The Simplest Way To Refresh A Space

When you’ve lived somewhere long enough, any space can begin to feel stale. It might seem that the only way to make it feel livable again would be to buy something new, or to paint a room a different color, but doing either of those things could, and will, most likely lead to a completely new room redesign.

If you’re looking to refresh a space, this might not be the best answer. 

In fact, if all you’re looking for is a way to refresh a space, there’s a simple, and easy way, to do so… without the hassle of spending money. These days, spending money is easy to do, but also hard to do. It’s easy because whenever you go out, there are bits and pieces of furniture and art to buy wherever you go. It’s hard because most people don’t have the money to go out and purchase an entire new room. Even painting walls can be a troublesome idea because if you paint them, and your decor doesn’t already go with it, you’ll have to purchase new furniture, new art, and new accessories for a room that would have been finished with something a bit… easier.

Than paint?

Than purchasing new stuff for a room?

When I tell you the simplest way, you might roll your eyes at me, but bear with it for a second or two. 

All you have to do is rearrange your furniture, your artwork, or anything else that helps to create the inside of your rooms. Because furniture is so large, rearranging your pieces will return your space into feeling new. It’s like rearranging a map. What would the roads look like if Brooklyn was where Manhattan was, or, if London was where Cardiff was? It would be a completely different map, with completely different ways to get to wherever you’re going.

What would happen if your sofa was where your favorite reading chair was?

What would happen if you swapped the rug in your living room with a rug in your dining room? The curtains from your kitchen with the ones in your bathroom? Swapping linens from the master bedroom with the guest bedroom? If you even have a guest bedroom?

Not only does swapping things from room to room help create an entirely new room, but, again, so does moving a comfortable chair in between two windows, dragging a second sofa in the room to face your other sofa, exploring the implications of where lamps go, and why they go there.

Rearranging what you already have, even if you’re keeping everything in the same room, will create an entirely new map of that room. What would happen if your favorite trail in a park changed from facing north to south from facing west to east? It would be a completely different trail. That’s a huge reason why rearranging furniture works as well as it does. 

You’ll be looking at different parts of the room from completely different positions. You’ll be going from looking at a sofa or a fireplace from your favorite chair, to looking out the window over a side table and lamp on it from the same chair. You can also remove a tablecloth from a table and drape over your favorite chair. This is one of my favorite techniques — making a ‘fake slipcover’ for sofas, and other places to sit. It works as long as what you’re using to drape fits whatever furniture you want to use it on, but, even without that caveat, just throwing it on in a decorative way works almost as well.

I hope, the next time you desperately need a refresh, your first go-to is rearranging what you already have. You don’t need money in order to feel like you’re experiencing something new. All you need is some creativity… and a new room map.