Room makeovers needn’t take days to produce amazing results – and they don’t need advanced DIY skills, either. You can do these jobs in a weekend or less, no workshop required
Pic: The Shutter Store
Hang shutters at your windows
You can transform a room with shutters in just one day. Yes, really. Fitting our plantation shutters is a quick home update. How easy? Well, if you can put up a shelf, you can hang our shutters. We have step-by-step measuring and installation guides on our site, and if you have any questions we’re right on hand to help. Hanging shutters will revamp any room: they’re super stylish and they’ll control the light and give you privacy. What more could you want?
Pic: House of Fraser
Go for symmetry – but not too much
Giving living spaces a more elegant look needn’t involve any spending: you’ll just have to set aside a little time. To add a level of formality that’s ideal for spaces in which you entertain guests, opt to create symmetry. We’re talking sofas facing, maybe, or as here, a mirrored pair of armchairs in a bay window. You can place an area rug and a coffee table so they’re at the center of the scheme, too. When it comes to decorative accessories, aim to create balance without exact mirroring. Leaving the eye searching for symmetry in every aspect won’t make your interior relaxing.
Pic: Dunelm
Create a surprise with wallpaper
A wallpaper remnant is all you need to make a feature of a niche or shelving, and it’s a DIY project you can do in less than a day. Opt for a paper that complements the rest of your room in style and repeats a color that’s part of the existing scheme so it fits right in. Even wallpapering at the rear of a cupboard is worthwhile – it’ll create a decorative surprise each time you open the doors.
Pic: Colourcourage
Try a contemporary feature wall
Painting a whole room is possible in a weekend, but if you want a job that takes even less time and produces outstanding results, why not paint a feature wall instead? We love this modern take on the look, which has created the perfect backdrop to make tableware and glasses stand out. Better still, because it’s at above-counter level in the kitchen, this project is an even quicker way to get a great result.
Pic: Ikea
Divide and rule
If you want to get organized – whether that’s in a laundry room, mud room or dressing area – it’s essential to allocate space to everything you need to store. Make it a weekend plan to choose containers, boxes or baskets that fit on to shelves and devise a place for everything you need to stash so you don’t have to hunt for it. The idea of dividing storage works on a small scale, too. A large drawer full of random objects is no joy, but add dividers and it’ll be easy to find what you’re looking for.
Pic: Purlfrost
Revamp stairs
Give your staircase a makeover with a facelift for the risers. You can paint them, use wallpaper cut to size – which can be finished with a sealer to protect the paper – or, for a super-fast turnaround, use specially designed stickers. You can make the impact subtle with the same color for each riser, choose graduated tones of one shade, go multicolored, or have fun with pattern that’s matching or simply co-ordinating, depending on how much of a stand-out feature you’re after.
Pic: George Home
Fit panelling
A great way to give rooms a weekend makeover, panelling can transform the mood. Give a bedroom a romantic feel with cottage-style cladding, or introduce a rustic feel with an organic wood finish. It’s also a great way to give any room an industrial twist using metal lookalike panelling.