10 Simple and Practically Free Ways to Reboot Your Home
Organize, refresh and rearrange for a better-looking and smoother-running house. All you need is a little time
Making your home a better place to live doesn’t always require cash or credit. Working with what you may already have can produce style miracles; pantry staples can make tired or grubby items as good as new; and sorting now can save you both time and money in the long run. Check out these 10 quick projects.
… lots of pieces in a single hue. Mixing in clear glass is a good idea, as it won’t interfere with the carefully picked palette.
Taking your beloved items down to group them by color is also the perfect opportunity to give both shelves and treasures a thorough dusting.
Taking your beloved items down to group them by color is also the perfect opportunity to give both shelves and treasures a thorough dusting.
2. Make a mood board. Planning a decorating project can be a pleasing and creative endeavor in its own right — plus it’ll help you get the combination of elements right the first time when you’re ready to go ahead with a new design.
Gather images that catch your eye in a Houzz ideabook —perhaps ones with an appealing mood, clever feature or the perfect color scheme.
Then send away for samples of fabric, tile, paint and wallpaper, and pin them to a board to see how they work together. Try to keep each sample roughly in proportion to the area of the room it will occupy.
See how to create and use Houzz ideabooks
Gather images that catch your eye in a Houzz ideabook —perhaps ones with an appealing mood, clever feature or the perfect color scheme.
Then send away for samples of fabric, tile, paint and wallpaper, and pin them to a board to see how they work together. Try to keep each sample roughly in proportion to the area of the room it will occupy.
See how to create and use Houzz ideabooks
3. Soften sheets. If some of your bed sheets were bargain buys and the comfort shown in this photo is a million miles from your scratchy reality, try this remedy, which relies only on what’s in the pantry.
Wash the offending linens with about 1 cup baking soda and one-half cup white vinegar. Then feel the softness when you next slip between the sheets.
Discover other uses for baking soda
Wash the offending linens with about 1 cup baking soda and one-half cup white vinegar. Then feel the softness when you next slip between the sheets.
Discover other uses for baking soda
4. Revisit the linen closet. Do you get frustrated trying to find a fresh sheet set when it’s bed-making time? Instead of keeping sheets and pillowcases in separate piles, store sheet sets inside one of the pillowcases.
This way, you can just grab and go, knowing you have everything you need without disturbing each pile when it’s linen-changing time.
Adopting this system also may make a glass-front linen cabinet an attractive option, rather than a potential cabinet of horrors.
This way, you can just grab and go, knowing you have everything you need without disturbing each pile when it’s linen-changing time.
Adopting this system also may make a glass-front linen cabinet an attractive option, rather than a potential cabinet of horrors.
5. Tackle the pantry. Whether your dry foods are stashed in a purpose-built pantry or in standard kitchen cabinets, emptying and reorganizing can help save money in the long run.
Put like with like, and then put the cans and packets with the longest shelf life at the back of the cabinet and work forward, so you use them in the right order and don’t end up coming upon long-expired foodstuffs.
You also can make things more ergonomic by putting the ingredients used most frequently on the shelves within easiest reach.
Put like with like, and then put the cans and packets with the longest shelf life at the back of the cabinet and work forward, so you use them in the right order and don’t end up coming upon long-expired foodstuffs.
You also can make things more ergonomic by putting the ingredients used most frequently on the shelves within easiest reach.
6. Bring sparkle to faucets. The most assiduously cleaned bathroom can lose its pristine edge if the brassware gets coated in limescale.
Fortunately, the remedy is in your pantry. White vinegar will dissolve the stuff that’s coating brassware. Soak a cloth or paper towel in the vinegar and leave it in contact with the buildup for an hour or so, and then wipe and rinse for faucets that look like new.
Note: Don’t do this with plated faucets, as you risk damaging the surface. It’s a good idea to test cleaning methods in an inconspicuous area first.
Fortunately, the remedy is in your pantry. White vinegar will dissolve the stuff that’s coating brassware. Soak a cloth or paper towel in the vinegar and leave it in contact with the buildup for an hour or so, and then wipe and rinse for faucets that look like new.
Note: Don’t do this with plated faucets, as you risk damaging the surface. It’s a good idea to test cleaning methods in an inconspicuous area first.
7. Rethink the clothes closet. You don’t need a walk-in closet like this one to create streamlined clothes storage — a little time spent sorting can reap benefits in even the most basic setups.
First, make sure you’re hanging only what needs to be hung (so fold T-shirts and sweaters). You may find that the extra space you create means your ironing efforts won’t be compromised by the crush as soon as you put things away.
Putting similar items together is worthwhile, and not just for neatniks. Follow this strategy and you’ll not only find things more easily when you’re in a hurry, but you also may avoid purchasing duplicates because you’ll be able to see your existing collection in your mind’s eye when you’re buying.
First, make sure you’re hanging only what needs to be hung (so fold T-shirts and sweaters). You may find that the extra space you create means your ironing efforts won’t be compromised by the crush as soon as you put things away.
Putting similar items together is worthwhile, and not just for neatniks. Follow this strategy and you’ll not only find things more easily when you’re in a hurry, but you also may avoid purchasing duplicates because you’ll be able to see your existing collection in your mind’s eye when you’re buying.
8. Rearrange accessories. A pleasing arrangement of objects — aka a vignette — can take a room from bland to beautiful and definitely needn’t mean shopping for new pieces.
The idea is to get the eye to travel around your display, and a pyramid shape will achieve this. This bedside lamp is at the top of the pyramid, with the vase of blooms and the radio plus vintage books completing the shape.
You may need to bring in accessories from other parts of the house to forge a link between the elements in the vignette — or snip some flowers from the garden. In this room, blue links the blooms and the radio, while the paperbacks are in a complementary orange.
The idea is to get the eye to travel around your display, and a pyramid shape will achieve this. This bedside lamp is at the top of the pyramid, with the vase of blooms and the radio plus vintage books completing the shape.
You may need to bring in accessories from other parts of the house to forge a link between the elements in the vignette — or snip some flowers from the garden. In this room, blue links the blooms and the radio, while the paperbacks are in a complementary orange.
9. Go for a gallery. Gallery walls are an effective way to hang pictures, but they may involve an outlay if you take the approach of linking elements with picture ledges or the same frame style.
However, if you find an existing element that will link your collection, you can get your gallery for free. This dark-colored wall does the job, providing a backdrop that grounds the grouping for a successful display.
Alternatively, review your existing artworks and use those featuring a similar color in the pictures themselves, or opt to paint frames you already have the same color. Or go for the same theme (like nature or architecture) to make your group harmonious.
Get inspired by more photos of beautiful gallery walls
However, if you find an existing element that will link your collection, you can get your gallery for free. This dark-colored wall does the job, providing a backdrop that grounds the grouping for a successful display.
Alternatively, review your existing artworks and use those featuring a similar color in the pictures themselves, or opt to paint frames you already have the same color. Or go for the same theme (like nature or architecture) to make your group harmonious.
Get inspired by more photos of beautiful gallery walls
10. Love the fridge. If you’ve taken the time to tackle dry ingredient storage, don’t neglect its fresh-food partner by leaving the refrigerator disorganized or, worse, emitting nasty smells.
A baking soda solution is ideal for wiping down and dealing with any lingering marks inside the fridge. Then organize the contents, bearing in mind the same use-first rules and chef-friendly interior arrangement as you did with the pantry.
Leave a small bowl of baking soda at the back and you’ll put a stop to the odors that want to hang on in there too. Replace it every two weeks.
Tell us: What’s your top low-cost tip for refreshing or reorganizing? Share your ideas and photos in the Comments.
More
Budget Decorating: 7 Ways to Update What You Already Have
Get other organizing ideas
Find a closet designer or professional organizer
A baking soda solution is ideal for wiping down and dealing with any lingering marks inside the fridge. Then organize the contents, bearing in mind the same use-first rules and chef-friendly interior arrangement as you did with the pantry.
Leave a small bowl of baking soda at the back and you’ll put a stop to the odors that want to hang on in there too. Replace it every two weeks.
Tell us: What’s your top low-cost tip for refreshing or reorganizing? Share your ideas and photos in the Comments.
More
Budget Decorating: 7 Ways to Update What You Already Have
Get other organizing ideas
Find a closet designer or professional organizer
Take everything down and group the pieces that work together colorwise. Perhaps you have several shades that you could arrange for an ombre effect, or one or two shades that you could balance, as shown here, or …