Your home decor can start to feel stale over time, but with a few simple tricks, you can completely refresh your space with minimal effort.
Small changes, like adding plants or rearranging furniture, can make a big difference in updating your style and enhancing your home’s overall look.
Manar Kamal, the founder and principal designer of Manarette, a Dubai-based interior design company, is providing some tips on quick, practical changes that make a big impact and refresh your space without a complete overhaul.
Ready to give your home a fresh feel? Just keep reading, then.
How to Change Your Home Style
If you are looking for some quick home decor ideas, consider these tips for instant transformation.
Simple Decoration Tips to Instantly Transform the Look and Feel of a Home
As per Manar’s experience, she gave some quick tips to enhance your home decor. These include the following:
- Add indoor plants as table decor, hanging pots in a small vertical garden in the kitchen or even larger pots in the corner of a room.
- Change the lighting. For instance, add pendant lights, floor lamps, or a chandelier to enhance the room’s appearance. The lights can vary according to the rooms and spaces.
- Add texture to your new home decor by putting up throw pillows, cushions and rugs in your room.
- Rearrange the furniture to make the room look spacious and neat. Also, declutter the space and remove any unnecessary items.
- Change or add the artwork to reflect your decor preferences or the season trend. For instance, decorating your home for Eid, Christmas or Ramadan is a good idea to feel more of the vibes of these occasions.
- Add framed prints, paintings or DIY art to personalise your home’s walls. You can create a gallery wall with frames, photos and art pieces.
- A good home decor idea is to place flower vases and display sculptures and art pieces which make your home more stylish
- Adding mirrors is also a good hack to make any space in your home look bigger. Lights and mirrors work together to become a focal point, thus making a space appear larger.
- Use storage boxes with labels, baskets and shelves to give your new home decor a tidy look.
Use Colours to Change Your Home’s Atmosphere
Colours can significantly impact home decor by setting up a space’s vibe and mood. You can incorporate different colour paints when considering a repaint to your home.
Here’s how different colours add a vibe and change the atmosphere:
Warm Colours
Red, orange and yellow are warm colours that stimulate energy. They are ideal for active spaces like living rooms, dining rooms and kitchens.
Cool Colours
Blue, green and purple are some of the cool colours that bring calmness. These are perfect for bedrooms, bathrooms or any restrooms.
Neutral Colours
White, grey and beige offer versatility, fitting any room, especially for regular decoration updates.
Accent Colours
Adding an accent colour can create focal points. Also, these colours add interest to a room. They are best for living rooms, bedrooms or any space where you want to draw attention or create a dynamic feel.
Monochromatic Schemes
For cohesion and elegance, use monochromatic paints. Using various shades of one colour can create a harmonious look. Additionally, layering different tones of the same colour adds depth while maintaining a unified feel.
Light and Dark Colours
Light colours expand spaces, whereas dark hues add an intimate and inviting feel. So, use light colours in smaller rooms to make them look bigger, whereas dark colours are best for larger rooms. You can apply this if you want to make your studio apartment look bigger.
Colour Psychology
Some colours spark a different mood. For instance, Pink can add a touch of femininity. It represents calmness and love.
Meanwhile, turquoise or teal combine the tranquillity of blue with the uplifting qualities of green, often used in creative spaces. On the other hand, black adds a sense of luxury and sophistication when used sparingly.
Update Furniture Without a Full Makeover
If you have bought a new bed, sofa, or table from the top furniture stores in Dubai, you must arrange it strategically. Besides, if you want to rearrange the furniture, make sure you declutter and organise it.
- Update your home’s hardware by swapping knobs, handles and pulls on drawers, cabinets and dressers.
- Opt for modern, vintage or eclectic hardware to match your desired look.
- Add or replace cushion covers on dining chairs, benches or accent chairs. Select fabrics that complement your decor or introduce new colours and patterns.
- Reupholster small areas like the seat or backrest of chairs and stools. Choose durable fabrics that align with your room’s colour scheme for a noticeable impact.
- For a fresh, easily changeable look, use wallpaper or contact paper to line drawer interiors, shelves or bookcase backs or to cover flat surfaces like tabletops.
Install Lights to Influence the Style and Mood of Your New Home
Lighting plays a crucial role in shaping a home’s style and mood. It illuminates spaces, enhances architectural features, highlights decor and creates ambience.
Here are some quick and effective lighting changes you can make in your home:
Use LED Bulbs, Dimmers and Smart Lights
- Replace flickering bulbs with new LED or Smart lights. These are energy-efficient, long-lasting and available in different colour temperatures, allowing you to create smart homes.
- Use smart bulbs as they will give you more control and access, and you can adjust the brightness and colour with the ease of a tap on your phone.
- Install dimmer switches to adjust the light intensity and create your desired mood.
Change Lamp Shades and Add More Lights
- Change the lamp shades of your old lamps and add ones in different patterns, textures, and colours.
- Incorporate floor and table lamps to create warm, inviting pools of light in corners or near seating areas.
- Hang string lights indoors for a cosy, festive atmosphere or place fairy lights in jars for a whimsical, ambient glow.
- Add lights with the mirror to reflect it around the room. It will help make the room look bigger.
Install Function-Specific Lighting
- Add under-cabinet lighting with LED strips or puck lights in kitchens or bathrooms for a modern, polished look. Adhesive LED strips are easy to install under cabinets or along baseboards.
- Highlight artwork or architectural features using spotlights, pictures, or clip-on lights to create focal points and add sophistication.
- Install pendant lights over kitchen islands or dining tables for a stylish focal point.
- Install motion sensor lights in hallways, bathrooms, or closets for convenience, or add night lights in bedrooms or bathrooms for a soft, gentle glow.
Add Different Textures and Fabrics to Your New House Decor
Add some texture to transform your new home into a stylish oasis! Whether it’s cosy throws, chic rugs, or unique wall art, textured accents bring depth and character to your space. Here’s how you can incorporate them into a sensory home design:
- Use a combination of rugs with different textures, like layering a plush rug over a jute or sisal rug. This adds depth and interest to a room, especially in living rooms or bedrooms.
- Combine pillows in various fabrics, such as velvet, linen, faux fur and knits. Varying the textures can make your sofa or bed look more dynamic and inviting.
- Drape knitted, woven, or faux fur blankets over sofas, chairs, or the end of the bed. They add warmth and comfort while introducing a new texture.
- Use different types of curtains, such as linen, for a light, airy feel or heavier fabrics like velvet for a more luxurious touch.
- Layering sheers with heavier drapes can also add texture.
Budget-Friendly Fabric Changes
- Hang fabric wall art or a tapestry. This is an inexpensive way to add colour and texture to a room.
- Create your own fabric art, like a fabric-covered bulletin board or framed fabric squares.
- Repurpose scarves as throws for furniture backs or as a decorative element on tables.
Complement with Accessories & Accents
- Change out throw pillows and blankets. Choose thematic or seasonal colours for custom home decor.
- Incorporate decorative trays to place candles, vases or other decorative boxes.
- Also, add books to the shelves and trays to make your decor look aesthetically pleasing.
- Add unique knick-knacks and personal items. For instance, you can use family pictures as decor on walls to add a personalised touch.
Minimalistic and Budget-Friendly Decorative Items that Can Make a Big Impact
The following are some must-have decorative items that are minimalistic but make a significant impact on any interior design of a living space:
- Statement Mirrors: Large or uniquely shaped mirrors can become focal points, making a room feel larger and more open while reflecting light.
- Artwork: Investing in a few key pieces of artwork or even creating a gallery wall can significantly improve a room’s style.
Additionally, use artwork that matches the interior design and colour of your home. Also, you can create a gallery wall but ensure proper placement.
You can scale your living space and place the artwork so that it enhances your home decor.
- Plants and Greenery: Live or high-quality faux plants add life and colour to any room, creating a fresh and vibrant atmosphere.
- Candles: Scented or unscented candles in decorative holders can create a cosy ambience and enhance a room’s aesthetic appeal.
- Area Rugs: A well-chosen area rug can anchor a room, add warmth and tie together different decor elements.
If you have your own or rental apartment in Dubai, you can incorporate these home decor ideas. These tips and tricks from the experts will help turn your house into a home.
Manar Kamal is the founder and principal designer of the Dubai-based interior design atelier Manarette – previously known as M.A. Interiors.
She received her bachelor’s degree in Interior Design from one of the most prestigious design programs in the region at the American University of Sharjah. Manar began her career in the world of PR for four years, before pursuing her true calling. Her experience in PR provided her with invaluable skills in client servicing and luxury brand management, which she currently utilizes to grow her own brand.
As a designer, Manar is a free spirit with a taste for the finer things in life. Her style exudes modern luxury and showcases her ability to develop concepts and breathe life into them through experimentation with material, color, and light. She cannot be defined, with a unique approach to design that results in contemporary, bold, and diverse luxury spaces.
