Do you want to give your home a refresh but are worried it will cost you too much?

If so, this is a common thought which causes many people to delay redecorating their home, but it doesn’t have to be this way. In this article we will take you through a selection of affordable decorating options that will not break the bank, allowing you to start decorating on a budget sooner rather than later.

Colour swatch card Colour swatch card (Mika Baumeister)

One of the cheapest and easiest ways to refresh your home is with paint. But you do not have to repaint all the walls to change the look and feel of your home, you can rather paint a feature wall, upcycle a piece of furniture, update the colour of your picture frames or your garden fence.

Create a feature wall

Have you considered a feature wall, where you choose one wall in a room to act as the focal point – whether you paint it a different colour, create a mural, or use a stencil? A feature wall often requires less paint and will allow you to explore your creativity and design a space that is specific to your style and taste.

Child's nursery painted in blue throughout apart from one feature wall with a mountain mural.Mountain mural Stenciled flowers painted onto a feature wall in abedroom.Stenciled artwork

Upcycling

Another way to decorate on a budget is to upcycle your furniture and home accessories, both internally and externally. We love how a coat of paint can transform an old belonging into something new. The possibilities are endless in terms of colours, patterns and textures.

Before and after bookcase upcycling. Before is a brown wooden bookcase. After is a blue bookcase with geometric patterns behind the shelves in blue, white and cream. Upcycled bookcase

Choose your colour(s)

Before you start your project, decide on your preferred colour palette. If you are not entirely sure what colour(s) you should choose, you may want to consider purchasing a couple of tester pots to paint patches to see how the colours look in your room. Pinterest[1] can be a good starting place to look for colour inspiration, and if you’re keen on interior design, you may also be interested in creating a mood board to help get your thoughts ordered. Once you have a better idea of the look you are going for you can start purchasing the paint.

Couple painting swatches on their wall to see which colours work best for the room.Paint patches

Affordable paint

As a member of the Community RePaint Network we sell reusable, leftover paint at an affordable cost. “You can use leftover paint?” I hear you ask. Well yes! We sell good quality paint that was either leftover from another homeowner’s decoration project, a mis-tint from a retailer or a dented tin from a manufacturer, for example. This means you can stick to your goal of decorating on a budget.

Paint display selling cheap and reusable paint at a Community RePaint Scheme.Community RePaint scheme paint display

Rather than allow this perfectly usable paint to end up in the waste stream, we resell the paint to the community for approximately £1 – £2 per litre. This is a significant price drop from what you would normally be expected to pay for a tin of paint from your local retailer, which can range from £12 – £15 for a container of 2.5L coloured paint depending on the brand.

The Community RePaint network is made up of over 65 schemes that each sell a range of paint from interior emulsion, masonry, fencing and furniture paint in a range of finishes, colours and amounts.

For more information on the Community RePaint Network and to find your nearest scheme, please visit communityrepaint.org.uk

[1] Pinterest is a visual social media platform where users can create and share images.

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