HOW TO MAKE MINIMALISTIC DECOR MORE HOMELY

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Minimalist decor is very popular right now and when done right, it can look amazing. However, a lot of people find that it feels a bit cold and unwelcoming, especially when compared to rustic decor with lots of soft furnishings. When you have a lot of sleek metal surfaces and hard lines, spaces tend to feel quite clinical and you don’t get the relaxing atmosphere that you are looking for in your home. The good news is, it doesn’t have to be that way. If you change a few details and make a few additions, you can easily create minimalist decor that feels homely. Here’s how you can make minimalist decor feel cosier.

Add Some Curves
Minimalist decor is characterised by straight lines and hard edges, which is fine, but it can look a bit dull and it doesn’t create a very comfortable atmosphere. People often take it too far and remove anything resembling a curved edge from their home, but you don’t need to do that to create great minimalist decor. You can still create a design that leans heavily on hard edges but introduce some soft curves in certain areas. For example, when you are choosing a sofa in the living room, go for something with rounded edges. A circular coffee table is another simple way to break up the hard lines. You only need to introduce a few carefully selected pieces and it makes all the difference. 

Install A Fireplace
People tend to associate fireplaces with rustic decor, but they’re just as effective in a minimalist setting. You can find some of the most realistic flame effect electric fires, which can be installed into the wall, giving a sleek minimalist look. But the flame effect also creates a brilliant cosy feel to the room, so you get the best of both worlds. This is a great way to take a very cold room and instantly make it feel homely. 

Get Some Plants
Bringing nature into the room is another great way to soften the edges of your minimalist decor. That’s why plants are one of the most desirable changes in the living room. By putting a few plants around the place, you can add a burst of colour and introduce some more interesting shapes to offset the hard lines. Plants also clean the air in your home, which is an added bonus. 

Play Around With Light
Lighting is the best way to transform the aesthetic of a room in an instant. During the day, natural light makes the room feel nice and bright and welcoming. In the evenings, try not to rely too heavily on the main lights in your home. Instead, add lots of floor lamps to create low lighting instead. Go for bulbs with warm light rather than cool light too. By adjusting the lighting in your home, you can make it feel a lot more relaxing, even if the decor is very minimalist. 

Minimalist decor doesn’t have to be cold and drab. Just make these simple changes and it can be just as homely as rustic decor. 

How to be a Good Landlord

While it can be an incredibly lucrative and rewarding undertaking, managing a rental property is also rife with stress. This is obviously most often the case because of unvetted or poorly paired tenants, but you can have a picture-perfect family living in your rental, and you’ll still likely experience some issues along the way. After all, far from simply letting out a property and forgetting about it, landlord responsibilities mean that said family's quality of life, and enjoyment at home, also rests on your shoulders. And, as is often the case with homeownership in general, things have a habit of getting in the way of that. 

Regular home checks and easy communications are, obviously, the best possible ways for landlords to directly prevent escalating problems from taking their toll. But, even before tenants have moved in, there are a few simple steps that landlords can take to keep their properties in the best possible shape for longer, and those include – 

Investing in high-quality appliances

Countless landlords will opt for cheap appliances without thinking about how this impacts functionality, or how much it increases the risks of breakdown. Unfortunately, issues including boiler breakdowns and broken washing machines are one of the main reasons that tenants have to contact their landlords, and if they keep on happening, it can either lead to lost tenants or escalating repair costs that never quite leave the problem in the past. By comparison, investing upfront in high-quality, tested appliances that will surely stand the test of time is a far more lucrative and honest way to operate, ensuring not only that tenants stick around for longer, but also that repairs are a far less regular requirement. 

Removing soft furnishings

Furnished apartments will typically attract higher monthly rates, but it’s important to note that keeping soft furnishings in an apartment from one tenant to another can be problematic, especially as general wear and use create questions around hygiene and appearances. With this in mind, it’s worth removing soft furnishings that could quickly get grubby, including cushions, sofas, mattresses, and even curtains, in place of ready-made bed frames, quality television stands and blinds like those offered by the Great Shutter Company. This way, landlords can quickly and efficiently clean all furnishings for quality, safe appearances that stand the test of time even between tenancies. 

Replace carpets

Carpets can add a real sense of warmth to any rental property, but they also have a habit of getting grubby pretty fast. In fact, with most carpets needing replacements roughly every five years or so, carpet investments are often ruined in as little as two tenancies and can bring monthly rental rates rocketing down. By comparison, laminate or wood floors that stay looking fresh for much longer are again transferable across tenancies and are far less likely to need replacing each time you accept a new family. 

Given that the quality of a rental property is essential for ensuring high rents and landlord compliance, these steps towards longevity are no-nonsense ways to secure this investment in the long term.