Occasionally it’s great to look at your house with new eyes and think about a tiny tactical updating. It’s easy to be blinded to the area you reside in day after day, so it can be helpful to have a professional point out a few things that can make your house feel dated and suggest some ways to change those items for the better. Ready for your eyes to be opened? Here we go!

Kristie Barnett, The Decorologist

1. Paint those cupboards. If your wood kitchen or bathroom cupboards are stained in colors of orange, yellow or crimson, they may look dated. It’s time for a painting intervention? Light-colored cabinets make a kitchen look bigger and fresher. Just have a look at any significant design magazine — all you’ll see is painted wood kitchen chimney.

The kitchen was formerly a dated, 1970s wooden cave. We painted all in this area — the cupboards, the wood paneling and the walnut hutch in the left. Forty years were shaved this kitchen off with a few gallons of paint. Just be sure to hire a professional or do your homework when handling this kind of labor-intensive project.

2. Add some new pillows. New cushions in on-trend patterns immediately update a space. Right now, the most popular trends in fabrics are geometric patterns in a neutral with a single vivid color. You are able to choose a pair of colorful geometric pillows and add them to some pillows that are solid, as in the photo above.

For Folks design

Rather than drained florals and stripes, look for motifs like chevron, imperial trellis, link, herringbone, Greek key, ikat, flamestitch and updated paisley.

Niche Interiors

3. Mix your furniture. Another way to make your room sense present would be to mix up your furnishings. Nothing says staid and dated more than complete fitting bedroom, dining area and living room sets. Try painting the tables that match your bedroom suite a colour or substitute them with a set entirely.

Anna Lattimore Interior Design

Mixing it up does not mean throwing disparate furnishings together randomly. There ought to be some creative preparation and purposeful placement. Use fitting lamps, a pair of matching chairs or end tables along with some other symmetrical touches to keep things under control.

LORRAINE G VALE, Allied ASID

If all of your pieces in a room match, try painting one of the pieces in a vivid color. Engineered wood and painted finishes is a modern tendency, as is mismatched dining room seats.

4. Update your trimming. Whether you have box trim, beadboard or plain old drywall beneath a chair rail, the most updated method to paint is in the exact same colour and complete as the trimming. If you decide to paint a real colour beneath the chair rail, make sure you paint the wall above the chair rail a neutral color. Two contrasting real colors on the exact same wall seems dated.

Lowery Design Group

5. Freshen up your ceiling. Tray and coffered ceilings using an banding painted in an accent colour are no longer in fashion. When tray ceilings became popular for dining rooms and rooms, multiple colors and contrasting banding were used to make people take note of their trayed effect. This picture illustrates an updated method to draw focus on the tray: Paint the uppermost, horizontal portion of the ceiling in a color but leave the lower part trim impartial.

More Mood Makers:
Luxurious Looks on a Budget
Create a Peaceful Place

See related