BIG W’s new line of homewares, Sunrise Valley, will give your home an Insta-worthy update for autumn without breaking the bank.
Introducing autumnal tones and patterns, the range has landed in store and online in time for the cooler months ahead. Gary Chen, senior designer for home at BIG W, said they wanted to focus on small changes that will have a big impact. Taking inspiration from Scandinavia, you’ll find stylish yet practical items featuring deeper colours, tactile fabrics and big floral prints. Bag yourself a trend-inspired piece for under $10!
This gorgeous earthy toned set features a geometric quilted design that will subtly add texture to your room. Once again, the still on-trend rainbow motif is still there but pared back.
Interior designer and stylist Kathryn Bamford explains how make your home feel exciting again.
With all this extra time at home, there is no better time than the present to reinvigorate your home and make it exciting again. Here are 10 easy and inexpensive ways to make your home feel exciting again which you can easily accomplish while in isolation.
1. Explore Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree
With all the extra time at home, everyone seems to be clearing out their places and there are so many great listings at the moment! In the last few weeks alone I feel like I have completely transformed the look and feel of my place with some great finds off Marketplace. Look for vintage or antique pieces that excite you and need a new home. I picked up this console for $70 on marketplace!
2. Spice it up with some new cushions, throws and decor pieces
It’s officially winter, so it’s time to get your velvet pillows and throws out! I have honestly never seen such nice pillows or throws as those out at the moment. Maybe it’s all that extra time online browsing. I’m loving all the burnt oranges and tans!
It doesn’t get more inexpensive than this one! Sometimes all we need to change up our space is simply just to move around all the favourite items we already own. I keep all my spare homewares and props in two big boxes, and every month or so I like to pull them all out and swap items with what’s already on display. If you’re happy with your space’s furniture layout, play around with your lamps, art, mirrors and books. It helps keep things new and exciting even though the layout stays the same.
Baskets. containers and trays are all your friends. Use them to organise your whole house. I recently did this at home and was surprised at how many containers and baskets I had laying around I could use to get organised. I believe everything in your house should have a place to live. Once everything has a place to live, it’s so much easier to keep tidy as everything has a place to go back.
5. Keep it sustainable by upcycling pieces you already own
Fall back in love with something you already own. You got it at one stage because you liked it, now it’s time to update it and fall back in love with it. Check out this sideboard that got a makeover from Steve Cordony to inspire you. Instructions are here as well as the know-how to tackle an upcycling project with confidence.
6. Embrace greenery and plants
Hand ups all the crazy plant people! Is it just me or are plants just as important as furniture in a space these days? Plants are the easiest way to add some life to your home. I mean literally they’re alive! If you’re worried you won’t be a great plant parent, try out a devils ivy (pothos) like Jen’s beauty below, or snake plant (sansevieria). Both are super easy to keep alive and happy. The best part yet, they help to purify the air.
Image: Jacqui Turk
7. Buy some art or better yet, paint your own!
Search affordable art on the blog and you’ll have a plethora to choose from. Or better yet, make your own! You don’t necessarily have to be a good painter to be able to make cool art for your home. Play around with frames with line drawings, geometric shapes or even have a go at an abstract piece of your own! Three out of four of these in my office are homemade. Want to make a resin artwork similar to this round one? Check out Little Lane Workshops.
8. Knock off some easy DIY repair jobs that have building up on your to-do list
Whip out the pressure cleaner, drill or paintbrush. Going out less and not wasting time commuting, allows many of us more time at the moment to complete those pesky things that have been lingering on the to-do list for way too long. For me, this was removing scuff marks from the walls and doors with my favourite cleaning item ever, Magic Erasers! Is there anything those little sponges can’t clean? Got a hole in your plasterboard? Check out this.
9. Make friends with paint!
There is no cheaper way to completely transform a space than with a good lick of paint. I have so much love for paint and what it can do to a space. There are no rules or limits to what you can achieve with paint. Don’t be afraid to explore with it. It’s not just for walls! How cool is the roof here in Sarah Sherman Samuels’ son’s bedroom?!
If you’re lucky enough to have outdoor space, don’t take it for granted! Transform it from meh to your own outdoor oasis. Whether a balcony, courtyard or larger size yard, add some plants, outdoor furniture and start using that space!
– Kathryn Bamford is a regular contributor, certified interiors addict and degree qualified interior designer & stylist. You can follow her projects and adventures on Instagram @kathryn_bamford.
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It’s no secret that kitchens and bathrooms are the highlights of the modern home. A tacky blue tile in the shower or 70s floral design can make your home look tired and dated. Before you take out a second loan and throw a sledgehammer at those eyesores, there is a quick and easy way to freshen up your bathroom – without leaving you shower-less for a month or hurting the hip pocket.
The budget-friendly fix? Tile paint. If your bathroom tiles are free from chips, cracks and other major damage, a simple refinish with White Knight tile paint can quickly turn your bathroom from drab to “va-va-voom” (as Neale Whitaker would say). Not only will you give your tiles a new lease on life, you will also help the environment by keeping them from becoming landfill.
Click on the image to see more of this amazing bathroom transformation using tile paint by The Painted Hive (before photo below).
The before
Clean, repair and prepare
Before you crack open that tin of paint, remember: preparation is the key to success. A DIY refinish can quickly turn into a DIY disaster if you decide to skimp on the pre-painting steps. Think of this as an essential ingredient to the perfect cake – miss it, and the whole cake won’t turn out.
As clean as your tiles may look, a thorough spray and scrub using White Knight’s tile and laminate cleaner will ensure your tiles are squeaky clean and ready for their grand makeover (think residual soap scum or bath oils). Zap away any pesky mould with bleach, and fill in any grout or tile cracks with fresh grout or poly filler. If a tile is badly damaged, replace it with a tile of the same size – you don’t have to worry about matching the colour as it will be painted over anyway!
Use tape (you can go fancy with painter’s tape or use any masking tape you may have lying around) to protect non-tiled walls and taps, and lay down drop sheets (old blankets and rugs will work) in the bath tub and floor. The goal is to protect these parts from an accidental paint makeover.
Measure up
Before you can begin sprucing up your bathroom tiles, you need to calculate the amount of paint required for your DIY. Since everybody’s bathroom (and the amount of tiles in it) is different, buying a tin and hoping for the best is probably not the right way to go. Luckily, there is an easy way to determine how much paint you will actually need to use. Just multiply the length and height of the tiled walls, divide everything by 12 and voila! The final number is the amount (in litres) of paint that you will need.
Prime
Once your tiles are clean and any cracks and gaps have been filled in, it is time to prime. White Knight’s tile and laminate primer provides a base coat that helps your final coat of paint stick to the tiles and prevents peeling and scratching (ensuring your DIY efforts aren’t wasted when the kids knock the tiles during bath time). It also contains an anti-mould ingredient to further protect your refreshed tiles.
Use a roller to zig-zag the primer across your tiles, finishing off corners and edges with a paint brush. Avoid painting straight from the tin, otherwise you will ruin the primer for future use – use a rolling tray instead. The key here is to focus on small sections at a time to ensure good coverage. Just two coats of primer four hours apart, a light sand after each (wait for the coat to dry first!), and you are ready to paint.
BEFORE (Pic source: Littlepinknotebook.com)
AFTER
Paint
The beauty of White Knight’s tile paint is that you can tint it to whatever colour you want, as well as enjoy either a traditional glossy finish, or opt for a satin effect (with their laminate paint option). Apply your paint in the same manner as your primer: use a roller and tray, and paint brush for corners and edges. Zig-zag your first coat, leave to dry for six hours, then finish off with a light sand before applying the second coat using long strokes. Stir your paint every now and then – it will prevent streaks and help you achieve a smooth finish. And remember: two thin coats are better than one thick one!
Your beautiful new tiles will be fully cured in a week, so take extra care to avoid bumps or harsh cleaners. If you would like to create a little contrast between your tiles and grout, simply apply White Knight’s grout pen to the grout.
Clean up
With so much focus on preparing your tiles and bathroom, it can be easy to forget about the actual equipment you use. Paint brushes, rollers, sponges and trays should be washed as soon as you are finished with them – unless you don’t mind throwing them out after one use! However, after your bathroom revamp, you might just get itching to make over your kitchen tiles next!
–Naomi Findlay is Australia’s rapid renovation expert, an internationally renowned renovator, award-winning property stylist and speaker.She’s an industry leader in creating healthy wealthy spaces and creating wealth and profit from renovating property. Naomi is CEO of staging company Silk Home and founder and principal of education provider, the International Institute of Home Staging (IIHS).
Anyone who’s tackled an ambitious renovation will tell you that labour costs are one of your biggest outlays. And, of course, once you go taking down walls, demolishing decrepit kitchens and bathrooms, and pulling up old floors, you’re inviting nasty surprises that could demand deep pockets to fix.
So this simple cosmetic “spruce up” of a basic one-bedroom apartment will hopefully give any novice renovators confidence that they can pull off an inexpensive makeover in a small window of time. It really just requires a keen eye to target all those important details that, together, add up to a mini transformation. The fact any handy DIYer could tackle a lot of this work themselves would slash the budget considerably, but obviously demand more time (labour consumed around half my budget).
So let’s see how far $6000 stretched in a long weekend.
BEFORE bedroom
AFTER bedroom
Colour my world
The seventies apartment was unremarkable in every way and had no cohesive theme, so I didn’t want to settle for a neutral colour scheme. I needed personality, but not necessarily an overpowering one! The restful tones of Taubmans Sprig of Ivory teamed with Ginger Rose, and finished off with crisp white trims, injected a freshness that immediately lifted the apartment out of its drab shell.
Take the floor
The existing flooring was a mish-mash of old carpet, lino and tiles, which had a jarring effect in the open plan space. So I needed an economical flooring that I could run throughout the apartment. The answer was Senso Rustic vinyl plank flooring in “Pecan”, at a total cost of about $450. It’s an easy DIY solution that can be used in both wet and dry areas, so I was able to run it from the living area straight through to the kitchen.
Kitchen antics
Specialty paints provided a quick cosmetic fix for the dated kitchen, giving the benchtop, tiles and cupboards a gleaming white finish for just a few hundred dollars. However, it didn’t address the fact the kitchen had a lot of dead space and unnecessary clutter. Shelving is always a fantastic solution if you don’t have the funds for additional cabinetry. So I put shelving on one side, and extended the benchtop and tiles on the other, with room for storage underneath. The modernised kitchen now sits comfortably in the bright and breezy open plan.
BEFORE kitchen
AFTER kitchen
Bathroom bliss
While tile paint has always been a great stand by for bathroom tiled walls, it’s never been a durable option for floor tiles – until the Rust-Oleum Tile Transformations Kit came along. This two-part product is suitable for floor tiles; I tinted it a deep grey for the bathroom floor, successfully camouflaging the 70s brown tiles.
BEFORE bathroom
AFTER bathroom
This is a makeover most people could replicate if they wanted to simply update a rental property or place to sell, without any risk of overcapitalising.
–Cherie Barber is the director of Renovating for Profit, a company that teaches everyday people how to buy and renovate properties for a profit.
A smart cosmetic renovation is one of the most effective ways to completely transform a home on a modest budget. There are many different approaches to take, but you can be sure that paint will figure prominently.It’s cheap, it’s a straightforward DIY project and you can achieve miracles in just a weekend of hard yakka.
On a limited budget, you want to be looking at easy gains for minimum outlay and maximum impact. If you’re renovating to make a profit, as opposed to improving your own home, you need to educate yourself about what style of renovation suits your area: i.e, what do your potential buyers or tenants want? Laminate benchtops and budget flooring might be perfectly adequate for some properties but won’t cut it for a $1 million-plus property.
Whirlwind magic
Just to give you an indication of how much a quick, targeted cosmetic renovation can boost the value of your property, I’ve dipped into the archives to pull out this renovation from 2012. I spent around $2,500 on cosmetic improvements to this one-bedroom unit in Sydney’s northern beaches that the owners were gearing up to sell. But you’d never believe it was such a meagre budget when you see the transformation.
BEFORE kitchen
AFTER kitchen
BEFORE lounge
AFTER lounge
BEFORE bedroom
AFTER bedroom
I painted throughout, steam-cleaned the carpets, gave the bathroom an industrial scrub, updated the light fittings and window coverings, and treated the kitchen to a quick cosmetic refresh. For that, I simply painted over the old tiles and cupboards with specialty White Knight paint, resurfaced the benchtops using the Rust-Oleum countertop transformations kit, added a couple of overhead cupboards and updated all the cupboard handles to some nice, modern ones.
None of the improvements were particularly complex, so any competent DIYer could tackle them. And it’s a quick makeover and styling effort that is pretty much timeless. Pre-reno the apartment was valued at $380,000. One week after the makeover was complete the owners accepted an offer of $412,500. Not a bad profit for a few days’ effort. I can only imagine what that Dee Why one-bedder would sell for in today’s heated Sydney market!
