Five quick ways to improve your home in 2022

Update your kitchen with new kitchen cabinets

As 2021 draws to a close, you may already be looking ahead to 2022 and making plans. Some of these may involve improving your home.

At this time of year, it’s easy to get carried away with hopes and dreams, and believe that anything is possible. However, once reality kicks in, you begin to realise that time and money are both limited, and there is only so much you are able to achieve.

But the important thing is not to get disheartened about what you can’t do, but focus on what you can.

In this article we look at five ways to improve your home in 2022. We promise that none of them will take much time or cost much money. But, whether you decide to do just one or even all five, they will each make a positive difference to your home.

Create a good first impression

First impressions count, so one way to instantly improve your home is to refresh your front door. This is not just to impress visitors: just think how uplifted you would feel coming home to a fresh shiny front door rather than one that is jaded and tatty.

Front doors can be expensive to replace, but if yours needs attention it’s surprising the difference a fresh coat of paint can make. If possible, sand the wood first as this will help the new paint to last longer. Think carefully about your colour as well. You don’t have to have the same colour as it was before, so why not choose a bright colour such as red or blue to liven things up a bit.

If your budget can stretch you may want to add new brassware such as a door knocker, handle or letterbox, and give your door a whole new look.

Repaint your home – one room at a time

A coat of paint can make a huge difference to a room. Painting can be a daunting prospect but if you just focus on one room at a time it will gradually get done. 

You may even find that you have part-used tins of leftover paint that you may be able to use either to paint a small room or one or two walls in a room, alternating with another colour.

As well as painting walls, it’s good to refresh doors and woodwork if you can. You may even get into a flow and want to extend your painting skills to furniture or frames.

Be bold with your choice of colours, and don’t be afraid to mix and match for a unique look. Take a look at our article The most popular bedroom colours for some ideas and inspiration.

Replace your kitchen cabinets or doors

Another quick way to update your home is by replacing your kitchen cabinets. The good news is that if the carcasses of the cabinets are still in good condition, you can simply replace the cabinet doors quickly and cheaply, and make a huge difference at a fraction of the cost of a new kitchen.

Again, when replacing kitchen cabinets or doors, why not be adventurous in your choice of colours? Our article Colourful kitchen cabinets explores how to choose the best colours for your kitchen, and describes the extensive ranges of kitchen cabinets supplied by DIY Homefit. 

Create light and warmth

If your home feels dark and dingy, there are several things that you can do to brighten it up. 

Here are five ideas:

• Wall, floor and skylights

Try adding a few more wall and floor lights if you can, and aiming some of them at the ceiling. This helps to spread light throughout the whole room – including those dark corners – and give it a more multi-dimensional feel.

Another option is to let more natural light into a room with a skylight – as pictured below.

• Fairy lights

There is also an increasing trend to use fairy lights throughout the year, not just at Christmas. So consider doing this too, as it can really help to add more light and warmth to the room.

• Candles

Strategically placed candles can change the ambience of a room. One option is to install some open shelving in your room to feature some of your favourite things, interspersed with candles. These can add a touch of personality to your room as well as the lovely glow from the candlelights.

• Mirrors

Also experiment with mirrors. A cleverly positioned mirror can make any room look both larger and lighter. A lovely mirror can not only reflect and radiate light around the room but can also act as a stunning centrepiece of the room.

• Mirror tiles and doors

An alternative to mirrors are mirror tiles. A simple panel of mirror tiles opposite a door or window can really help to brighten up a room. Or you could choose mirrored doors for wardrobes or cupboards that can instantly make a room look twice as big.

Brighten up your bedroom

And so to bed. But if your bedroom itself is tired, it won’t provide the ideal atmosphere for you to rest and relax. So consider brightening up your bedroom with some crisp new bed linens, and perhaps one or two matching or contrasting rugs. It can also help to bring a little bit of nature into your room by introducing some plants and flowers to freshen things up.

You may also want to think about replacing your wardrobe doors. Just as with kitchen cabinet doors, this is quick and easy to do, but can totally transform the look and feel of your bedroom. Our article The best wardrobe doors for 2021 has lots of information about current trends in wardrobe doors.

We hope that this article has helped you to consider some practical ways to improve your home in 2022 that will not take up too much time or money.

Remember to check back here soon for more lifestyle tips from DIY Homefit.