It's February and 2021 is really starting to feel, well, a little 2020. I don't know about you but I'm starting to look around my home as spring slowly but surely approaches and thinking about making some changes. 

Instead of reaching for the credit card to refresh your home, why not spend a morning shopping your own home to create a new look and give your home a new lease of life. It's a budget friendly, not to mention sustainable and environmentally friendly way to get a new look in your home.

Here's how. 

• Look for areas that are overcluttered in your home

We all have those areas, where there are one too many chairs in the front room, maybe that side table in the bedroom just doesn't really need to be there? Take a look around your home with fresh eyes. Which areas look too busy and could be simplified for a more minimalist and clean look? 

Once you've identified those areas, remove the extra bits of furniture (or curtains or accessories, whatever it is). Consider if those pieces could be used elsewhere. Would that love chair work in one of the bedrooms? Can the side table be useful in the hallway for somewhere to put keys? If it is then get to work re-purposing that piece. If not, be ruthless and get it listed on Facebook so it can find a new home elsewhere. 

• Create a 'vignette'

What is this I hear you ask. Well, it's designer speak for a grouping of objects to create a pleasing overall picture. For example, you could use a love chair, a rug, side table, lamp and cosy throw to create a reading nook in a corner of your bedroom or living room. Have a think about how you could create one small, aesthetically pleasing area of your home. Thinking about areas in this small manageable way will allow you to build up your home stylishly. Other examples might be, styling your bedside table so it's both functional and beautiful using books and dried flowers. Organising your desk area with usable storage and attractive stationary is another. 

• Change up the layout

We often get stuck in the rut of keeping our furniture in the exact same layout as it was when we first moved in. Room by room, consider if there are other ways of laying out the room that might be more useful for how you live. A really useful way of doing this is to use the free version of the software, sketchup. Alternatively, a good old fashioned pencil drawing of the room can help you envision it. 

• Use up those old tester pots

I bet you have at least  a few tester pots of paint which you've held on to 'just in case'. Well, now is a great time to get them out and set to work freshening up some old items. Why not re-paint that mirror frame that is looking a bit old? Give a new lease of life to a clock by change the colour of the outside. The sky's the limit. Walk around your home and see what you could bring back with a lick of paint. 

• Get into the details

Once you are finished with these bigger tasks, move on to the accessories. Think outside the box, could some of your kitchen trays be used to group items on a coffee table? Maybe something as simple as switching the cushions from your front room onto your bed could really change the colour of your whole bedroom. 

This is really a way to try and view your home in a new way and realise there are multiple ways to use the items you already have to create a new look, whether big or small. Your imagination is really your only limitation! Let us know if you have a go at this and tell us you got on.