Spruce up your home's interior with these fun tricks

Even a carefully maintained home can use a little sprucing up over time. Often just changing a few small details, along with a bit of "spit and polish," can make a whole room look brand-new.

Sometimes replacing a few small details make the difference between a home that looks neglected and one that's simply beautiful. Here are a couple of examples:

• Bring new life to a room by adding wallpaper. Back in fashion today, wallpaper can help make a small room feel bigger or add some much needed style.
• Are your doors looking a little tired? You don't have to paint or replace them to give them a more updated appearance. Simply replacing the door handles or fittings may do the trick.

Carpeting and floors undergo a lot of abuse over a home's lifetime. Sometimes the only thing to do is rip the whole thing out and lay a new carpet or flooring, but you'd be surprised at how often a few small tricks can put that drastic step off for a while, whether the problem is due to wear or changing tastes.

• Lay an inexpensive area rug over the worst spots to hide stains and damage on a carpet that needs replacing, if you just don't have the budget for a new one right now.
• If the floor has stains, make a virtue of necessity and cover them with a nice chest, big plant, area rug or decorative floor vase.
• Detract from the brightness of a carpet by adding darker colours to the room — and vice versa if you want to create a lighter feel.
• Deal with truly hideous flooring in your laundry or kitchen by slapping on some peel-and-stick tiles. They're remarkably durable and can give the room a whole new look for a minimal investment.

Old-fashioned fixtures make any bathroom look dated. Modern faucets and showerheads come in every price range, and it doesn't take a professional to replace them. A new mirror over the sink is a surefire way to give a bathroom new life.

• Clear off the bottles and tubes from the rim of the tub by storing these items on a shelf, in a wicker basket or wooden bucket.
• If you can't change the bathroom tiles, change the accessories instead: a new rug, towels and shower curtain will give the whole bathroom a fresh look.

• Apply photo wallpaper. It's simple, affordable and usually means that you need only accentuate a single wall (or part of it) for a cool new look.
• Apply wall tattoos. They are easy to apply and come in all kinds of colours and designs, ranging from floral patterns to mottos and quotations.
• Conceal hot water radiators in an old house with radiator covers for a whole new ambience.

• An attractive room divider is a quick and easy way to hide certain areas from sight. For instance, it's easy to hide the chaos of a crowded shelf behind decorative blinds made of wood, fabric or metal.
• Hang blinds from the ceiling or archway to block an open kitchen from view when you haven't had time to clean up between the food prep and the arrival of dinner-party guests.