Give your home a makeover

Whether you’re looking to liven up your living room with a few accessories, give a bedroom a fresh coat of paint, or are tearing out the kitchen to start from scratch, here are a few resources to inspire your designs…

Pinterest

Planning a room can be extremely overwhelming if you aren’t sure exactly what you want. Pinterest is an image-sharing website that lets you find images based on your interests. If you search, for instance, ‘home renovation’, ‘interior design’ or ‘kitchen’, you’ll be served up a whole load of inspirational pics. You can then slim your options down by being more specific – ‘modern blue bedroom’. When you find things you like, you pin them onto ‘boards’ and build up a picture of how your room could look.

Skillshare

Before you get too stuck into decorating your home, it’s always useful to get a bit of background knowledge on interior design. There’s a free class on Skillshare that goes through some interior design basics – equipping you with the four principles used by every designer – and helping you get off to a confident start.

Free design software

It can be hard to visualise your ideas, especially when it comes to the sizes of furniture and whether colours will work together. There are several platforms that you can use to mock-up your space and test out your designs. Check out this article by House Beautiful which runs through some of the best free interior design tools, software and apps.

Use your retailers

When you’re browsing online you may notice that some retailers have online software to help you plan your space – this is a very handy tool that you shouldn’t overlook. Here are a couple of great examples: Wren Kitchens, B&Q, Bathroom, IKEA.

Once you’ve learnt the basics, found inspiration and planned your space, it’s time to start decorating. Good luck!