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Posted by Kristin Abraham Jul 10, 2006 |
Living on a budget isn't always easy. Decorating on one is definitely difficult. On TV it looks so easy, for just $1000 you can totally renovate a room of your house. But then again they have a team of people helping and some pretty experienced carpenters, something I'm guessing you don't have at your beck and call.
I've reviewed frugal decorating tips and run across suggestions like draping a tablecloth over a curtain rod to showcase a piece of art or a picture. Or covering your pillows with old towels to change their color and texture. And to both of these suggestions I say "ew".
My frugal tip doesn't cost you a dime and can really freshen a room. In fact it can totally change a room.
First, (if you're really motivated) take all the furniture out of the room. It's hard to picture a new room when the old room is still living in it.
Then move beyond that room. If you're looking to redo the spare bedroom feel free to pull out an old headboard from the basement. Or, better yet, take some old frames and slap a fresh coat of paint on them and use an arrangement of photos as your headboard.
Scour your home for other little odds and ends that can be used in clever and unique ways. Do you have any sturdy baskets that be turned upside down and used as end tables or plant stands? Stack old encyclopedias together to make a coffee table. Cover it with a large piece of glass or a mirror.
And my favorite tip (of course it involves paint) take the left over paint from the other rooms in your house and create a new look in that spare bedroom. I've painted one room using ten different colors, each brush stroke was a small parentheses type shape, they overlapped and cris-crossed to form almost a basketweave pattern. But I've also taken house colors and created horizontal and vertical stripes in entire rooms or just accent walls. This is a great way to change the tone of a room without spending a dime!
So my tip for the frugal decorator is to begin with a blank slate and look at what you have in a fresh, new way. The only limit is your own creativity.