Have you been thinking about renovating or remodeling your home but don’t want to put in the money or the effort? Well, there are plenty of ways that you can update your home and improve it without lifting a hammer.

Today, we’re going to take a look at a few ways you can update your home without having to go through renovating. These methods will take no more than an hour, most of them simply involving the purchase of a new upgrade.

Update Your Home Without Major Renovations

Empty Frames

Empty frames are a great trend that you can fall in love with. This is especially useful when you don’t have any art that you want to display or if you want something with a deeper meaning. Yes, empty frames are more than meets the eye.

According to Image and Narrative, “Empty frames are powerful graphic punctuation marks that interrupt the narrative so that readers come to realize that they need to fill in the dots and get the job of storytelling done.”

Hanging Bed

Image from High Class Builders

This may look like it takes a lot of work but you can actually either buy hanging beds or hang your own ropes to make it look like the bed or seat is hanging. Hanging beds and chairs can be pricey, but the other option isn’t.

You can have some large ropes hung up in no time at all because they don’t need to bear any weight. You can fake it out by hanging them and then anchoring them to the bottom of the bed. Just like magic.

Large Wall Art

There are many ways to do this. You can get large canvas prints or even paint a mural on your wall. The point is for the artwork to be the primary focal point in the room and be placed on the wall where it will be noticed.

You don’t even need to hang the artwork if you don’t want to make holes in the wall or rip off paint with sticky hanging tools. Instead, you can lean the artwork up against the wall as it rests on a side table.

Live Plants

As exciting and low-maintenance as fake plants are, live plants are so much better. They have so many health benefits and look amazing in any room. Not to mention, you can smell the difference it makes.

When picking out plants for your house, make sure you get a checklist. Do you have kids? Do you have pets? How big do you want the plant to get? These are just a few of the questions you need to ask yourself.

Portable Heater

Image from K Squared Builders – Dale Kramer

Though you can get quite modern heaters like this, my personal favorite is the heater that looks like a small fireplace. The small fireplace can be placed in any room and looks like a tiny fireplace in the corner.

If this isn’t your style, something more modern might do the trick. Or you can really branch out and get a wood stove replica that also works as a heater. There are so many options that don’t require renovations.

Utilize Strip Lights

Strip lights are just as trendy and popular as they always were. This is because you can truly create magic with them. They can be placed anywhere and be well hidden because of their thin and compact design.

One of the easiest ways to utilize all of the best parts of them is to place them underneath shelves. Or, if you don’t have pets that will mess with them, place them under your furniture. An underlit bed is amazing.

Animal Skin Rugs

Keep in mind that most animal skin rugs are faux fur these days, which is a great thing. We are all for cruelty-free furniture. But not only are they cruelty-free but they are also much cheaper than real animal skin rugs.

The effect is the same though. You can get that cozy cabin look while remaining guilt-free. Animal skin rugs can really display the old world working together to sustain each other and be of optimum use.

Corner Cabinets

This isn’t referring to the lazy Susan, though that is one interesting use of corner space. What this is referring to is a standing cabinet made to fit in corners. You can buy any smaller cabinet or non -rectangular cabinet for this.

Although you can place a rectangular cabinet in the corner, it looks odd unless placed catty-corner and a diagonal cabinet is a waste of space. So stick with round, triangular, or square. Perhaps even octagonal.

Floor Lamps

This may be simple, but it’s a great option if you want more light but don’t want to install new lighting. Because installing overhead lighting usually requires a bit of renovating and the hiring of an electrician.

All you need to do with floor lamps is plug them in. That’s it. You can light up an entire room with a floor lamp or two. Just make sure you use the right kind of light bulb for the most light and the least amount of energy used.

Natural Cut Wood

The wood doesn’t need to be cut a certain way, or at least not with certain woodcutting tools, but using furniture made out of full slices of wood is one of the most interesting and alluring things you can do.

The natural slab of wood isn’t a new look but it is a very old look that can connect your home to nature and its history. Just make sure that the wood you use is sustainable and readily available at all times.

Interesting Mirrors

A house is hardly a home without mirrors. But not just any mirrors. Ensuring that your mirrors are interesting is important or else you may end up with a house that looks like a dance studio or doctor’s office.

If that’s a look that you want then go for it. But chances are, you want something a little homier. The exact look of the mirror is up to you as not everyone has the same taste. Just try to think outside the box.

Desk Framing

Image from William Guidero Planning and Design

This is a great way to make your desk look built-in. Start by adding the desk under the window and then placing bookshelves or another type of cabinet on either side of the desk. It is as simple as that design.

But you can get creative with this. Adding the desk under a window is ideal but not always possible. When it isn’t, then make sure there is plenty of other types of lighting around and add a nice mural above the desk.

Throw Pillows

Despite what you may have been told, throw pillows are still in. You can add them to every single bed and piece of seating in the house and it can still look amazing. So don’t let anyone talk you out of it.

Throw pillows are cozy, customizable, and are the perfect thing to add splashes of color or designs to any room. Even the dining room where breakfast nooks everywhere have been welcoming pillows to get comfortable with.

Knick-Knack Display

If you don’t have kids or young pets in the house, this can be awonderful way to give your home personality. If you do have kids and pets, consider displaying the items on a tall shelf instead of down low.

If not, then displaying them on a table is not a bad idea at all, as long as everyone understands where they can put their feet up and where to put their drinks. Otherwise, you may end up with your favorite things gone.

Ottomans And Footstools

Ottomans are always nice to have around because they are multi-purpose. Most ottomans can be featured as a footstool and seating when you need extra seating. But that’s only where the uses begin.

Related: 60 Ways to Leave Your Old Home Decor Ideas Behind

Ottomans can also have storage inside of them. Hidden storage. Not all ottomans but if you’re lucky you can find an ottoman that works as seating, a footstool, and has that extra storage you’ve been looking for.

Fairy Gardens

Fairy gardens are so fun and delightful. For an even more impressive fairy garden, make it a floating fairy garden by stationing it on top of a glass-top table. Because then it looks like the Pandora of fairy gardens.

But you can customize your fairy garden any way that you like. Put in either inside or outside in your yard. Or, go somewhere in between and add a fairy garden to your windowsill. Try using a garden window.

Large Area Rug

Using a large area rug instead of installing carpet is ideal if you want something soft and cozy underfoot. This is because carpets are hotbeds for bacteria and mold, so having them isn’t the best idea anymore.

But when you get area rugs, you can clean under them regularly to prevent a build-up of moisture. You can also throw them out and replace them very easily whereas a carpet requires a lot of work to replace.

Room Dividers

Room dividers were made popular by countries in Asia, primarily Japan. Today, they are used in every single country for a variety of reasons. First of all, the obvious room dividing aspect of room dividers.

Their original purpose was to both divide rooms and give privacy to those behind them. For example, baths being adding behind room dividers or changing rooms being ideal for the corner of the room behind them.

Wall Of Bookshelves

You don’t need to have built-in bookshelves to get this amazing look. All you need to do is buy multiple bookshelves and scoot them together against the wall. It is the dream of many avid readers to have their own library.

Now you can as long as you have a free wall somewhere. The look can be enhanced if you add a reading nook in the center of the bookshelves or near a window on another wall in the same room. How dreamy!