How to Makeover Your Home Without Buying Anything New, According to an Interior Designer

“I can’t stress enough how dirty your windows definitely are,” says interior designer Noz Nozawa, one of Sunset’s 2020 Emerging Designers of the West. “If you can’t access the exterior side of your windows, still grab some glass cleaner and shine up what you can reach on the inside. Grime and dust builds up on windows so gradually that most of us don’t notice that sunlight would be brighter and colors truer in our homes if our windows were sparkling clean.”

“I think creating a space to sit right at your windows is a refreshing way to think about the notion of bringing more sunlight in,” says Nozawa. “Instead of bouncing it around with white or mirrored surfaces, how about just sitting as close to the sunlight as you can?”

“Rearranging your furniture to create a little seating vignette in the window has plenty of benefits,” says Nozawa. “I’m a big supporter of changing your home’s layout periodically. Since I live in a dense city neighborhood and everyone’s been working from home recently, it’s also been so cute to wave “hi” to my neighbors across the street who are also sitting in their windows working, eating lunch, or just hanging out on the phone.”

“I honestly have saved so much money over the years by just completely rearranging the furniture layouts whenever I start feeling the itch to buy something new,” says Nozawa. “Sometimes the layouts I’ve tried have totally not worked, but it satisfies my desire for a refresh.”

“I’ve learned so much about how I like my home to flow by trying out wacky ideas,” says Nozawa. “For example, I’ve tried floating my bed in the middle of my bedroom and discovered it’s wonderful and I don’t need traditional nightstands. Pro tip for moving your own furniture around: Felt moving pads are incredibly useful, and if you don’t have those, fold washcloths or small hand towels and stick them under your heavy furniture’s legs.”