8 ways to refresh your walls on a budget

When you look around your home, what type of vibe do you feel? Does your decor emanate a cosy warmth, a minimalistic modernism or a boho-chic lifestyle? No matter your answer, it’s the right one. Your home should reflect your personality and the things that are important to you, regardless of what those things are. Would you say it does right now?

If the answer is no, there are lots of ways to spruce up your home. You can invest in a new couch, splurge on a statement piece of art — or pick an option that doesn’t eat up your entire paycheck. If you’re interested in the budget-friendly approach, turn your attention to the walls. You might be missing major design opportunities if you don’t! Here are eight ways to revamp your walls without breaking the bank.

1. Try temporary wallpaper.

While traditional wallpaper comes at a high cost and requires lots of labour and expertise to apply, temporary wallpaper boasts less baggage. Temporary wallpaper companies like Chasing Paper offer two-by-four-foot rectangles of paper for just $40. They come in a huge variety of colours and patterns, and they’re easy to apply and remove whenever you want a change.

2. Only embellish half the wall.

If you’re interested in upscale accents and not willing to sacrifice quality, try a compromise instead. When you tile the wall in the bathroom, only go halfway up or choose a single section to feature. It looks elegant and saves you lots of money. You can use the same technique when you want a special finish or treatment anywhere in your home. Complement your partially embellished wall with a chic neutral paint colour, such as a matte grey.

3. Flower power.

Anyone who loves to DIY should consider making their own art to hang on the walls. Scour your favourite green space to find stunning flora, and then dry, press, and frame the flowers. Enclose them in frames that complement the colour scheme in your home and fill your walls with the pressed flowers. This is a simple way to bring beautiful flowers into your home year-round. Fake flowers are also a good option to inject that organic wow factor to your walls. String them up with fishing wire to create a cool boho gallery wall with a twist.

4. Accentuate with window treatments.

If you’re looking for a way to break up the blank space of your walls, turn your attention to the windows. You might think of windows as functional, not exactly statement pieces, but this doesn’t have to be the case. Transform your windows into something special when you add colourful window treatments, such as brightly hued curtains or patterned panels that stretch all the way to the floor.

5. Add your own photos.

You don’t have to invest in a professional work of art in order to jazz up your walls. You might already have a masterpiece tucked away in a drawer. Sift through photos of your family and friends, places you’ve travelled or anything else you have snapshots of and select your favourites. Frame them and create a gallery wall featuring your own original work! The gallery not only looks fantastic it doubles as a conversation starter.

6. Get creative with chalkboard paint

If you’re not particularly artsy, maybe the guests who come to your home are. Capitalise on their talent and coat a wall or door in chalkboard paint. Then provide the chalk to your friends and family to create works of art, or even just leave you a colourful note. You can DIY the chalkboard wall in a prominent place, like the kitchen, or tuck it away in a bathroom or guest room instead.

7. Upcycle reclaimed items

One way to instantly brighten up your walls? Add a touch of vintage charm. Scour op shops, antique stores and maybe even junkyards to salvage pieces that could be upcycled to transform your space. For instance, you may stumble upon a vintage door that you can artfully distress and fill with photos or hang on its own. The sky’s the limit when it comes to the things you can do with upcycled items, so think big.

8. Bring the sparkle

Of course, when you want to revamp your walls, one obvious solution is to add a fresh coat of paint. And it doesn’t necessarily have to be chalkboard paint. You can create the illusion of a high-end accent, glass beading when you splash a metallic paint across your walls. But feel free to choose any hue that works with your home’s current decor — matte paint is also very in right now, so you can’t go wrong.

The next time your abode requires a facelift, brainstorm the ways you can spruce up the walls. With an artful eye and attention to the existing style of your home, you’ll be able to overhaul the space with just a few simple tweaks — and maybe a layer of temporary wallpaper.