I’m an interior designer and there’s easy ways you can renovate your property on a budget

INTERIOR design can be a difficult and expensive project for anyone who's not an expert on the topic.

Costs can quickly shoot up and it can be hard to stick to  a budget. It can also be difficult to know what will actually look good and what designs you may regret after living with for a couple of months.

However, there are cheaper ways to achieve your dream home and interior designer Kate Watson Smyth has revealed “easiest and most-effective” to renovate your house while on a budget.

Kate is the founder of the award-winning interior design blog Mad About The House, and has written four books on the topic.

Before starting any project, Kate says that the homeowners should set a budget, one they should be sure to stick to.

You can do this by shopping around for supplies, rather than just buying the first one you find. 

You can save hundreds by looking out for recycled or upcycled furniture, be sure to also check out charity shops - these can sometimes be great for finding old furniture without bankrupting yourself.

Another tip for saving money is to do some of the work yourself, obviously there are still many things you may need to hire contractors for but you can save a lot of money by doing simple tasks yourself.

Speaking to the , Kate gave some interior design tips you can use to get your house looking both chic and cosy:

“Paint the ceiling or perhaps halfway up the walls all around the room for a modern take on panelling.”

She further suggests one tip that will have your room looking bigger and ceilings looking higher: “Match your woodwork to the walls. No more white doors and skirting boards.

“This simple trick will make the room look bigger as you aren't outlining the edges in white.”

While it is possible to renovate your house on a budget, Kate points out that this will not speed the process up any - creating the perfect house can take time, but it’ll be well worth it in the end.