You move into a new home, you're grateful it all worked out okay, you now have somewhere to call your own, but unfortunately that'll prove difficult when your new home looks like someone else's.
There's someone else's furniture, someone else's curtains, someone else's tables and chairs. There's nothing that points to your personality, nothing that gives a flavour of your tastes or interests. The whole place, in fact, looks and feels like someone else's altogether. There's even someone else's ornamentation, and someone else's picture frames.
What can you do?
Well, you can think accessorise, accessorise, accessorise, because this is where you have hundreds of choices and ideas to turn that house you've moved into, into your very own home sweet home. And it doesn't end there, with a little imagination you can personalise it into something that says so much about you and not your new landlords.
If at this point you're thinking that you've already spent enough on moving and the expense of it all has left you with nothing but loose change - don't be disheartened. You don't have to spend a fortune to personalise your home. In some cases you don't even need to spend any money at all.
Get creative
I love jars, so much so that I collect them. They're so on trend right now, you can even buy them as drinking glasses - but why go to so much trouble when you can customise your own. Get old jam jars,
pasta jars, anything that's jar shaped, remove the labels and lids and wash them out. You have some brand new jars of your own that can be used for just about anything. Vases, drinking glasses, you can fill them with sea shells and sand. You can fill them with sparkles and stars, you can use them to hang
up by attaching handles and place tea lights inside them. There's no need to buy the custom made ones.
There are some excellent ideas here and here.
Cushions and throws
These are definitely something that can make a real difference to sofas and chairs, and if you can't afford to spend much and you're handy with a sewing machine, then why not create your own? You can match certain colours, or blend them with the rugs or curtains.
If you can't afford throws, then see if you know someone amongst your family or friends who may have an old eiderdown or unusually coloured fabric that you can use to throw casually over the sofa and chairs. There are some beautiful ones here. And if you're thinking how old fashioned they look, then think shabby chic for a truly inspiring vintage look. There are some beautiful fabrics out there, a particular favourite of mine is Toile de Jouy, a Georgian inspired pattern with repeating shapes on a white background, with greens and blues.
Rugs
A rug can add character to a room and add some serious colour to an otherwise boring internal landscape. There's nothing worse than wall-to-wall beige carpet so brighten it up with colourfully woven rugs. They don't have to be manufactured synthetic ones either. There are some gorgeous woven ones in fascinating weaves.
Finally, ask your landlords whether you can remove their pictures, paintings and ornamentation and
replace them with your own. You can either hand them back to the landlords, or put them out of harms way until the end of your tenancy.
Replace them with your own special photographs, old seashells that remind you of special holidays, hand made, personally decorated jars and tea light plates and you have something that's chic and in keeping with your own personal style.
There may be many things you can't change in furnished accommodation, but it doesn't have to be boring, you really can turn that house into a home - your home.
