One of the reasons why a person likes to go somewhere is because he finds his natural surroundings becoming stale, unpredictable, and boring. There is no better time to refresh your home than when this happens. But take note that refreshing the home does not necessarily mean to reboot or overhaul the entire house to the point where it becomes totally unfamiliar even to the dog.
What you need are ways to change how your house looks and feels. This can be done in subtle, yet elegant, ways, and it can undoubtedly help you avoid spending a lot of money in remodeling and buying new stuff.
The end result we are striving for is having a lighter and happier mood when we go from room to room around our house. We want the feeling of being refreshed ourselves because of something different yet lovely and fresh about the place.
A visitor may find it hard to pinpoint what makes the house seem different since the last time he was there. But if he looks closely, he just might notice the things everybody tends to take for granted.
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Here are some techniques you can use to refresh your house using small details that can make some considerable differences.
Get rid of things that are now useless to you. In the course of our lives, we naturally accumulate many gadgets, objects, and knickknacks. Some people even collect trophies as reminders that they excel in their fields.
So how do you choose which ones to let go? A common rule of thumb is to give away or throw away or maybe sell the things you have that you haven't been using for six months--those that you find would not have any foreseeable benefit in the future. You can send them to a charity, throw them in the trash bin, or put them up on eBay.
Rearrange the furniture. This is the most common way of making the house look different, and therefore, fresh. If you're not sure how to reposition your furniture, try finding some inspiration. You can put the sofa sideways so people coming in from the front door would first reach the side, like Sheldon's apartment in The Big Bang Theory.
You can also have the sofa turn its back to the door, like Monica's apartment from FRIENDS, which is behind the dining table that faces the door. And of course, your sofa can face the entrance directly, like in the library of Wayne Manor in the Gotham TV series.
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Work on the details. This is one of the most fun parts: thinking of ways to brighten up an area in unobtrusive ways. These details can refer to adding colorful throw pillows on the sofa wherever it may be at the moment or using a new cover for your favorite armchair, which also serves to protect it from wear and tear.
Other details you can add are art paintings on the wall, new curtains in the living room windows overlooking the garden, new light fixtures with stylish designs, or new handles for kitchen and bathroom drawers. The ideas are not infinite, of course, but the fun of figuring it out will make your day.
Get a new rug. You don't have to buy top-of-the-line items, which cost a lot, but on the other hand, don't deprive yourself by purchasing the cheapest variety, which could compromise quality.
A new rug under the living room table can be a conversational piece as much as anything in the house. Its overall visual also gives a feeling of comfort and neatness. The house looks clean and cozy. What could be better at the end of a long day as the sight of an old house now looks new and inviting?
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