Ten tricks to instantly improve your home

The pandemic has made many people see their homes in a new light and has spurred them on to invest in making it their sanctuary. We look at 10 tricks to improve your home without a huge financial outlay.

Renovate magazine looks at the renovation boom in Ireland which has seen homeowners investing in extending, renovating, retrofitting and redecorating their homes.

[ The Irish Times ePaper ]

1. Fresh coat of paint

“A paint refresh is one of the simplest and effective ways to update the home, injecting notes of what is current for the year,” says Jane Witter, an inhouse colour consultant with Dulux Paints. “People are looking to reconnect with nature and want to bring it indoors. Bright Skies, €77.50 for five litres, is the colour of the year and, teamed with soft green tones and down to earth browns, will breathe fresh air into a home.”

Or ask an expert. Irish-made paint range Colourtrend's online consultations with Dervla Farrell include a complementary 15-minute free advice session, with more in-depth 30-minute consultation, €50, and 60-minute time slots available for €75 that include a €25 voucher redeemable against paint ordered. dulux.ie; colortrend.ie

2. Be bold in kitchen colour choices

Bring colour into your kitchen, says interior designer Collette Ward who turned a stable in Co Wicklow into a rather fancy guest cottage. At its open-plan heart is this smoky pink-coloured kitchen, fabricated by Robert Halpin. “It makes the space feel light hearted and is a hue that puts a smile on your face.”

Silestone's colour range in cala blue, posidonia green and sunlit coral, all from €454 per sq m, can add impact to shelving, kitchen countertops and splashbacks. collettewardinteriors.com; consentino.com

3. Zen-like sleep

New bedding always lifts the spirits. Wilding, pictured, is a cotton/polyester mix print from Hickeys Home Focus that costs €50 for a king size set.

Foxford's Sleep collection includes a new duvet set with mattress ticking stripe on one side and a mini fern pattern on the reverse. It comes with a pair of pillowcases and costs €119. homefocus.ie; foxford.com

Harvey Norman's new season looks include a monochromatic mohair check double duvet set, €40. If you're in the market for a new bed its Adams five foot size, ex mattress, is reduced from €1199 to €949. homefocus.ie; foxford.com; harveynorman.ie

4. Clean new bathroom look

A brand new bathroom is a joy to use. Versatile in Navan can supply a brand new bathroom, as shown, from about €4,500. It includes the Gerbrit toilet frame and flush, €1,042; Selnova vanity unit and tap, €720; mirror, €400; and shower set including the tray, screen and the two-headed set, €2,300. The firm can also supply a list of highly rated contractors to carry out the installation works. versatile.ie

5. Seasonal adjustment seating

“If you’re in the market for a new sofa, a clever option is to go for two sets of covers, one fixed, in a colour that will work for winter, and a second, possibly lighter-coloured option, that is removable. It will change the look of both the seat and give your living room a whole new lease of life,” says owner of the Sofa Factory, Gerard Croft.

Pictured is the three-seat Waterford, from €1,900, with a second set of removable covers costing from about €900. The yellow two and a half seat Paris style, from about €1,700, also has a second loose cover available, from €800. thesofafactory.com

You can also change up the seasons with different cushion selections making the deep sapphire shade and sleek silhouette of Harvey Norman's deep pile velour Studio sofa a smart buy, €1,199. thesofafactory.com; harveynorman.ie

6. New look underfoot

With the technological advancements in engineered and laminate floorings, you can switch up the look of a room relatively cost-effectively and without too much disruption.

These new chevron styles in four new timber shades retail at €99.95 per sq m from Mulvey's in Dundrum where you can also commission the rehabilitation of existing scuffed timber floors. A professional sand, stain and finish process costs from about €35 per sq m. mulveys.com

7. Become a convert

An attic conversion can give you a home office or kids' den that is far, far away from the noise of busy family life. The attic, pictured, features USM furniture, available to order through Minima and has a high roof, which Anthony Gilbert who runs The Attic Man says is rare in Ireland. Prices start from €18,950, ex VAT,says the plumber turned attic convertor. theatticman.ie

8. Get creative

Custom elements will make a house feel more like a home. If you’ve blocked up a chimneybreast, a surrounding squiggle, instead of expensive tiling or custom carpentry, is a fun way to change up the space.

The one pictured features fabrics by UK-based A Rum Fellow, from €150 per metre. Or could a nook in a room be turned into a set of scene-stealing bunkbeds worthy of 1001 Arabian Nights, as illustrated here by Annie Sloan paints? arumfellow.com; anniesloan.com

9. Monitor your energy consumption

With heating bills on the rise, a smart thermostat such as Nest can help you keep track of consumption. It can track your daily routine to better optimise usage and notes the current weather so you know when to turn the temperature up or down. The steel-cased design costs €249 instore or online at Harvey Norman.

The chain also sells a wide range of smart LED lighting, that you can program using an app on your phone. The Gokonnect Aeotech bulb, €59, lets you change the colour of the light emitted to suit your mood or the time of day; bright and cheery for breakfast, task-orientated for the home office and ambiently moody after dark, it also lets you program on and off schedules and can work with certain security systems. harveynorman.ie

10. Draught excluding measures

Old doors and windows are one of the ways heat can leech from your home. Consider an upgrade. Made in Dublin 11, Global Home Improvements offers a wide selection of double and triple glazed options that can be tailored to your colour scheme. Prices for a typical three-bedroom redbrick terraced house in uPVC will cost €3,000-€6,000, depending on glazing. globalhomeimprovements.ie