How to relight the fire and fall back in love with your West Country home

Love doesn’t just happen around Valentine’s Day, it may have happened when you first laid eyes on your home. Just like a relationship, houses can have something about them that makes some of us fall in love and others walk away. But those feelings can start to fizzle over time, and the features that pulled at your heart strings might now not seem so charming, the rooms that felt spacious now feel a touch claustrophobic after you’ve filled them with furniture. Yet perhaps moving isn’t something you’re planning for another couple of years? In the interim, how can you relight the fire and fall in love with your home all over again?

But I can’t afford to redecorate!

No need to go shopping in décor and interior stores and spend those hard-earned pennies on something brand new to give your home a new look – you’ll be surprised what you can repurpose from around your home. Start to take a look at those once loved items that are now packed in boxes in your garage or attic, that set of cushion covers that have been in the cupboard for years. You could even look into dyeing old fabrics to bring a new and exciting colour palette into a space.

If your walls need that fresh lick of paint, what half-used cans of paint have you got lying around your home, or that of relatives and friends that they no longer want? Get mixing, experimenting and having fun to transform your home without a massive expense.

Declutter



Clutter is one of those things that doesn’t just happen overnight; it slowly creeps upon us, and before we know it that empty drawer is full and you can no longer fit another shirt in your wardrobe. The lack of space could be one of the things that is niggling at you and causing frustration with your home. We talk about decluttering a lot in our articles but that is because it has powerful properties to transform spaces. Even if you don’t think your home is particularly cluttered, when undertaking this exercise you will find homewares you had forgotten, your rooms will feel bigger and your home more welcoming. What a perfect way to start to fall in love with your home again.

Rearranging

Now that you’ve decluttered, cast a critical eye over your spaces - when is the last time you rearranged the layout of certain rooms? Just by swapping the location of a couple of pieces you can instantly give a space a new feel and remember what made you fall in love with it in the first place., You don’t have to struggle moving heavy furnishings – a simple solution, such as restyling your shelves, rearranging your art pieces or even switching soft furnishings around from room to room, can really shake things up. If you do want to move furniture around however, a set of furniture sliders (readily available on Amazon or similar) can make the job a whole lot easier!

Those odd jobs

Many of us have a list of ‘someday’ maintenance and repair jobs that we have been putting off, yet it can be these little faults and flaws that are affecting your opinion of your property. Spring is approaching, so what better time to crack on with some DIY projects, and get everything shipshape. Replace that dodgy hinge on the kitchen cupboard so that it closes properly, fix that dripping tap, touch up the paint where the kids drew on the wall. It’ll be so satisfying when those repair jobs are checked off the ‘someday’ list, and will help you see your home with fresh eyes.

Reframing your view of your home

As with many things in life, it can be easier to focus on the negative elements of your home, however intentionally identifying the things that you do love about it and start to celebrate them can really make a difference to your overall mindset. Your house is a space that is ever evolving, it isn’t something that is frozen in time: you can change how it looks and feels, and the best place to start is by reframing your view of your home.

Love of your life

Don’t let where you live make you feel heartbroken this Valentine’s Day. By making some changes using the tools around you, you will relight the fire and fall in love with your home again.

However if no amount of furniture rearranging or mindset shifts can make room for a growing family in your current 1-bedroom flat, we can help you find your perfect match in Tavistock or Okehampton. Get in touch with the Miller Town & Country team today on 01822 617243 or 01837 54080!