Ready for a home refresh but not ready to foot the bill? I got you! Here are my top tips for a quick home makeover that won’t break the bank.
10 Easy, Quick, & Affordable Tips For a Cuter House
1. Declutter
Nothing sucks the cuteness potential from a space like unnecessary clutter. You might already have the perfect decor for your dream home, but it’s hidden in the piles of junk!
Do yourself a favor and scrape off a layer of clutter. You can do the obvious stuff first–trash, duplicates, stuff you’ve been meaning to get rid of forever–then see how you feel.
Here’s a list of 100 items to declutter that can get you jump started on the declutter grind:
2. Remove glass panes from picture frames
This won’t work for every frame–maybe you have some textured art you’re really passionate about protecting from dust–but in general, art and photos look SO much better without the glass pane. It cuts the harsh reflections and makes the room feel warmer.
Try it out!
Worried about wasting the glass? I have a collection of glass that I’m saving for projects–I like to make tiny greenhouses and terrariums–but glass is one of the most recyclable materials, so you won’t have any trouble finding a place to donate the panes if you don’t have a pressing need for random sheets of glass.
3. Create intentional zones
Home styling becomes so much simpler when you establish zones. It could be the functional purpose of that area, like:
- art corner
- dinner table
- video game/TV couch
- reading nook
Then the only items that go in that space are items that contribute to that zone’s purpose. It helps to cut down clutter and makes it easier to style the space cohesively.
You can also create zones thematically to help with arranging and choosing decor. My bedroom, for example, is loosely themed as a fairy forest. What does that mean? Whatever I want! What I want it to mean is:
- pastel color palette
- flowers, leaves, vines, and insect imagery
- aspen tree wallpaper as the backdrop of my in-wall bookcase
- soft and plush textures
- natural light
As I bring things in and curate what I keep in my room, I have a guiding light of “fairy forest vibes,” and that helps keep it all cohesive.
4. Paint creatively
“Paint isn’t free–” It probably is!!
Do you have leftover paint cans with a couple inches left in them? Pull ’em out! We can free up that storage space and give an area of your home a little refresh. Because you don’t have to color drench the whole room to improve with paint.
You can paint a square on the wall of a contrasting color to pull some of your art pieces into a more cohesive visual (my fav move).
You can paint a doorframe or windowsill or some trim around an entryway. I love to paint doors, either fully one color or with little details.
Use stamps and stencils to bring a little character to an otherwise blank area.
And did you know there’s no law against using acrylic paint on your walls? It’s true! Break out your art supplies and do some little doodles. It rubs off easy if you hate it, but if you paint somewhere that doesn’t get a lot of touch traffic, it’ll stay on forever! Live a little, babes, paint stars on your ceiling.
5. Shop your home
You absolutely don’t have to buy new furniture or decor to give your home a whole new look. Just shop other rooms! Use things you already own in a new way to freshen up the space. Rearrange furniture, group all of the red things you own onto one shelf (idk), or try different arrangements until it slaps!
For inspiration, I recommend Caroline Winkler’s YouTube series where she flips people’s rooms using only things they already have in their house. She has a lot of fantastic tips and ideas!
6. Remove stickers and packaging
If I’m quick-styling someone’s house (often while I’m waiting at a friend’s place for them to get ready to go out…), the first thing I do is remove the stickers and plastic wrap off of their things. It drives me insane that people don’t do this.
Unwrap it! Take the stickers off! It looks so much better!
There’s a house in my neighborhood that has these large, potentially beautiful, plant pots in the yard… with the price stickers on them. For what? What possible purpose could that serve? I’d trespass and take them off myself, but there are CERTAINLY shade spots under the stickers while the rest has faded in the sun.
I don’t even leave labels on my shampoo bottles, much to the chagrin of overnight guests. I like keeping people on their toes, I guess.
Anyway…take the plastic off your stuff. For me. Thanks. 🫶
7. Height variation and layering
If your space feels flat, boring, or basic, you might need to do some height varying and layers! Here’s a simple visual so you get what I mean:
Stagger stuff, put things in front of other things, pair up tall’n’small items. It adds depth, visual interest, and warmth to a room–for zero dollars!
8. Window treatments
Window treatments can be expensive, but you don’t always have to buy something new to improve them, and they make a huge difference in a room.
Sometimes removing something really improves the space.
Here are a few quick tips to keep in mind:
- Don’t go too heavy–sometimes removing a layer or two of window treatment can open up the space and let you take advantage of natural lighting
- Raise the curtain rods–if you want to make a room feel taller and more open, moving the curtain rods to the ceiling give the illusion of taller walls and bigger windows
- Likewise, using a wider rod can give you extra space on each side of the window, allowing you to open it more fully and let it in more light
- If you use curtains with more fabric than you need on the sides, you can have beautiful folds of fabric instead of the stretch, like it barely covers the window panes–PLUSH! DECADENT! REGAL!
- Invest–I know this is an affordable upgrades list, but if you’re putting money anywhere to improve your space, window treatments is a GREAT, money-effective way to do it because it makes such a huge difference
- Spacious room? Leave the curtains long enough to barely touch the floor
- Cramped room? Opt for cropped curtains that end at or near the bottom of the sill–or skip curtains entirely! For a minimalist look, some lovely fabric blinds might be perfect for your space
- Also please steam your curtains, thank you, there shouldn’t be creases. It’s free to remove creases. Throw ’em damp into the dryer and hang them immediately if you don’t have a steamer xoxo
9. Learn how to patch your walls
This tip is two-fold, because you can:
- Make simple repairs to greatly improve your home (potentially, if you’re a fella with holes and scrapes all over the walls).
- Become more bold with experimenting! Hang stuff up! If you put a hole in it, you know how to fix it.
A little sack of drywall compound for patchwork will last you your whole life and your children’s lives and your grandchildren’s lives. The family heirloom sack of drywall compound.
10. Make a list
To improve any part of my life, I have one main hack: Make a list.
Here’s what I mean in terms of making a house cuter:
I live in a 200+ year old house, so there’s always some kind of project waiting on me, and it’s easy to ignore them when there are ONE MILLION tiny projects. So I made a list on my phone and if I have a couple free hours on my hands, I check for something I can work on. This helps me to make steady progress! I’m always improving something, and it has a huge cumulative effect.
If you have a newer house, this is still a great method! Your list might be more like:
- Paint kitchen cabinets
- Hang shelf
- Remove glass panes from picture frames
- Find a new couch
- Patch holes in living room wall
Or whatever! But with any big ongoing thing (like keeping house), there are often little tasks that tend to fly under the radar. And the devil’s in the details! Patch the holes already! Or do it next weekend when you have a free hour because you didn’t forget about it because it’s on a list!
Anyway, those are my tips. What are your affordable home cute-ifying hacks? PLEASEEEE tell me in a comment below!
And don’t forget to grab your free list of 100 items to declutter today:
