Entering the second week of Sydney’s latest lockdown, we reckon you may be feeling the cabin fever or getting the urge to improve your surrounds! But rather than feeling suffocated and restless within your abode, property stylist Justine Wilson, reckons now’s the best time to give your home its long-awaited makeover.
“Take charge of this period at home to do the little touch-ups that have been nagging at you,” she says. “Having a well-presented home can have a wonderful effect on productivity and mood.”
Try her five essentials tips to refresh and reinvigorate your home during this lockdown.
Introduce a nice ‘work from home’ space:
A work from home space can be a full room, or just a designated zone set up for your needs. Consider unused areas like under the stairs, or corners in guest bedrooms, so you still have the dual purpose of the room when lockdown lifts.
The key with any study nook is to ensure you have good task lighting, comfortable seating and a great work surface be it a full desk or a console table. Add something uplifting like nice art, a pinboard, or even plants to help you feel like it’s a nice space and to help with inspiration.
Declutter and organise your utility areas:
The good news is retailers like Kmart and IKEA can still deliver, so you can find many affordable storage solutions or organising products. Try introducing nice wicker baskets, acrylic containers, pretty boxes, or tubs to have all your products neat and accessible
“Consider DIY jobs like putting up floating shelves which can be useful storage or display,” says Justine. “There are many great home DIY projects and youtube has many wonderful tutorials on every subject!”
Bring life into your home:
Feeling stuck indoors can be frustrating, so try to bring the outside in with real plants. Having beautiful floral arrangements, or potted plants can be a great way to bring cheer into your home and provide something beautiful to look at. Now is a great time to learn about potted plant care, and you’ll find arranging them around the home provides a nice distraction.
Refresh your living and bedroom zones:
This can be as simple as doing a deep clean, shaking out rugs, vacuuming, cleaning skirting boards and dusting, and washing your blinds. Having a clean space can create a clear mind. Swapping out scatter cushions, sofa or bed throws, and refreshing your decor by moving things around can really change up the feeling of your rooms.
You can use a lot of what you have just rearranged or change placement for an instant refresh. Lighting candles and having ambient lighting like floor or table lamps on can create that cosy calming environment we all need right now.
Paint:
We all say if only I had the time! Well, now we really do. It’s the perfect time to do the more psychically demanding home improvement tasks.
Repaint your front door, the fence, or your walls. Or consider painting your kitchen or bathroom cupboards for a dramatic yet cost-effective change. Other options are feature walls or give older furniture a fresh coat to breathe new life into it. Easy jobs like swapping out handles and hardware are also a great excuse to keep your mind busy and can make a great impact.
-Justine Wilson is a leading property stylist from Vault Interiors, located in Sydney.
