There are a number of ways to update the look of your home without having to worry about spending money on top of-the-range designer items.You can get a high-end, individual look with the right supplies and a bit of creativity.

New cushion Covers

Instead of paying £50 for new cushions just update your existing ones.You can find beautiful material at haberdasheries, online and in dedicated fabric shops.You can then copy the shape and size of your current cushion covers. You’ll need a sewing machine and basic sewing skills but this is one of the easier projects to do and will give you good experience for any large sewing project you intend to take on in the future.

Decorative Ornaments

There are some really simple ways of creating beautiful items for your home. You might need dedicated craft supplies from somewhere like or you can  something that’s been lying around for years.This is a great way to turn something ugly or useless into something you can enjoy.Trying taking large polystyrene balls and wrapping them in a pretty fabric (you could use cut offs from your cushion project).You can either secure them at the top with ribbon or you could use fabric glue.These look great dangled from ceilings or just to brighten up a shelf.

Decoupage

If you have stacks of old magazines lying around then you could use them to decorate storage boxes, furniture or even a plant pot or two.Comics and fashion magazines work best for this but you can use wrapping paper and maps too.Cut out the nicer images from your magazines and use PVA glue to stick them to the surface of the item you are working on.Continue this way until the whole thing is covered.Make sure you smooth out the paper while the PVA glue is still wet so you can eliminate any wrinkling.Once you’re done and the glue is dry, add a couple of layers of varnish.This looks especially striking on furniture such as side tables.It’s a great way to create something for your home that no one else in the world is going to have.

Art

You can have so much fun with this.You don’t necessarily have to be able to paint or draw for this to work. You could use a stencil, some acrylic paint and a few sponges to create something really interesting on a canvas.You could also create something from an off cut of wood.Take a square(ish) piece of wood no more than 2cm deep and sand it down if it’s a bit too shiny for paint to adhere to it.You can then create a stamp out of some foam and another small bit of wood.You can paint, stamp and create your way to a new piece of art for your wall.