Want to save thousands of dollars and precious time? Instead of an expensive reno, refresh every room in your house with these four tips:
Time to Welcome a Welcome Mat
If you live in a condo, you might not be allowed to put a welcome mat outside your door, so put one in your entrance way instead. If you live in a house, you’re extra lucky because you can put a welcome mat on your porch and inside the house. Your welcome mat is a statement piece, it can say ‘welcome,’ it can represent things you love like birds or bikes or it can be a pattern that matches your decor.
The Simple Joy of Cloth Napkins
On average, a set of four cloth napkins costs around $15 – a steal when you consider the WOW factor you’re creating. If you’re on a strict budget, check out Value Village where there are always napkins for sale. Or download apps like Trash Nothing where people donate all types of items, including napkins and tablecloths. Stock up on a couple of different colours and patterns to create a fresh new look for each of your meals.
Hack Your Way to a Bedroom Reno
Even if you’re neat and tidy and make your bed every single day, after a while the look of the same duvet year after year starts to give a bedroom a dated look. What’s worse, it causes an extreme chain reaction where you crave redoing your entire room, from curtains to walls, to lamps and knick-knacks. The cheapest and most cheerful hack is to simply buy a new duvet cover. Believe it or not, your room will look completely transformed!
Positive Power of Plants
In 1989, NASA released a report about the best air cleaning plants. The plants were exposed to benzene, formaldehyde and other carcinogens that are commonly found in our homes. The most fascinating part of the study was that the plants whose leaves were removed for the sake of testing, tested higher in their air-cleaning abilities. This means that plant roots are the cleaning superheroes. Use NASA’s time-tested wisdom to inexpensively give each room in your home a new lease on life. No need for expensive air purifying machines, or expensive organic mattresses, simply add plants. Best air purifying plants are Areca Palm, Mother-in-Law’s Tongue and Money Plant. For more on this fascinating topic, watch the TED talk called ‘How to Grow Fresh Air.’
Photo by Designecologist
