Do a House Makeover Without a Professional

There’s no “right” way to do a house makeover without a professional. Instead, identify the way you want your house to look and do your best to make it happen. Swapping out old furniture for new, repainting the walls, and introducing some new lighting are among the best ways to give your house a makeover without a professional. But the only real rule is to be true to your own tastes and stylistic preferences.

Steps

Changing Colors, Textures, and Lighting

1. Add a new coat of paint to the walls. No matter the room, changing the color of paint can give a familiar space new life. Use neutral colors like tan, light gray, and off-white if you’re planning on putting up art. If you favor bare walls, try more sophisticated colors like navy or olive. Kids will love rooms painted in vivid blues or greens.
   • Try to match your paint to your furniture. For instance, if your furniture is mostly brown, paint your wall a light brown or a complimentary color like olive or maroon.
   • To provide a visual center to a room, paint one wall a different color than the rest. For instance, you might want to paint three walls of your bedroom a light gray and paint the fourth a tangerine shade.
2. Change the lighting. Interior lighting comes in many different forms. Certain types of lighting work best in the kitchen, while others work best in the living room. For instance, pendant lights look great over the sink. Run some rope lights beneath the edges of floor-level cabinets in the bathroom and kitchen. Sometimes making over the lighting is as easy as changing a lampshade or a light fixture.
   • Antique or vintage stores are great places to pick up unique lampshades and lighting fixtures.
3. Replace the flooring. There are multiple options for sprucing up your floor. Install flooring that is flat and smooth in kitchens so that it can be easily cleaned when spills inevitably occur. Tile and natural wooden floors are the best options. Use natural wooden floors in bedrooms, bathrooms, and living rooms.
   • If you want to install carpets or rugs, dark colors will better conceal stains, but lighter colors will make the room feel bigger.
   • If you already have wooden flooring, consider re-sanding and resealing it.
4. Repaint the furniture. Sometimes you can give your old furniture a new lease on life by simply adding a coat of paint. Choose a color that compliments the walls and floor. Alternately, consider stripping the paint off your furniture, sanding it down, and resealing it for a beautiful, natural look.
   • Instead of repainting, wrap your furniture in wallpaper. This allows you to create unique patterned furniture.

Adding, Adapting, or Removing Decor

1. Declutter the space. Decluttering the space will help make your rooms look bigger, brighter, and more beautiful. The process by which you declutter a particular room will vary depending on the amount of clutter in the room. Start by stepping out of the room and getting a good look at it.
   • Ask yourself questions about the various items in the room like, “Do I still need or want this item?”
   • Walk through the room and consider each item. Ask yourself if it brings you joy. If it does not bring you joy and does not have a practical use, donate it to a thrift store or a give it to a friend.
2. Add curtains. Instead of blinds, add curtains to your windows. In a living room or bedroom, especially, floor-length curtains can make the room look bigger.
3. Introduce new décor. Check out your local thrift shops for vases, artwork, and other decorative objects that could lend some life to the various rooms of your home. If you don’t find anything to your liking, check online or at your local home goods store.
   • Find new ways to use objects you might already have. If you’re going for a rustic look, for instance, you could plant some flowers in a watering can and place it in your kitchen or living room.
4. Find ways to save. If your friends or family are renovating their homes, ask them if you can have their old cabinets, countertops, doorknobs, and so on. Visit your local haberdashery to buy cheap scraps of cloth you could use to craft unique curtains. Check for new furniture and décor at secondhand shops before heading to big box stores.
5. Use furniture to conceal ugly fixtures. If you have a radiator or furnace pipe that disrupts the visual flow of a room, arrange your furniture in such a way that the offending element becomes invisible. For instance, place a couch or desk in front of a radiator.

Making Over Your Kitchen

1. Get some new seating. Try some high chairs instead of bar stools – or swap your high chairs for bar stools. You could also get some new seating at your kitchen table. If you’re going for a rustic look, check out your local antiques shop for some plain wooden chairs, or sand down and refinish the chairs you have now. For a minimalist look, paint your chairs white or light gray.
2. Change the kitchen cabinets. If you have bare wooden cabinets, consider sanding them down and painting them. If you have painted cabinets, paint them a different color or strip the paint off them for a natural look. Avoid ripping out your cabinets, as it will be far cheaper to simply refurbish your existing cabinets than to install new ones.
   • Use light colors like white to make your kitchen feel bright and open.
   • Two-tone cabinets can look great if you choose two complimentary colors, but they will take more work, since you’ll have to first paint the old cabinets or install new cabinets, then paint the trim on them with a second color.
   • The best cabinets are made of solid wood, not pressboard.
3. Add a backsplash. A backsplash is a series of tiles that climb up the wall between the kitchen counter and the bottom of the cabinets. It typically ends along the vertical line that marks the edge of a window or cabinet, whichever is furthest along the wall of your kitchen. Pick out tiles for a backsplash that matches or compliments your cabinets. Plan the layout of your backsplash carefully, then apply the tile adhesive to your wall and press the tiles into place.
   • Some people choose to place a backsplash only above their sink, rather than all the way around their kitchen.
   • Brick, ceramic, and handpainted backsplash tiles are available. Choose the one you like best.
   • You can get backsplash tiles at your local home goods store.

Fixing Up the Bedroom

1. Get a new set of sheets. The best way to liven up a bedroom is to get a new set of sheets. Changing the bed set two or three times a year can keep the bedroom looking fresh and prevent feelings of boredom with the space.
2. Add something behind the bed. A headboard placed behind the bed can add a sense of luxury to your bedroom. If you don’t want to add a headboard, get an adhesive wall covering that creates the illusion of a headboard instead. Alternately, hang a quilt or tapestry behind the bed to provide a center for the bedroom space.
3. Find new uses for the room. If possible, add a makeup console to the bedroom. This will allow you to avoid stashing all your makeup in your bathroom cabinet. You could also add a small desk so that you have a space to work and set up your laptop.

Beautifying the Bathroom

1. Introduce plants. The mere introduction of potted or hanging plants can make an old bathroom seem fresh. Use colorful pots to further beautify the space. Additionally, place a small vase with wildflowers on the bathroom counter if space allows.
2. Change out the accessories. Pick up a new and more elegant soap dish. Place cotton swabs and bandages in small ceramic containers and set them along the counter. Add some nonfunctional accessories like candles, too.
3. Get a new shower curtain. Since the shower curtain takes up a lot of visual space in the bathroom, this is a great way to freshen up your bathroom. Buy a few new shower curtains and change them out every three or four months to prevent bathroom boredom.

Getting Inspiration and Managing Expectations

1. Find sources of inspiration. There are lots of great resources available both online and at your local library about how to do a home makeover without a professional. Run a word string like “home makeover without a professional” through your preferred search engine to jump-start your creative process.
2. Know your abilities and limitations. Before you start repainting a room or taking your cabinets out of the wall, find out approximately how long it will take, what tools you need, and how difficult it will be. Be realistic about what you know and what you are able to accomplish. Seek professional help if you need it.
   • If you don’t think you’re up to a particular task - installing a new shower or sink, for instance - don’t feel obligated to do it.
3. Set your budget. Doing a house makeover without a professional can save you money. However, it is still important to set limits on how much you’re willing to spend.
   • The amount you decide to spend on your home makeover depends on your needs and your income.
   • Before getting started, compare the home makeover project you wish to undertake against others that you find online or by talking to friends. Use those cost totals to estimate the cost of your home makeover.
   • Don’t spend so much that you break the bank.

Sources and Citations

See also

• Clean Hammered Aluminum
• Decorate with Vintage Artwork
• Use Mirrors to Create More Space
• Remove a Wall Mirror