The Top 5 Practical Interior Decorating Ideas

We all want our homes to look great but many DIY hacks you come across online are complicated, expensive, or just impractical. To help you find the best DIY decorating that anyone can do, we look at practical ideas to spruce up your house or apartment.

1. Use Old Books as Shelves

You may never have thought of a book as a shelf but it’s a really cost-effective and unique way to add storage, and who doesn’t need storage? If you aren’t using a book or perhaps you have one that’s missing a few pages, you can use these to create a shelf.

You’ll need to use a solid wall bracket and not a floating shelf bracket to support the book cover. Drill the brackets into the wall and secure the book to the bracket and there you have a new shelf for your home. If you’re renting an apartment, you will have to check with the landlord before you can drill into the wall.

2. Boxes and Baskets for Storage

If you have an old wooden box or a basket, you can use these items as storage. A square wooden box painted white can be used to store rolled bathroom towels or hand towels, shampoos, foam bath, or accessories.

You can also check out reusing gift boxes for storage. It is a cheap, simple, and stylish option to keep your items organized.

3. Make Your Own Storage Box

If you’re up for a challenge and you know where you can find pallets for free or at a low cost, you can make your own boxes. You will need a saw, measuring tools, and nails or screws, and a drill. First, separate the wooden strips from the palette, then measure the strips according to the size of the box that you want. Neatly cut each strip or plank and then join the cut pieces using the nails and a hammer, drill, or you could use wood glue to join the sides. If you can’t cut the wood pieces evenly, you can have it cut to size at a hardware store.

While this DIY project takes some time and elbow grease, the results can be well worth it, particularly if you’re low on storage and organization.

4. Make Your Own Scatter Cushions or Purchase Inners and Covers

Making your own cushions is a cheap, simple, and practical hack for interior decorating. If you have a sewing machine or a steady hand, you can make your own scatters. If not, you can purchase small cushion inners and simply change the covers to suit your redecorating needs.

Should you be up for the challenge of making a cover for your cushion, you will need fabric that is the same size as the cushion inner. For example, a 45x45cm inner will need two pieces of fabric that are 45cm in length and 45cm in width. To change the covers as you please, you will need to add a zip between the fabric joins. You can check this DIY video on making your own scatter cushions, to help you perfect your craft.

5. Removable Wallpaper

I came across this article on damage-free ways of decorating which had a few interesting personalized ideas. One of the features that deserve worthy mention is the removable wallpaper. Wallpaper is a great way to transform a space or create a feature wall but it’s often an impractical choice because of the glue and the challenges in removing it. With removable wallpaper, you can still enjoy a feature wall but without the hassles of a permanent fixture that would require scraping, scrubbing, or chemical applications to get it off the wall!

Have Fun Decorating

Decorating should be fun and it should be easy. Think about practical ways to improve your living space and then find economical and DIY ideas to achieve it.