With the penultimate Bank Holiday weekend approaching on May 25th (with the next one coming all the way at the end of August), a lot of people will likely see it as their last chance to decorate before summer arrives. For some, it will simply be the culmination of an expertly planned and executed spring decorating scheme. For others, however, it will resemble something of a mad dash!
Fortunately, not every decorating job needs to take months, weeks, or even days - some can be accomplished in a few hours. They may not be major undertakings, but they can more than contribute to an interior decorating revival.
So here are a few we think can easily be accomplished over the upcoming Bank Holiday weekend.
Paint an Accent Wall
Some of you may have only known rooms in which all four (or more) walls have the same decoration. Be it wallpaper, paint, or tiles, uniform rooms are the norm. But there is of course another option - accent walls.
This usually means one wall is decorated differently from the rest, in order to “accent” the others, hence the name. Normal practice involves having three fairly neutral walls and a fourth that is much more vibrant. Think three white walls accented by a baby blue one. It’s effective, and relatively simple to do, as you only need to decorate a quarter of the surface you would normally.
Flat Pack
A dreaded word for some, but others know the benefits of flat pack furniture. Instead of ordering a piece of furniture and then having to schedule your life around its delivery time, you can see it in IKEA, purchase it, and then take it home the same day.
Of course, it requires construction, but this can be a fun activity for a family to do. You give everyone a project to work on at the same time, so it is a great way to while away some of the hours over the long weekend, but with the added benefit of a new piece of furniture at the end.
Redecorate Furniture
Staying along the “family project” lines, you may want to consider the option of redecorating existing furniture, as opposed to buying new stuff. A lot of items of furniture you may have thought long past their prime can be spruced up quickly, simply, and cheaply.
Take a set of dining room chairs, for example. They may be scratched and in need of reupholstering, but that doesn’t mean they are doomed to be thrown in a skip. Give them a lick of paint (perhaps something in line with other decorating decisions you’ve made since you brought them), do some DIY reupholstering, and they’ll be good as new, if not better!
Decorate with Art
If you’re fairly happy with your wallpaper choices, you could instead try your hand at decorating the bare walls with art. We understand that a lot of walls are adorned with photos and keepsakes already, so we’re not suggesting you replace those. We’re merely suggesting that any wall that lacks art decoration, or one that has had the same generic painting on it for years, could do with a bit of a spruce up.
And it can easily be done in one day - go shopping for the art you like the look of, and hang it up when you return home. No need to do anything to the walls other than maybe put a few nails in, or apply some picture hanging adhesive. Simple!
Tile a Small Area
Though there are now alternatives to it, tiling is still a robust decorative option, which if done in small doses, can be done relatively quickly. Strictly speaking, this isn’t a one day job, but it’s close enough. The aim is to refresh a small neglected area. Think about the window ledge in your bathroom - there is a good chance it is the most widely used surface in the entire bathroom, yet it usually only gets treatment when the rest of the bathroom walls do. But given that is (usually) a small area, it can be saved from neglect in 24 hours!
If it isn’t tiled already, you really can get this done in a day. The only caveat is that the two or three tiles you place on it will need to be left for a while to set, but that doesn’t require any input from you, so you really haven’t spent more than a few hours on it. This will only extend by a few hours if you first need to remove old tiles, but it’s still easily accomplishable if you start early over the long bank holiday weekend.
