins, or old magazines. You’ll also need thin plywood, glue, and finishing varnish.
23. Hang your pictures evenly with the help of paper and tape
To hang your pictures on a wall without problems, you can have a trial run for your future composition using ordinary paper.
24. Use schematics for pictures
It’s important not only to hang pictures evenly, but also to place them properly — then your wall will look not like a set of separate images, but a completely composed arrangement.
25. Lay your carpet properly
Proper placement of your carpet will add to the overall attractiveness of your apartment. Sometimes it’s enough to move your furniture a bit closer together. By the way, the room will look larger if you decorate it with a soft-tone single-color carpet without texturized patterns.
26. Make a pullout shelf behind the fridge
You can even use the space behind your fridge or stove if you put a pullout shelf in there. It’s not the simplest of things to do, but the result will pay off for a very long time.