Updating your home can be a perfect refresher when the seasons change or you’re feeling restless. That might sound like lots of work, but renewing a room doesn’t have to mean completely redecorating.
You can help your clients give their rooms a new lease on life by making simple, tasteful changes. If you’re very thrifty and creative, you might give their whole house a simple makeover that leaves them happier than ever.
Here are 15 simple ways to update just about any room!
1. Wallpaper one wall
There are no rules when it comes to wallpaper! Papering a single wall, part of a wall, or even just cut-out patterns across one surface is a great way to create a statement. If your clients are willing, and as long as it complements existing decor, choose a fun new color or pattern to give the space a quick facelift!
2. A gallery wall
Turning one wall into a statement collage is a great way to refresh any room. Your clients might even like this idea in multiple rooms, with each collage portraying different things. In fun frames, create a gallery displaying pictures they’ve taken, places they’ve been, places they’d like to go, family portraits, or even just pictures and quotes they find inspiring.
3. Bathroom accents
Bathrooms have a surprising number of easily updated elements that will change the whole atmosphere. Leave the walls as they are and choose new mats, curtains, towels, and faucet fixtures to match or contrast the scheme in a new way. For a more dramatic (but still very simple) change, switch out the old mirror for one with a new shape, different frame, or alternative style.
4. Throw pillows and blankets
New throw pillows and throw blankets are a great way to change up a space, but they’re also a great way to get crafty and recycle! Do your clients have an old blanket or set of curtains they don’t need? Show them how to repurpose that spare material into pillow covers for the throw pillows they already have. They’ll give their room a new look without having to spend any money.
5. Patterned shelves
Remember how we said wallpaper has no rules? Give your client’s office a fun new feel by papering the back panel of their big book shelf! Choose wallpaper in their favorite color or a fun pattern that might be too bold to dedicate a whole wall to. The peek-a-boo effect will give the space a whole new feel.
6. Painting (but just a little bit)
Painting an entire room is a big commitment and it might be more time consuming than your clients are prepared for. Help them choose one spot in the room to draw attention to and transform just that part. Depending on the color, that wall will enhance the current color scheme, contrast it, or build an actual scheme in a room that was monotonous before. Are they hesitant to paint the whole wall? Try painting just one half or even angular sections to boost the room’s style.
7. New dishes
Are your clients tired of their same old kitchen with the same chipped dishes they’ve had since college? Help them choose new plates, bowls, glasses, cutlery, and cookware that match the room’s color scheme or contrast surrounding decor in interesting ways. Even something this simple can inject some style into a stale kitchen.
8. Staining or painting old furniture
Sometimes the space itself is fine but the things filling that space are out of date. Don’t get rid of them! Furniture can use a new lease on life occasionally, just like a room. Try painting or staining some of your client’s older pieces to change the focus and feel of the space. Just make sure that chair isn’t an antique heirloom before you start with the trendy mint colored paint!
9. New lighting
Lighting is a key factor in building an atmosphere. Perhaps your client’s dissatisfaction with their master bedroom comes from the placement and type of light the house came with? Try adjusting the feel of things with a central chandelier that features a softer light than the fluorescent ceiling lighting they’re used to. If that’s too fancy, help them choose a set of lamps with shades that contribute to their current aesthetic.
10. Mirrors
Nothing helps widen the appearance of a very small room like a nice mirror! Help your clients transform that tiny spare bedroom with a mirror on perpendicular walls to give the illusion of more space. Choose mirrors in angular shapes if the décor is modern or ones with elaborate frames if you’d rather create a vintage feel.
11. Get organized
This suggestion is a little less exciting but it’s very effective for renewing a room. Remember when we said that the problem might be the stuff and not the room? Too much stuff can take over a perfectly good space. Get out the donation boxes and convince your clients to pay forward what they no longer need. Organize what’s left to reclaim the space!
12. New linens
This one sounds simple, but sometimes clients overlook solutions that seem too easy. Particularly if your clients have lived in the home for a very long time, they’re probably in the habit of rotating the same few sets of sheets and duvet cover. Help them change up their style with an array of new linens that look nothing like their old ones!
13. Indoor plants
Using plants and flowers to refresh a room is literally refreshing. Help your clients choose indoor plants that suit their decor and show them where to put each one so it thrives. Plants bring a little life to any space, so put one or two potted plants wherever your client’s home needs a pick-me-up.
14. One word: rearrange
It really can be that simple! An entire room can be transformed for the better by rearranging the furniture and decor. This process doesn’t have to be complicated and it doesn’t mean you have to start from scratch. Work with your clients to create a better floorplan and rearrange the things they already have until the whole room looks more like what they want.
15. Don’t forget about the outside
Okay, so your client’s porch isn’t technically a room. That doesn’t mean you should ignore the decor outside of the house while you refresh things! Improve first impression for visitors by helping your clients choose a new porch swing or lounge chair, a unique doormat, and a fresh color to paint the front door.
It’s all in the details
There are unlimited ways for you to update any room in your client’s home if you’re creative! Pay attention to the small details and don’t overlook their power to change how things look and feel. Even things as small as light switch and outlet covers, the color of the window frame, the type of floor mat, and the frames on your client’s pictures can create major change with a fresh new look!
Do you have any easy decor tricks? Share them with us in a comment!
