7 Easy (and Budget Friendly) Ways to Add Colour to Your Home

With spring approaching we start longing for brighter days and lighter nights. The fairy lights get packed away and out come the daffodils and tulips.  We have had three storms in quick succession in the UK (with another on the way!) and so some warm weather and sunshine will be a welcome change!

I love having colour in my home as it lifts my mood, and one of my favourite rooms in the house is our bathroom which has pops of yellow in the accessories.   Whatever your favourite colour, you may want to bring it into your home without painting every wall.  So how can you do this in an easy (and budget friendly) way?  I’m going to share some ways I have done this and some examples from others who are a great source of inspiration for me.

• Art

I love a gallery wall.  My mum had one in my childhood home going up the stairs, but that was more of a rogues gallery with pictures of family documenting all the awkward stages in life – the brace, the fringe that you were trying to grow out, or your questionable fashion choices of the late 90s/early 00s – we’ve all been there.

The gallery wall I speak of is a little more aesthetically pleasing to the eye (and less embarrassing)  and involves selecting artwork to display on your wall.  This is often done with a neutral background and gives you endless possibilities because the artwork can be switched up and changed.

Art can be as budget friendly as you want.  I have artwork from local artists mixed with postcards too. Saying this, I need to actually start getting my artwork on the wall – I have been far too precious about newly plastered walls!

Don’t limit yourself to artwork inside frames though. Plates and vintage finds can add colour and interest to any wall and is one of my personal favourites – I just need to get all my china plates out now!

• Colour Blocking

What if you do want to paint the walls but the paint you’d like to use is a little more expensive, you don’t want to paint the whole wall or you have left over paint from another project? Colour blocking is your friend!

Colour blocking is where you paint blocks of colour onto your wall.  You decide how you want it to look – there are endless possibilities.  This can be a great way to add colour on a budget as it doesn’t take a lot of paint and can easily be changed, rather than having to paint a whole room again.  

This can be done in literal blocks or squares of colour, but you could also create a mural like feature on the wall. Not only is it fun and creative, but it can really lift an otherwise neutral room. You could use stripes, arches, circles, or all of them together!

• Spray Paint

Spray paint needs its own section because it can be used for so many things and is a great way to bring a pop of colour into any room.  As I mentioned earlier, the mirror in our bathroom had been a white mirror and I used a spray paint from Rust-Oleum called Sun Yellow to create the yellow mirror of my dreams!

Spray paint can also be used on photo frames, ornaments and other accessories – basically anything you want to transform on a budget.  Be warned: once you start spray painting, it gets addictive and nothing is safe!

• Plants and Flowers

I am a self-confessed house plant killer, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate a colourful vase or plant pot!  I have two plant success stories at the moment – my spider plant in the bathroom and the dragon trees downstairs.  Plants bring life and colour into a room – faux or real.  If green is your favourite colour then you are onto a winner straight away, but the way that you display them can also add colour.

In my bathroom, the spider plant (nicknamed Sassy Susan!) lives it’s best life in this yellow plant pot from Sainsburys Home.  This obviously works well because I already have pops of yellow in this room, but there are so many different designs out there that you’re almost spoiled for choice.  You could decide to paint your own – terracotta pots are budget friendly to buy and can be painted all different colours and patterns.  I think I’ll be trying to do this in our garden too.

There’s also nothing quite like a beautiful bunch of colourful blooms.  I constantly have a vase full of flowers on my dining table.  They don’t have to real either as you can buy really good quality faux flowers – I’ve even seen dyed pampas grass which looks really fun!

• Soft Furnishings

I can’t believe it has taken me this long to mention cushions! Cushions and throws not only bring texture, but can also be used to bring colours and pattern to a room.  I appreciate that we are all striving to be more sustainable and so please don’t think that I’m saying to head out and buy all the cushion covers that you can find – get creative! Do you have an old pair of curtains that you don’t need but could be transformed into a bed spread? Is there material from a charity shop or eBay that you could make cushion covers from? Do you have ones that you could dye? Can you knit or crochet? Wrapping a handmade blanket around you on a chilly evening can feel so rewarding.  

I know some who even have different cushion covers and throws for each season.  If you have the storage for it then why not?!!

• Upcycling

Along with my general rummages in charity shops and antique/vintage warehouses, I love finding treasure on eBay and Facebook Marketplace.  You can find amazing pieces of furniture that are of great quality and, again, you are repurposing something that is now unwanted by the seller – win win!

I love a good upcycle project and you can completely transform an item of furniture with paint and new handles.  This is another easy and budget friendly way to add colour to a room and, what’s better is, you can always paint it again if the colour scheme changes in the future!

I also love how some have decoupaged their furniture with wallpaper or have created fabulous designs with the use of masking tape too.  Another great way to perhaps use wallpaper samples or leftover wallpaper and paint.  Budget friendly and sustainable – another winning combination!

• Make a feature

Whatever the age of your house, they often come with their quirks. In our kitchen we have inset windows, so I painted them pink!

Painting your front door, internally or externally, is a really easy way to bring colour into your hallway and it instantly draws your eyes to it. I constantly swoon over original doors where this has been done. What a wonderful way to update a door?! Fireplaces* too can be painted in fun colours that create a feature and that means that you could decide to keep the rest of the room fairly neutral, and save the colourful energy for the show stopping fireplace.

*If you are painting the fireplace or surround of a working fire then double check that the paint is suitable for this.

I love it when you can create a focal point or feature in a room which is versatile and easily changed too.  Hopefully less surface area to repaint should you change your mind or colour scheme in the future!

I hope that this has brought some colourful ideas for your home and has made you long for spring time even more – I know it has me!

All the image sources are credited so please head over to their Instagram accounts to see more of their colourful and creative homes. As always I can be found at @houseofspolland – thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed these easy and budget friendly ways to bring colour into your home.

Lydia x