If you’ve been feeling a little blue of late and need a bit of a pickmeup, what about looking around your home and doing a few renovations here and there? Apparently, doing so can actually improve your mood and make you feel happier - one of the best reasons to renovate we’ve ever heard!

New research from Homebase, reported on by Homes and Property, has revealed that painting a room can give it an instant update and you’ll give yourself a wellbeing boost at the same time.

Painting and decorating was found to make 52 per cent of those asked happier, compared to the 48 per cent who said that a gym workout achieved the same results… so if you have been feeling gloomy of late, a spot of decorating could be just what the doctor ordered. And if you do it yourself, it’s something of a workout as well - so you’re killing two birds with one stone.

Homebase’s trading director Jason Hines was quoted by the news source as saying: “We know how much our customers love their home, and painting walls is one of the easiest ways to refresh a tired space or to transform an entire room.

“It comes as no surprise to us that a freshly decorated room makes people feel happy, and Homebase Paint, with over 60 new colours, has been designed to inspire customers.”

As well as painting your house, you could make a very real difference to how it looks and feels by changing your lighting systems, potentially investing in photographic lamp bulbs to achieve a different aesthetic in various parts of the house.

Your first step towards using lighting effectively is to devise a lighting plan for each room you want to change, factoring in the activities likely to take place in the space, any features you want to highlight and the style of your lights, as well as colour temperature of the bulbs.

This will prevent you from rushing into any decisions and investing in something you’re not going to be happy with in a few months’ time.

Layered lighting can work wonders in your home, so think about how you can use this to your advantage to make your rooms feel bigger if needed (uplighting can really help in this regard). You can also use pendant lights hung from the ceiling to make rooms feel taller, while clustering your lights will create a cosy feel in larger spaces.

When it comes to bulb choice, consider how bright you want the room to be, the kind of atmosphere you’re looking for and if you want to factor in energy efficiency.

If you’d like any further help or advice relating to lighting, get in touch with us today.