For most people, the very idea of giving their homes a revamp seems daunting. Lives are busy, and homeowners generally do not have either the time or the money to spend on long-drawn home makeovers. Thankfully, there are plenty of simple, tasteful hacks to lend a refreshing feel to your apartment. Irrespective of whether your home is located right at the heart of the City of Joy or you have taken up abode at one of those sophisticated flats near Joka Metro, you can easily try out these cost-effective and surprisingly cool ideas to make your home look cool once again:
Go For A Minimalistic Look & Feel
The furniture layouts and home decor plans that you had once chosen carefully might start looking cluttered over time. Switching to a more minimalistic interior design scheme can easily do away with this ‘tired’ feel. Choose the furniture pieces/design elements that are hampering the aesthetics of the rooms, and get rid of them (either on charity, or simply by selling them off). You will be surprised at the volume of extra space now at your home. You will just have ‘more room to breathe’.
Note: If there are kids at home, consider adding a few of their drawings as wall paintings. Doing so would add a refreshing personal touch.
Greener Homes Are Fresher Homes
Amidst the rapidly growing concrete jungles in the city, selecting apartments with adequate greenery around them is often a challenge for aspiring homebuyers. However, there are flats in Joka, Kolkata – as well as at more central locations – that come with beautifully landscaped garden areas and generous dollops of greenery for the eyes to feast on. You can also consider making indoor plants (of different varieties) an integral part of your overall home decoration. Apart from adding a natural perspective, most indoor plants serve as excellent air purifiers as well. Of course, you need to be aware of the watering requirements of the plants. Ideally, choose indoor plants that are safe for kids and pets.
Make Smart Use Of Neutral Shades and Lighting Fixtures
Yours might be a competitively priced residential apartment – but that does not mean you cannot make it appear really chic and sophisticated. Use muted, neutral shades for painting the walls – with matching sofas, couches, tables and other furniture items. Add a touch of class to things with trendy pendant lighting fixtures. Consider replacing your old lamps and bulbs as well. Oversized artwork, that work as delightful statement pieces – would also bring that feel of refined tastes at your home (and take that feeling of sameness away).
Note: An useful hack for home redesigning is the placement of colourful flowering plants near/beside the main door. Nothing beats a welcoming feel!
Invest Some Time In Cleaning Your Home
Your home floors might be washed everyday – but that is generally not enough to prevent dirt from accumulating and things to get cluttered over time. Take some time out, bring out the vacuum cleaner, brushes & mops – and give the doors, windows & walls, and cabinets a proper dusting. Change the bedsheets and pillow covers, put on some new curtains, and install window & door trims (you will get them at any good hardware store). Pick a holiday to do this deep cleaning, engage everyone, and have fun while overhauling the appearance of your home.
Change The Rug; Or Just Flip It Around
While thinking of home renovation, most people consider costlier options – while easy, inexpensive ideas often escape the attention. A classic case in point in this regard would be the floor rugs. Change the rug after every few months, to keep the mood nice & fresh. If you have oriental rugs, you can also consider flipping them upside down – for an all-new appearance. Provided that your flat is spacious enough, you can also have a set of classy-looking area rugs. 3 BHK apartment complexes by top builders – both in & around the city center, as well as the flats near Joka Metro like The102 by PS Group – generally have ample floor area for you to play around with your floor rugs.
Alter The Furniture Layout At Your Home
At times, moving things around is all you need to do, to add that dash of freshness to your home. Create a focal point in each room (for instance, the television in the drawing room can be one), and design cosy corners – like a reading spot with designer lamps, indoor plants, and a nice couch. If possible, you can also consider swapping certain furniture items from one room to another. To create an illusion of greater space, move furniture pieces closer – leaving more area open near the doors & windows. To add a personalised touch, replace those generic wall paintings and hangings with your family photos. Your home should speak ‘YOU’!
Arrange Your Storage Items In A Classy Manner
The homes of even nuanced interior designers are not clutter-free at all times. There is a common misconception that storage items (those extra knicknacks) are often an eyesore. Turn that belief around, by storing those ‘extra’ items on your bookshelves, wall racks, console table and other such furniture. If you have very old items – a baseball bat or a tennis racket or a trophy – just hang them on the walls/put them on display as vintage pieces. In case there are extra paint can(s) after you have redone the wall paintings, use it for painting the furniture pieces as well. Putting up some additional mirrors is also a good idea in relatively smaller homes – since they help in making rooms seem larger.
Think Thematic Home Decor
Proper coordination among all the visual design & decor elements at home is vital for sustaining that elusive refreshing feel. Going for a thematic redesign option can be really helpful in this regard. Select a particular theme (as per you and your family members’ preferences) and set up everything – from bedsheets & pillow covers, to curtains, tablecloths and wall hangings – to match that theme. If required, get the additional items you need from local thrift stores or hardware outlets. Youthful, classy, colourful, minimalistic – give a definite ‘voice’ to your home.
Your home is your place of comfort, where you return to everyday after a hard day of work, make memories with your families & close ones, and be your own true self. Having said that, a feeling of sameness (and resultant boredom) is bound to set in, if the layout and decor of your apartment is the same for years. You can go for a nice flat in New Town or one of the aesthetically pleasing flats in Joka, Kolkata (or any other place, for that matter) – but the onus of making your flat look nice & refreshing is, ultimately, on you. Doing so is easy, and all you need to be is imaginative enough. Redoing the layouts and patterns of your home can be a lot of fun, and the ideas we have discussed above should help.
