From Drab To Divine: Two Ways To Transform Your 80s Home

If you live in an 80s brick and tile home you are probably sick of the drab and tired interior. Giving the house's living space a make-over is a way to get yourself a modern and stylish home without the expense and hassle of selling it and moving to a new home. Here are the two main things you'll need to do to completely transform your home.

1. Modernise the living area layout

The big difference between a modern home and one from the 80s is the layout of the living area. Homes from the 80s have dedicated rooms for dining, lounging and cooking. Modern homes generally have open plan living areas, with the kitchen, dining and living spaces encompassing one large space. Open plan spaces are lighter and roomier because the interior walls don't block the flow of natural light or take up living space.

To create an open plan space, you will need to remove any interior walls that separate the rooms. This is relatively easy if the walls are simply timber and plasterboard. It's a little trickier if the walls are brick or concrete, and you'll have to find a concrete sawing contractor like Hardcut Concrete Sawing Drilling to remove them for you. You'll then need to hire a contractor to re-plaster the cavities where the walls have been removed.

Remember that if you are going to remove walls it's important to consult with a structural engineer or an architect first. They will ensure that you won't be removing any load bearing walls and compromising your home's structural stability.

2. Revamp your kitchen

An architect or interior designer would be able to accurately tell the decade that your home was built in just by looking at the kitchen. Beige was in vogue, and it extended to bench tops, tiles, cabinetry and floors. By banishing the beige and installing a new, modern kitchen your home will feel like it's from the modern era.

If you can afford it, then replace your whole kitchen with a new one. You don't need to blow the budget on a bespoke designer kitchen. A prefabricated kitchen can look amazing, especially if you team it up with some ultra-modern accessories like new taps and light fittings.

If you can't afford a whole new kitchen then you can still work wonders with your old kitchen. Replace or paint old cabinet doors and add some modern handles. Replace the taps and bench top, and paint over the old tiles with some neutral tile paint which you can get at the hardware store. Your kitchen will be unrecognisable as the drab 80s kitchen that it was before.

Once these two big jobs are done, then the rest of the transformation is relatively simple. Stick to a single paint colour in a neutral colour like white, install a single style of flooring throughout the new space and your modern living space will be complete.