Four Walls, Six Months: Styling Tips for the Serial Relocator

Londoners are a footloose breed. We’ve all been witness to that very modern form of one-upmanship which can flare up at any time in the capital’s watering holes: “Oh, you’ve lived in six different flats? Barely above average! I’ve moved ELEVEN times in eight years…”

Whether you’re squeezing in with a new squeeze, moving out of a flatmate circle that fell rather short of perfect, or simply a fugitive from rising rents, there’s no guarantee you’ll last four seasons before the roots get pulled up again.

We all want to put our unique stamp on the room which is our home today, but we don’t want to empty our bank account for a space that could be someone else’s tomorrow. What to do? Photo printing experts My-Picture.co.uk share some simple tips on how to turn a drab pad into your own corner of style heaven – at a price that’s more studio than six-bed.

#1 Work from the Bottom Up

First things first, a lick of paint? But of course. Nothing else provides a better rejuvenation-to-cost ratio. And if the walls are crying out for a freshen up, of course that’s where you need to start.

But if you’re standing on a bare wooden floor, take a glance down and weigh your options. A freshly painted white floor can brighten the most light-starved room, while a daring colour choice can open up entirely new style terrain beneath your feet. Turquoise? Orange? Much easier to apologise than ask your landlord’s permission.

#2 Individualise Your Room, Individualise Your Wall Art

Well, posters are certainly cheap. But a Monet isn’t going to make a space uniquely you, and neither is a profile view from the last Ryan Gosling vehicle. You can dispel those lingering memories of student digs with customised Canvas Prints.

Give your creativity free rein. Any photo image you choose can be uploaded to My-Picture.co.uk, and it’ll be lavishly printed on a gallery-worthy canvas and then expertly stretched over a spruce wood frame.

The classic canvas format might persuade you that you’ve slipped out of the Smoke to a garret in Montmartre circa 1907, but these photo prints are produced using strictly up-to-the-minute technology. And the price? No more than a couple of Fight Clubs and a Jaws.

#3 Plant Yourself Firmly in a New Space

You might be able to live without a full-length mirror or a radiator in the hall, but could you live without oxygen? Thought not. Houseplants breathe the stuff out day and night, and all they ask in return is your unwanted carbon dioxide – this is the relationship that gives co-dependency a good name.

What could be better to transform a lifeless room than a verdant style feature that is, well, alive? Start smallish with a yucca or a ponytail palm, or splash out on a fiddle leaf fig. One trip to the garden centre never made anyone bankrupt. And you can always take these selfless souls with you when it’s time to move on.

#4 Put a Different Frame on Things

The first morning you wake up to a beautiful print of your most special photo is the first morning you’ll feel truly at home. And a beautiful print demands beautiful presentation.

Let a Framed Photo provide a focal point of elegance and the rest of your decor will fall naturally into place. A pin-sharp reproduction of your photo is bordered with real museum card-stock, all resplendent in a truly premium frame. And if the previous tenant never worked out how to turn on the hoover, no need to worry. A flawless pane of acrylic glass will protect the vivid colours of your print from the dust-storm as you get everything shipshape.

A framed print from My-Picture.co.uk will be the heart and soul of your new place. And when you’ve got those intangibles properly installed, getting the styling just right is less than half the battle. You’ll have your feet under the table in no time at all. Provided the flat’s at least semi-furnished, that is.