There are many affordable and fun ideas for your home that can enhance your lifestyle or that may have environmentally friendly aspects. Many of them are easy to do and are pleasing to look at, making the home or its surroundings more pleasant in some way. If you are tired of the same old problems or look of your home, consider adding some of these ideas to your life.

• If you have a staircase, add a slim slide next to it for the children to come down. This works well with a spiral staircase.
• Love cats? Keep them environmentally friendly by adding a cat access transit tunnel around the living room walls to an enclosed space on a balcony or in a nearby tree. One on the outside walls is another good idea to give your cat exercise while keeping it safe.
• An indoor outdoor pool might be just what is needed for convenience and privacy, otherwise you might consider having your pool built right next to the back deck. But make sure you have a good fence around it if you have children.

• Have a home office? Be kind to your feet and set the desk and chair in a sandpit. Swishing bare toes through the sand while you type is like having a foot massage.
• If you’re not a fan of sand inside, have an outdoor area with a fire pit surrounded by sand to give a beach feel.
• Pool can become a fun indoor game if you have a dining table that converts to a pool table to save room.
• Similarly, get your kids playing ping pong by installing a door that can be easily swung horizontally and is ready marked for a game.
• Why settle for a boring bath tub when you can have a transparent one? Or maybe a spa bath is more your style.
• Herbs are totally healthy, offering many nutrients and flavours for your meals. Have a vertical herb wall right in the kitchen for the ultimate convenience. Sunlight for growth comes through a skylight in the ceiling or a high window.
• Add a tree-house to the kids’ bedroom ceiling. With a bed or desk underneath it won’t take up any floor space and the kids will adore it for games and ‘camping out’.
• Find your favourite colour in a cushion or wall art and use it as an accent colour throughout the room. Find a vase, table runner or doily, flowers, fruit or fruit bowl or even chair upholstery or a rug or mat of the same colour.

Your home and your life don’t have to be boring if you make the effort to change it.