Rural living doesn’t mean you have to lead an uncomfortable life. In fact, far from it. Countryside homes tend to have a lot more personality than their city equivalent. They are also the perfect base to work from when it comes to adding a little luxury for far less. Here are our tips for making your home look great without spending a fortune.
The basics
First of all, get to know your home. Find its very best features, and use them to your advantage. Rural houses tend to have fireplaces and little nooks and crannies. Most will have unusual structures that are unique to that house. For example, if you have projecting windows, you could make a simple wooden bench, pile cushions on it. The result is a lovely little cubby hole that you can use for lazy Sunday afternoons, staring out into your garden or the countryside. The point is, that if you make proper use of the building, you can have some unique features that will be a genuine talking point at dinner parties.
Save on decor, spend on fittings
Because your home is unique, you don’t have to overcompensate when to comes to decoration. You can cut back on the costs of your decor, and spend more on the fittings and pieces that you want. Let’s take your bathroom as an example. There’s no need to spend thousands on a contemporary designer effort. Instead, look for cheap bathroom suites, choose one, and then add in nice bath or shower head to finish it off.
Do it yourself
One of the significant costs of decorating any property is the tradespeople that fit it. That’s OK – but if you want to save a lot of cash, why not try it out yourself? Rural life is supposed to be a little rough around the edges. So, unless you are a perfectionist, there’s every chance that you could do a job yourself, with a little bit of practice. The DIY ethic means you will be able to spend a little more on quality materials – some natural stone tiles in your bathroom, for example. To put that into perspective, a good quality tiler could charge you up to around thirty-five pounds per yard. If you have a big kitchen, that’s some savings on your new flooring.
Visit flea markets
Another thing about country living is that you can get away with mixing up your styles a lot easier than you can in a city abode. And the best thing about that is that it gives you the opportunity to buy a lot of furniture from flea markets or charity shops. Take your time to look around and you’ll find some great value up and down the country. Although there will be a point where you find so many bargains that you end up with a little addiction!
These are just four ways we have used to add a little luxury to our rural home, without breaking the bank. Let us know if you have any ideas – we’re sure our readers will enjoy hearing them.