How to Give a Living Room a Makeover for $500 or Less
Food, clothing, housing and transportation must be factored into your monthly budget. But if creating an attractive, well-designed home is important to you, also build in a fund for a room makeover. You don't have to save thousands to revamp your living room, though; it's possible to breathe new life into your living room for less than $500. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
Things You'll Need
- Paint
- Painting supplies
- Slipcovers
- Fabric
- Light fixtures
- Tray
- Bowls
- Rug
- Shells, pebbles or branches
- Fruit
Instructions
-
-
1
Repaint the walls. Nothing says new quite like an updated color splashed around the room. Go bold when repainting. If you typically stay safe with whites and neutrals, consider choosing a shade of your favorite color to dress up the walls; if color is your signature design move, try a neutral palette to serve as a canvas for your carefully chosen furniture and room accessories. You'll spend about $20 for a gallon of standard-grade paint, plus a little more for supplies such as a roller and a paintbrush.
-
2
Shop for the perfect slipcovers for your sofa or chair. While slipcovers will consume a chunk of your budget, the investment is far less than the cost of replacing a tired sofa in an outdated print. Depending on the sofa's dimensions, the slipcover style and the material you choose, expect to spend between $100 and $200 to refresh the visual anchor in your room. Look for a slipcover in a neutral palette that you can accessorize with pillows and a throw.
-
-
3
Sew covers for your throw pillows to complement the new wall paint and sofa slipcover. Choose a combination of complementary colors and styles, mixing solids or stripes with florals and bold, ornate patterns. Spread the fabrics out onto a workspace to determine what works well together; don't forget a swatch of fabric from your sofa and chairs, and a paint chip. Choose a combination of at least three fabrics to add visual interest. Check the sales racks and clearance bin at the fabric store, and you should be able to leave with lengthy sections of fabric and thread for less than $20.
-
4
Shop thrift stores and flea markets for furniture that is gently used but not terribly attractive. Look past ugly hardware, outdated paint or stain, and nicks and scratches. Use your imagination to give new life to a piece with great bones by replacing hardware, refinishing the stain or painting. A mid-century dresser for $40 or $50 could become a great television stand with storage for movies, books or magazines. Or transform an old, wooden plant stand into an unusual side table. A turn-of-the-century steamer trunk makes a functional coffee table, complete with storage. An old patina adds warmth to a room, so you may not need to strip and refinish the furniture. Don't be afraid to mix styles, as long as the overall look is pulled together.
-
5
Replace outdated light fixtures. Most home furnishing stores offer a vast selection of inexpensive fixtures for $30 or less.
-
6
Revamp your lamps with new lampshades, or replace an outdated lamp with one you find at your favorite thrift or consignment store. Mix and match existing lampshades with new bases, or existing bases with new shades.
-
7
Replace existing draperies by shopping white sales or clearance bins, if there is money left over in your budget. If you're a diva with the sewing machine, purchase extra material when fabric shopping for your pillow slipcovers and make simple window coverings. If you've exhausted your budget, think about removing the draperies altogether. A window without curtains creates a better design aesthetic than one dressed with ugly, mismatched curtains.
-
8
Purchase an inexpensive tray that suits your room's new design palette. Contain piles of magazines or knickknacks you would normally leave cluttered around a table.
-
9
Shop in your home. Walk through your house to find accessories or textiles that fit with your new design. Do you have a rug in your guest room that doesn't see much traffic but would look great with your new color scheme -- or even better, around which you can build a new design motif? Move that rug into the rejuvenated living room and your guests will be none the wiser. Pull out a large, flat bowl from your china hutch and use it to hold remote controls, shells you gather from the beach, or tea lights that create an evening mood. Move art from other rooms to dress the living room walls.
-
10
Rearrange your furniture. If you have basic pieces that you love, such as a sofa, chair and tables, reorganize them in the room to provide a new view or to create a better balance.
-
11
Gather material from the outdoors to add decorative touches to the room. River pebbles or shells arranged in a clear glass bowl, freshly cut flowers in an old vase, branches standing in a tall aluminum bucket or even a lengthy birch branch propped against the wall, are free materials that add visual appeal to the room.
-
12
Toss apples, pears, lemons, pomegranates or limes into a bowl and use it as a decorative centerpiece for a table. Once it's consumed, replace the fruit with a fresh purchase, combining form and function.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Clean the living room from top to bottom. Vent registers, baseboards, ceiling fans and windows should be cleaned to give the room a bright, fresh feel.
Declutter the room and put away or store anything that is not used every day or that doesn't add to the visual appeal of the room.
Don't use plastic flowers or plants. A smaller, living plant contributes far more to your design than silk flowers or waxy leaves.
Fruit that must be refrigerated or that attracts fruit flies should not be used as decoration.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Photos.com/AbleStock.com/Getty Images
