Bright ideas: Add colour to your home

It isn't exactly breaking news that one of the easiest ways to update your living space is to add a splash of colour. But how exactly do you bring that element into your home without breaking the bank? "The simplest way of adding colour in the home is accessorising, as this allows you to refresh on a regular basis," says Simona Molteni, Interior designer at Bloomingdale's Home. A few simple things like adding cushions, a bright rug or a new lampshade can give your interiors an instant makeover and make it feel like new.

"Be bold with colour and experiment with vibrant shades like yellow, red, green and orange, which are trending this year," says Sophie Mir, retail director, Indigo Living, Dubai. Keep the larger furniture pieces neutral, so you can play around with colour in your accents.

Here's how you can give your home an instant colour update:

1. On the floor

Rugs are a great way to add an element of fun and luxury into your living space. Suzanne Sharp, Co-founder and creative director of The Rug Company, believes that the colour, pattern and texture of rugs lend a feeling of comfort and personality to any room. "A rug could be a focal point that injects colour in a room, or work as an anchor that brings together different colours and tones used in the room," she says.

2. On the walls

Wallpaper and paint are the most obvious ways to add colour, but aside from those, you could try something different. Suzanne suggests creating a metallic-finish feature wall - which will add a dramatic new element in your decor - with aluminium foil instead. Put up panels of foil on a single wall with glue, and make them stick with a hairdryer. "It looks brilliant and the crinkles add to the charm," she adds.

You could also give your walls a facelift by hanging colourful art, grouping a set of plates together as a wall hanging, or creating a photo wall.

3. On the tabletop

All it takes is a bit of creativity and playfulness to jazz up a dining table. A bouquet of fresh flowers is something you can never go wrong with, but you could also try to make a green centerpiece with creative use of just a few leaves and some flowers. Plus, colourful cookie jars and place mats are an easy way to liven up both a dining table or a kitchen counter.

4. On furniture

Invest in a variety of slipcovers for the sofa so you can change your colour palette frequently. To start, choose a colour scheme from the largest pattern featured in the room - whether it's the curtains or a bed cover. Using that as a focal point, pluck colours from it and work around it. If you have a plain duvet cover on your bed, scatter multi-coloured cushions over to add beauty and character to your room. "In the living room, you can dress up the sofa with some colourful cushions or a throw," says Sophie.

5. On light fixtures

Sophie suggests introducing ambience by using different colours for lamp shades - try bright colours like yellow and red to get a warm glow in the room. Or, you could give an existing lampshade a DIY makeover with coloured ribbons or beads to match the other accessories in a room. "Hot glue the ribbon or bead roll around the lampshade and ensure that the free ends overlap by at least a centimetre," says Sophie. Getting creative with the trimmings is an easy, inexpensive way to update a room's look, as often as you want.