5 Easy Home Reno Projects to Try Right Now

Planning your family's perfect home is often a slow, expensive process, but it's important to take that time to get it right. If living with your dated kitchen and daggy carpets is getting you down, these real-time solutions require minimal effort for maximum returns.

Kitchen revamp

The kitchen is the heart of your home, so it's important you enjoy spending time in it. Give tired cabinetry a facelift with new doors or a coat of paint and new handles, and update a battered benchtop with a new surface. Choose white to add instant freshness, and bring colour and texture to the table with greenery and your vintage crockery collection. New appliances will add fresh sparkle to this space; purchase styles to suit both the current and new look you have in mind, so they can carry over once you do the big reno.

Repaint inside & out

Perhaps you're not keen on that lime-and-mustard combo in the living area? Or is that dated red-brick facade with aluminium-framed windows giving you a headache every time you walk past? A fresh coat of paint inside and out is a quick and easy way to whip your home into shape. Classic white works well in busy living and dining areas, while a soft 'greige' (where grey meets beige) is a peaceful shade for sleeping zones. Outside, painting your home's exterior is all that's needed - forget about expensive rendering and cladding. However, be aware that once you paint those external bricks, you're committed to repainting them for the remainder of your time in the home. Skip replacing the windows for now - repaint the old frames and external trims to give them a new lease on life.

Flooring fix-up

Before you rip out that stained beige carpet or put in new floorboards, take the time to decide what will work best in your home. In the meantime, a selection of rugs can hide problem areas. It's all about layering at the moment, so find your favourite style - be it cool, clean Scandi, traditional Turkish or natural woven sisal - and use multiples to enhance your space. If floorboards are the problem, a quick sand and refinish will do the trick for now, or if they're too damaged, floor paint can hide a multitude of sins. A crisp white is a contemporary option, or a bold Black Japan semi-transparent stain will allow the grain of the timber to show through.

Outdoor room

If your garden looks more like a dust bowl than the sophisticated space you had in mind, you don't need to call the landscape designer just yet! A new deck or paved entertaining area - complete with a dining setting, sofa and coffee table - can double your functional living space and won't cost nearly as much as an extension. Plan your new outdoor room with any future renovations in mind, choosing furniture and finishes to fit in with those. Connect your indoor space to the outside by choosing similar tones and textures across both spaces, and add plenty of potted plants to bring vibrant colour and softness to hard surfaces.

Lighting plan

Stark overhead lighting is a sure-fire way to make your home feel cold and unwelcoming. A functional lighting plan can improve the way you use your home and the way you feel within it. After installing a dimmer switch in living areas, a selection of lamps can bring warmth to dark corners, while focussed task lighting over kitchen benches and study areas isolates bright light to where it's needed most. A dated light fitting is not only inefficient in terms of energy costs, but it can also bring down the look of the rest of your home. Switch a clunky old light over to the pendant light of your dreams, ensuring that it fits in with your dream decor scheme for the future, as well as now.

Don't wait for a full-scale renovation to give your home that much-needed magic touch - consider taking out a personal loan to make these smaller projects a reality today.