My friends’ beautiful 19th-century barn holiday let Beyond The Barn has inspired me!
A few ideas for some easy home upgrades have popped into my head recently so I’m putting those ideas ‘on paper’ here so that I can organise my thoughts. Plus, if I share my plans with you, maybe they’ll actually come true. A bit like “built it and they will come” but in this case = “say it and it will happen”!
The good thing about planning a bit of a decor update is that you can completely refresh your home and create more practical spaces without having to move house or do any big building work. Just a kitchen refresh, some new paintwork or the addition of a window or door can make all the difference.
So don’t move, improve! Here are my plans for next year’s DIYing, which might give you some ideas for your own home too…
Kitchen updates
A couple of years ago, we refreshed our kitchen with new low-cost units, painted the walls and added parquet-style flooring. This was a sort-of temporary fix because we always thought we might do some building work to incorporate the open porch and outbuilding to create a utility room.
However, I’ve since decorated the porch (check out my DIY porch project here), added a new exterior door to enclose it and we’ve moved the old kitchen into the outbuilding, so we’ve already got the utility space we need without having to do any big structural work.
So I can now be sure that the kitchen layout is staying as it is. And, that means I can invest in upgrades that will elevate the space. There didn’t seem to be any point in having countertops made to fit the units if the configuration might have changed but now that I know that the units are staying put, it’s time to upgrade the design with luxurious quartz worktops.
l’ll also refinish the cupboard handles, which are wooden. They had a clear varnish when they were installed but have since become speckled with watermarks so I’d love to remove them all from the kitchen cupboard doors and give them a lovely rich wood stain and topcoat.
I’m excited about these kitchen plans, along with some other ideas…
Window upgrades
We’ve always admired mid-century modern homes and especially love the amount of light that glazed walls bring into the space. As our home was built in 1950, it seems appropriate for it to have a more mid-century style and I think that new windows would help to achieve that.
We’ve already got a rather large picture window in the living room but we are considering turning this into floor-to-ceiling glazing. Whether that’s sliding panels or bifold doors I’m not sure, as we haven’t looked into it yet. But I’m confident that it will help to get that classic mid-century look and create a lovely flow into the garden.
Likewise, we might add patio doors from the kitchen into the garden. And, if we’re doing the ground-floor windows, it might be the ideal time to upgrade the upstairs windows too. One panel of my office window has blown so is a little fuzzy so that’s definitely on the list for a repair too.
I’ve been inspired by my friends’ beautiful 19th-century barn holiday let Beyond The Barn
Decor refresh
Earlier this year we installed ‘The Frame’ television, which is mounted flush to the wall like a picture frame and the cables are recessed (blimey, you won’t believe the brick dust this created!). This is plastered over so there are no wires. This meant I needed to repaint the wall but so far I’ve just painted it white to cover up the filled channel.
I’ve always tried not to make the television a focal point in any room – we previously had it on the side wall and pulled it out on an arm when we wanted to watch something. So I love that it now looks like a picture, with our own photos and artwork displayed on the screen.
This has inspired me to update the decor in the living room, so it’s time for more tester pots and paint swatches while I find the perfect mid-century colour. I’m keeping the teak sideboard beneath it so the colour can’t be too orange, even though I’d love to have orange walls.
And I’ve already used my favourite blue on the sofa upholstery, so I’d either have to colour-match it exactly (which might be a bit too much in the space!) or choose a complete contrast. I’m thinking of going with the mustard colour of our cushions – watch this space!
I hope that by sharing my ideas you might be inspired to make some small changes to your own home to elevate the space and make it an even more enjoyable place to live. Let me know in the comments below what your own plans are for your home – “say it and it will happen”!
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