4 Easy Ways to Refresh Your Space

Breathe new life into your home for spring with these quick and foolproof tips.

Here are four quick and surefire ways to reawaken the style in your space from a period of drab hibernation—just in time for the sun.Add a splash of paint. A fresh coat of paint can do wonders for a space and what’s better, it’s a project even the least DIY-savvy can handle. Forgo the commitment of transforming an entire wall and instead, refinish an existing piece with a crisp hue like Andrea Robinson did in this Vancouver townhouse. Don’t shy away from darker shades either—the bright Alda Pereira-designed vacation home (pictured above) demonstrates that even black can offer a refreshing break to solid wood cabinets.Play with lighting. Ditch boring bulbs and dated light fixtures and experiment with multiple light sources that are smaller in size and creative in shape. Not only does varied lighting offer more brightness to a room but it also helps to draw the eye to different areas, making your space feel larger. Here, Vancouver designer Joanna Vagelatos uses a wall-mounted lamp and transparent pendant to impart an airy feel to a farmhouse style bedroom.Add a playful print. Liven up a palette of solids or tired neutrals with a fun punch of graphic print. Whether you opt for a single patterned piece or mix and match an assortment like designer Chad Falkenberg did in this modern New Westminster condo (just make sure they’re within the same colour family to create cohesion), it’s a small move that’s sure to make a maxiumum—and stylish—impact.Incorporate greenery. Nothing says spring quite like a bouquet of fresh, blooming flowers, but don’t limit yourself to just petals when it comes to nature’s best. Take after Majida Boga Devani’s design of her own Calgary kitchen and fashion smaller sprigs into a variety of containers for a timely centrepiece or integrate them into more unexpected sites—like this Urbio wall-mounted storage system—for a pleasant touch of green.