Everyone wants a hip and comfortable space. But we’re not all HGTV hosts or professional interior designers. We haven’t been training our whole lives to master interior design and decorating principles, and we don’t really have time to spend all of our weekends trying out different furniture arrangements. Many of us wish that we had some simple tricks to improve our spaces without much effort.
Well, you won’t find a magic bullet, but that doesn’t mean that we’re completely out of low-effort, high-impact options for transforming our spaces. You have lots of clever little ways to make a big difference in our spaces without having to start from the beginning with design principles and all new furniture. Here are four simple interior design “power moves” that will have an outsized impact on your interior space.
Hang a canvas print
Good decorating involves hanging stuff on your walls, right? So maybe you’ve gone ahead and done that. You’ve slapped a poster up there with pushpins and have hung a family photo somewhere. Done! But it doesn’t look right.
That’s because too many of the same bland, familiar things on walls will never make your room pop. To do that, you’ll need more texture and three-dimensional stuff. And a simple way to get that kind of thing going on is to invest in an affordable canvas print.
This is easy to pull off with online canvas printing. Order a custom print of a favorite photo and swap out that simple framed family portrait for a real eye-grabbing piece on rolled canvas. It’ll be the same photo, but it will do more of that good interior design-type work in your space. Don’t worry about why, just jump on the easy way to improve your home.
Create zones with area rugs
Interior designers love to create “zones.” Zones divide rooms and make them feel more useful and, in some cases, larger. But if you live in a small space, using furniture to divide up your room can feel like a terrible decision. Now your space feels even smaller.
The solution? Instead of furniture, use rugs to create and define zones. Small rugs and carpets can establish different spaces in a room without cutting off foot traffic or making you feel like your space is shrinking around you.
Arrange your furniture with conversation in mind
OK, so this idea has a bit of an “interior design principle” feel to it. But this is a simple principle, and we promise that a quick furniture rearrangement can be relatively easy to pull off without destroying your entire weekend.
Here’s all you need to know: Your furniture should support conversations. Most of us just push our furniture up against the wall or point it at the TV (or both), but it doesn’t have to be this way. We can and should be better.
So try moving some stuff around. You can always turn your chair back toward the TV for your Super Bowl party, but does it need to be there all the time? Move stuff around and create a real livable and comfortable space. You’ll be happier with your room.
Hang something besides “art” on the wall
What’s on your wall? Some photos, a painting, a poster — and, if you’ve been following our tips, an awesome canvas print. But what else?
Let’s shake things up. Pick something that you like that won’t jut out too far from the wall if you stick it up there and then do exactly that — put it on the wall. Hang it with hooks or get your DIY hat on and attach it with screws or something more extensive.
What “something” should you choose? Anything you’d like. An old wooden garden tool. A wagon wheel. A guitar. A backpacking backpack. A grille from an old car. A piece of sporting equipment. Anything!Yeah, you should pick something that looks cool and feels right for the room, but the point here is to ignore most rules and stop thinking that everything on the wall needs to be “art.” Repurpose and upcycle a cool vintage piece, or combine decor with storage by stashing a favorite thing (like that guitar we mentioned) up on the wall. Hanging non-art on the wall is a unique and attention-grabbing move that will soup up your space.
