Low Cost Home Makeovers - 11 Handy Tips. (2) Colours

I was recently invited to Grand Designs Live in Birmingham, to talk about home makeovers and how to keep costs down, whether you're selling your home or want to enjoy living in it. To follow is a summary of the suggestions I made, with lots of 'Before' and 'After' photos as illustrations.

COLOUR -could you work with some of the existing colours in the house or should you change them?
• Check all the existing colours in your house. Include tiles, floor coverings etc. If you add a new colour, will it work with all of these or would you have to change them?
• Completely changing the colour scheme in a house can be very costly, especially if flooring, tiles and window decorations are involved.
• Don’t mix two different colour schemes
• If you do want a new scheme, buy the art and fabrics first, then choose wall colours and flooring, then accessorise
If the makeover is for selling. purposes..
Use existing colours wherever possible to keep the budget down

Before - the homeowners thought they had to replace the sofas to help sell the house...

After - My preference was to just make them work!
 

Exterior view - you wouldn't like to see the following colours in a house like this... 



Before

Before



After - with calmer colours

After - much warmer

CLICK HERE to see the above house in detail

 

Before - don't mix colour schemes - pink and gold don't work together

 

After - the most cost effective change was to replace the pink

CLICK HERE to see the above house in detail

Before - this was the entrance to a house mainly decorated with golds

 

After - so we made it work

 

Before - in the same golden house as above, this  scheme didn't work...

 

After - so we warmed it up

 

 Next - Room Use - how do you use each room and do you need to change this when you're planning a makeover?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moving in to first home

This lovely couple were moving in to their first home. It was fun discovering the right style and colours for them. They didn't want to change any of the wall colours yet, so I added warmth in the accessories.

Less is more... another full house ONE-DAY makeover

This bedroom was transformed as part of a one day makeover ... of the entire house.

Before - known as the "spare" room

After - now known as the "Guest bedroom"

Before

After

Would this put you off buying a house, or make it more appealing?

I can't decide if ducks in this photograph would encourage people to view the bungalow, or put them off.  Please let me know your thoughts...

£10,000? For Home Staging? No way...

When one of my clients asked her Estate Agent if she should consider Home Staging to help sell her property, he said it was a good idea, but would cost over £10,000.  Well, watch this space!!  In fact, does anyone want to have a guess what the total will be?  Here's the work we're doing to the 4 bed bungalow:


Treating mould in every room
Painting most ceilings and walls
Painting the front door and two windowsills
Updating some ceiling lights
Adding furniture in every room
Changing some new poles and window dressings
Adding soft furnishings everywhere - bedding, cushions etc
Adding accessories and art to every room
Fitting coir matting inside the porch
Cutting back and clearing the overgrown back garden's beds
Cutting back the 8ft hedge around the property
Emptying and painting the shed
Jet-washing the paths and back of the bungalow
Adding plants to the pots outdoors
Taking photographs of each room for selling purposes

Please click the 'Comments' section and say what you think it will be!

A "Supermarket Trolley Dash" in an beautiful interiors shop!

This was a real dream come true!! A close friend of my client owns a beautiful interiors shop in Rothley, and she offered the loan of some accessories for the project.  I was invited to search the shop and the stockrooms to make my selections - it was like a supermarket trolley dash but in slow motion and with lots of bubblewrap! 

Top Ten Home Staging Tips - No. 4 - Use what you already have... more effectively

Look around your home and re-arrange it, with the Estate Agent's photos in mind. Put matching furniture back together again, put plants and flowers in key positions in the room.  Take your own photographs to get an idea of layout.  This home was a classic example of beautiful items being hidden ...http://www.homemakeoverservice.co.uk/e3.php

Top Ten Home Staging Tips - No. 5 - Stick to one colour scheme

It feels so much calmer in a house where colours flow smoothly from one room to another. Don't try to change to a new colour scheme, or everything will need replacing - just look at the colours that already exist, choose three that blend nicely, and remove all other colours from sight.  In this example house, the sofas were red, so this was the starting point...http://www.homemakeoverservice.co.uk/e14.php