10 Pro Tips for Adding Gloss to a Faded Interior

How often do we dreamily sigh while looking at flawless interiors in magazines and social media. At INMYROOM, we are convinced that you can add a magazine-style gloss to any interior, even one that is quite worn out. We talked about this with an expert in interior redesign — a homestager and blog author @flatrelife.ru, Natalia Saneeva.

Natalia Saneeva - Expert, Homestager, Author of @flatrelife.ru Blog

Add More Light and Air

In "worn-out" apartments, I often see an excess of items accumulated over the years — furniture, souvenirs, rugs, etc. In most cases, this literally leaves no room for air. In expensive interiors, on the contrary, there is a trend toward minimalism: nothing is extra, and even small-sized apartments look quite spacious and airy.

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Free up space: look at your home with a critical eye and boldly give away, sell or throw out anything you haven't used for years.

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Sheer Curtains, Curtains, and Textiles

In all "European renovation" apartments, I observe the same issue — short curtains reaching to the windowsill and the width of the window. Today, this is an anti-trend. If you want to add gloss to your interior, update the window textiles following these rules:

• length to the floor (0.5-1 cm from the floor);
  
• width from wall to wall (replace the curtain rod with a long one);
  
• light sheer and semi-transparent tulle without patterns or prints;
  
• curtains of the same color;
  
• identical window textile sets in all rooms of the apartment.
  

These lifestyle hacks don't end here. Any textile, whether it's curtains or an accent sofa, requires care. And of course, all textiles must be ironed and steamed because untidy textiles ruin any interior. If you want to refresh the space, definitely iron the curtains and also clean the sofa and other textiles in the house — the interior will change at a glance.

INMYROOM Tip: Maintaining order everywhere — from the wardrobe to the apartment — is simpler than it seems. The smart ironing system Ixeo Power 3 in 1 from Tefal will help you care for any clothing and bring gloss to your home. The system replaces several devices at once — a steamer, an ironing board, and an iron. By choosing one modern solution, you save not only space in the apartment but also time.

The ironing board is easy to adjust to your needs: mount it in a horizontal or vertical position, or at a 30° angle. With a three-position board, even steaming trousers with direction arrows becomes an effortless process.

You no longer need to spend several hours ironing clothes: the system heats up in 70 seconds, and powerful steam removes wrinkles in just a few movements.

Ixeo Power 3 in 1 is perfect for delicate fabrics: you won't damage cotton textiles or silk dresses. Gentle care is ensured by three steam modes: Normal — a universal mode suitable for all types of fabrics; Max — for the densest materials (for steaming denim fabric and furniture); Eco — a low-energy consumption and delicate fabrics mode. Refreshing clothes in just a few minutes is not a dream but a reality: the steamer eliminates up to 99.9% of microbes and bacteria.

Refresh the Walls

Update wall and door colors: many apartments are often overloaded with "flowered" wallpapers and other colorful patterns that have long been out of fashion. Absolute leaders among trends for modern interiors:

• no prints (walls in one color without patterns);
  
• as accents, large contrast color blocks;
  
• natural tones, 1-3 matching colors at most;
  
• unified colors in all rooms of the apartment.
  

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And you don't need to change the wallpaper or do an expensive renovation, because any wallpaper can be painted! My advice: choose matte interior paints based on water, definitely thick in consistency, and don't dilute them, even if the manufacturer allows it for cost savings.

If your wallpaper has texture, it will remain, but the look will be much fresher. Look at before/after examples and judge for yourself.

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How to Choose a Color?

The theme of color in interiors is very deep and deserves separate study. But on average, if you look at expensive modern examples from magazines, you'll see that designers use 1-3 colors of natural natural tones per apartment.

By the way, radiators can also be painted in wall color with special heat-resistant paint for radiators. The main thing is to paint them when they are disconnected, i.e., outside the heating season.

Repaint the Cabinets

Today, storage systems should be as hidden as possible — as if they don't exist at all. Ideally, they should be built-in with facades in wall color, but honestly speaking, this is expensive.

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But repainting an outdated yellow-brown cabinet is quite budget-friendly. And here's another tip — replace the hardware. Often it is the hardware that ages most, as we use these handles every day.

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INMYROOM Tip: A modern interior is not only beauty but also practicality. The Ixeo Power 3 in 1 system from Tefal will fit even in a small apartment or wardrobe. With its removable base, you can easily steam curtains or refresh soft furniture and domestic textiles in any room.

In the device, water is converted into steam and is delivered under pressure to the iron — thanks to such a mechanism, no droplets remain on the textiles that could damage them.

And most importantly — despite all its functionality, the ironing system looks very stylish, so it easily integrates into any design — from Scandinavian to loft.

Update the Doors

In modern interior styles, we hardly use doors and baseboards under laminate or parquet. In such projects, you usually encounter doors and baseboards in wall color or in a shade that complements the wall color.

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And once again, good news — doors can also be painted! Buy a primer and special paint for laminated furniture or wood. And, of course, update the hardware similarly to cabinets, but don't buy handles with perforation dots — they are no longer in trend.

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Lighting

A solitary chandelier in the center of a room will kill the gloss of any interior. But what to do if you don't plan renovation with updating the ceiling for scenario lighting? Add bottom light in rooms — lamps and floor-standing lights. They add incredible comfort to living spaces and allow you to regulate the number of light sources according to your mood.

Also, I recommend updating different chandeliers in various rooms to the same model (or different models from the same series) for all spaces.

Tiles

The problem with tiles is similar to wallpaper — an abundance of colors, patterns, and textures that have long been out of fashion. I know how expensive it is to do a full bathroom renovation, so I'll let you in on a secret — tiles can also be repainted. Even in a wet zone. Yes, right there where water flows.

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Let's boldly paint over dolphins, waves, tigers, and other characters — we're sending them off with warmth and love for the departed era. Of course, this won't replace luxurious modern ceramic granite, but it will definitely make your bathroom fresher and more modern.

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What's Important:

• buy specialized high-strength paint and primer for tiles and ceramic granite, resistant to direct water contact (I recommend choosing paints suitable for stairs and floors);
  
• follow the painting technique;
  

• paint with a small velvet roller;

• follow the manufacturer's instructions and don't pour water, wipe, or touch the tiles for four weeks after painting — only then can you do so;
  
• use a color palette as in the rest of the apartment.
  

Plants

Remove plants from windowsills. I understand that for many it's very habitual, but:

• this solution is not in trend, and we're talking about gloss;
  
• this is not the best place for plants in terms of their health, as in winter they are heated from below by the radiator, and in summer the sun heats them up outside the window;
  
• they block the window, making the room dark.

There's a lot to say about fitodizain of living spaces, but for now let's fix the main idea: large plants that stand inside the interior — on the floor, open shelves, in cabinets, on tables, etc. are currently in vogue.

Decorative Items on Shelves

Currently, there is a trend toward everything large, so any small items like figurines, souvenirs, boxes, and other elements clutter our shelves not only with dust but also visually. In other words, decorations create visual noise. Remove all small items into storage boxes. Leave 2-4 large items, for example, a vase, a candlestick, and a planter with plants.

Posters and Paintings

We return once again to the trend toward large items — especially those placed on walls. Therefore, remove small frames (you can put a couple on shelves) and hang large posters, for example, two 50 x 70 cm or one 100 x 70 (+/- 10 cm to your taste). Small modular paintings of 3-6 pieces in various sizes are recommended to avoid, as such decoration is also out of fashion.

Photo on the cover: Natalia Saneeva.