Budget-friendly ways to refresh your space from P.E.I. designers

Spring and summer are a great time to hit the refresh button on your living space. 

Along with giving everything a good cleaning, you can make some small, inexpensive changes that can boost your mood. 

It's a busy time on the Island for interior designers, this season when people tend to get their homes ready to sell. We decided to ask two Island designers for their top five budget friendly tips. 

Melissa VanToever owns Turquoise Shed Designs, which she and a partner started 10 years ago. 

They took a break from the business for a time when their kids were younger, but VanToever said they've been back at it for a year. 

She said one thing you should do is look for ways to re-think and re-use things you already have.

To kick off that process, VanToever suggests clearing clutter off flat surfaces, so you can start with a fresh eye. 

Edit your clutter 

"If you take all of your decor down ... and then you're really careful about what you put back on the shelf, you can kind of edit your own things and then add a few vintage pieces or just a couple of little things and it refreshes what you already have," she said. 

"I love just walking around if I have an extra hour, going to thrift shops and just seeing things that are different than you might find anywhere else. And they're always at a good price point too. So when you mix them with stuff you already have, it just kind of refreshes."

VanToever also suggests changing out or painting shelves as a way to love your space again. 

"I have a lot of shelving in my house and I always add it to clients' houses too — open shelving for storage and for display," she said. "I had just a little powder room and there was a blue shelf on the wall and I switched it to a wooden shelf and it just really changed the whole vibe of the space." 

Printing off art 

Another idea is to add art to your walls by pressing the print button. 

"You can find a lot of really great digital art, especially [on] a site like Etsy. It's either their own original art that they're selling you the rights to print, or there's vintage art that has kind of passed its copyright," VanToever said. 

"You can get it printed at Staples or Walmart very inexpensively and then just get a ready-made frame and it looks like you just have really custom-looking art that matches your space very inexpensively." 

Set up a small outside area 

VanToever is a big fan of setting up small seating areas outside or in a three-season indoor area where you can relax. 

"You don't need much if you have, like, a couple of painted chairs — or you can find an outdoor dining chair fairly inexpensively — but again, using something you have."

Then go out and find "a little nook that's unused. You don't need very much space for it. And it's just a nice option when you want to have coffee in the morning or if you want to have your dinner outside."

Create a feature wall 

VanToever said 15 years ago, everybody was creating pop-of-colour walls, using paint. Nowadays feature walls create texture with things like strips of wood or other materials.

Any kind of panelling or moulding will do, she said.

"You don't need to have a lot of material if you have a handy friend or family member," she said. "It just kind of adds a bit of interest without it being a huge project."

You can also use wall decals that can be easily removed instead of wallpaper, a great idea if you are just renting a space. 

"I love wallpaper. I love the look of it, but it terrifies me to use it in my own house in case I get sick of it," VanToever said. 

"It's a lot of money for a really big statement, so I find that using a wall decal is a nice option. You just peel it off and it's not expensive. So if you can do a little strip on your wall … you get the look for much less."

Think about mood

VanToever doesn't think in terms of a specific colour that's popular, instead focusing on what vibe someone is going for.

"If someone's telling you the mood they want in their space, that's more of what I would kind of gear towards than actual specific colour. But I like warmer colours right now — like those kind of earthy, kind of terracotta colours or a really saturated colour," she said. 

Kelli Enright owns Bliss Home Interiors. She launched her business last fall after dreaming about it for many years. 

The push to make it happen was getting her own house ready to sell and her real estate agent telling her she should be doing that for a living. 

Fresh starts 

Enright's advice starts with giving your bedroom — or sanctuary, in her words — a facelift. 

"A simple and easy way to do that is to get yourself a fresh set of sheets and maybe a new duvet cover. Just adding something fresh and crisp and new can really give your bedroom that breath of life, that breezy oasis feeling for the summer," she said. 

Enright suggests adding some decorative pillows and a nice throw blanket to help pull it all together. Instead of buying new pillow inserts, just switch to new covers for your old pillows. 

"Not only does it save money not having to buy a whole new pillow, but it also helps you save some space with storage too, because being a lover of decorative throw pillows, they take up a lot of space when you start collecting them."

Houseplants in baskets 

Giving your houseplants a new home can also freshen up a space. 

"It's a great way to take displaying your house plants to the next level. You find a beautiful decorative basket — wicker, rattan, fabric, whatever you have on hand," she said. Elevate the plant a bit with a sturdy box underneath it to give it some height if you like.  

"Doesn't have to break the bank either. Check out your local thrift store, mix and match different sizes, colours and textures, and it'll really bring some dimension."

Change out coat hooks 

"If your entryway is looking a little tired, give it a boost of energy. There's lots of really lovely, beautiful hooks available ... I'm a fan of the wrought-iron style hooks," Enright said. 

"And you can also kind of take it to the next level if you want by adding a floating shelf above your coat hooks. And you can easily place baskets up there for extra storage."

Spa-like towels 

Enright said there are some small ways to make your bathroom feel more like a spa. 

"Our bathrooms may get a little neglected sometimes, and we know how easy it is to have towels getting beaten up," she said. 

"I like to add a fluffy white towel on display, layered with a smaller hand towel or a face cloth. And if you don't have a towel bar or shelf to display towels… just roll up some small towels or face cloths and put them in a basket.

She said that gives the display "that extra little bit of luxury — and it does have a good visual impact when you walk into a bathroom. It just makes it look fresh and vibrant."

More mirrors

If you're looking for a simple way to add natural light and make your space feel larger, Enright said think about adding a mirror. 

"Whether it's a full-length floor mirror or even a smaller wall mirror, it's hard to go wrong when adding mirrors to your space," she said. 

Enright said you can have fun with different shapes and change the colour of the frames by painting or spraying them.

If there's one trend Enright is seeing more of these days it's terrazzo — tiny chips of marble or granite set in concrete and polished to a smooth surface.

She herself has a little pedestal table that has some terrazzo on it, but the treatment can also be used on floors and walls. 

In the end, both designers said making some small changes can have a big impact.