Decorating Guides
New Year Resolutions: 5 Design Goals to Keep For 2020
If you've been putting off giving your home an update, it's about time you set some decor resolutions for this new year
With a brand-new year well and truly upon us, it’s time to eschew the old and embrace the new – in organising, home design and beyond. If you’re yet to set resolutions for 2020, it’s not too late. With this trusty list, get set to breathe new life into your home this new year. Cheers to an inspiration-filled 2020!
1. Practise ‘less is more’
There’s something indescribably serene about a place that breathes through open spaces. If you’ve resolved to make this a year of Zen living, consider decluttering the heart of your existence – your home. Sort through your closet, decor and kitchenware to take stock of your inventory, and lose pieces that you haven’t used in the last six months. If they’ve gone unremembered that long, chances are, you don’t need them.
Browse through Houzz photos of beautiful living rooms
There’s something indescribably serene about a place that breathes through open spaces. If you’ve resolved to make this a year of Zen living, consider decluttering the heart of your existence – your home. Sort through your closet, decor and kitchenware to take stock of your inventory, and lose pieces that you haven’t used in the last six months. If they’ve gone unremembered that long, chances are, you don’t need them.
Browse through Houzz photos of beautiful living rooms
Also, consider investing in smart and spiffy organising units. Under-bed boxes and baskets, over-door hanging organisers and modular storage are all excellent ways of pigeonholing your wares and, in turn, giving your home a neat and tidy avatar. The bonus? Your home and your head will feel a whole lot lighter!
Find all kinds of storage in Houzz products
Find all kinds of storage in Houzz products
2. Upcycle outdated pieces
Updating your home to mark the new year doesn’t have to cost the earth. Turn to existing pieces. Can an old vase be converted into a lamp? Can a cast-off ladder find new life as a bookshelf? How about having an old trunk or suitcase double-hat as a storage unit and coffee table? Blow the dust off old furniture and consider ways of incorporating it into your new design scheme. Call in a carpenter to sand, fix and repaint your vintage gems. Better still, roll up your sleeves and do it yourself (sandpaper and a basic toolkit are often all it takes). There’s an undeniable charm in pieces with a past. And you’ll find it’s worth every last drop of sweat.
Here are some ways to do new things with old furniture
Updating your home to mark the new year doesn’t have to cost the earth. Turn to existing pieces. Can an old vase be converted into a lamp? Can a cast-off ladder find new life as a bookshelf? How about having an old trunk or suitcase double-hat as a storage unit and coffee table? Blow the dust off old furniture and consider ways of incorporating it into your new design scheme. Call in a carpenter to sand, fix and repaint your vintage gems. Better still, roll up your sleeves and do it yourself (sandpaper and a basic toolkit are often all it takes). There’s an undeniable charm in pieces with a past. And you’ll find it’s worth every last drop of sweat.
Here are some ways to do new things with old furniture
3. Go green
This year, tip your hat to the environment by making eco-friendly choices. Reclaimed wood can give your aesthetic a warm, earthy and rustic vibe while doing wonders for the environment. See how this home gains a raw and unfussy edge, thanks to a rough-finished restored wood table and chairs.
Take a tour of this luxurious eco-friendly farmhouse here
This year, tip your hat to the environment by making eco-friendly choices. Reclaimed wood can give your aesthetic a warm, earthy and rustic vibe while doing wonders for the environment. See how this home gains a raw and unfussy edge, thanks to a rough-finished restored wood table and chairs.
Take a tour of this luxurious eco-friendly farmhouse here
In addition, go for textiles in organic fibres such as jute, bamboo, hemp and mud silk, and energy-saving fittings and appliances. A plethora of design houses are keeping the sustainable movement at the heart of their design philosophies, so you’ll still be spoilt for choice when it comes to straddling style and sustainability.
Houzz Quiz: How eco-friendly is your lifestyle?
Houzz Quiz: How eco-friendly is your lifestyle?
4. Bring in more plants
With increasing pollution, spiralling stress levels and frenzied lifestyles, nature can serve as a revitalising cure. Teacup (or matka) planters, succulents and pocket herb gardens can make for fresh and invigorating additions to a home, big or small. Likewise, if your space is starved of sunlight, pick plants such as the peace lily, lucky bamboo or mother-in-law’s tongue, which thrive even without direct natural light.
Don’t have green fingers? Here are some indoor plants you just can’t kill
With increasing pollution, spiralling stress levels and frenzied lifestyles, nature can serve as a revitalising cure. Teacup (or matka) planters, succulents and pocket herb gardens can make for fresh and invigorating additions to a home, big or small. Likewise, if your space is starved of sunlight, pick plants such as the peace lily, lucky bamboo or mother-in-law’s tongue, which thrive even without direct natural light.
Don’t have green fingers? Here are some indoor plants you just can’t kill
5. Trust your gut and listen to your heart
Have you always fancied a red accent wall? Or a bedroom in Stygian hues? Do you dream of neon accents and gilded chandeliers? If you answered any of those in the affirmative, it’s worth closing your eyes and following your instincts. As your haven, your home ought to echo your personality and preferences, and the new year is the perfect time to see that through. Go on, ditch the rule book and take a risk. That hot-pink headboard or jet-black boudoir might be the best design decision you ever made.
Call in a designer from Houzz professionals to turn your ideas into reality
Read more:
11 Ways to Declutter Your Bedroom
No Guilt: 7 Super-Easy Decor Resolutions for This New Year
Tell us:
What are your design resolutions this new year? Tell us in Comments below.
Have you always fancied a red accent wall? Or a bedroom in Stygian hues? Do you dream of neon accents and gilded chandeliers? If you answered any of those in the affirmative, it’s worth closing your eyes and following your instincts. As your haven, your home ought to echo your personality and preferences, and the new year is the perfect time to see that through. Go on, ditch the rule book and take a risk. That hot-pink headboard or jet-black boudoir might be the best design decision you ever made.
Call in a designer from Houzz professionals to turn your ideas into reality
Read more:
11 Ways to Declutter Your Bedroom
No Guilt: 7 Super-Easy Decor Resolutions for This New Year
Tell us:
What are your design resolutions this new year? Tell us in Comments below.