Home Decorating on a Shoestring Budget

Even on a limited budget, you can liven up a sparsely decorated room.

Decorating your home doesn't have to strain your finances. lnstead, you can take inspiration from the pages of an interior decorating magazine spread and then draw upon cheap or free resources to recreate the look within the rooms of your home. Once you start putting things together to create your own personal decor, it may surprise you what you can accomplish on a shoestring budget.

Instructions

1. Paint your white walls with warm or cool paint tones that will add life to the room, such as a deep gold, peach or sea green. Make sure to paint the room a color that will complement the furniture that you own. For instance, choose a color that is present on your furniture and pick a lighter or darker shade of paint to match. For more help, go to a home improvement store and visit the paint section. Pick out different paint color cards to take home and place next to your furniture for matching, Visit the link in the Resources section of this article for ideas.

2. Look at the decorative pieces that you already own and try them out in different rooms and in different groupings to see where they will work best. For instance, if you have candles in each room of your home, try placing candles of different heights together in one room on a table or a mantle.

3. Check online and in your local paper for upcoming garage and yard sales to find decorative items at a fraction of the retail price. While you might only be able to afford one item at a department store, a yard sale might afford you a whole back seat of decorative treasures that you can take home and utilize.

4. Visit your local dollar store or thrift store to find pictures, fake greenery, rugs or other items at an affordable price. Even the cheapest decorations can be made to look attractive when carefully selected and placed.

5. Peruse the used books at thrift stores to find art or photography books that you can cut the pictures from and frame in discount frames from the dollar store.

6. Cover old, worn furniture with decorative throws or slipcovers you find on sale at a discount store.

Tips & Warnings

• Find out from your local discount stores when they receive new merchandise so you can be there to get first pick.

• Buy a couple of used flower arrangements from yard sales and make a new one from the two, discarding unusable pieces.

• Some stores that sell paint have tiny bottles of paint that you can purchase on the cheap to take home and try out on your wall. This will help you get an idea of what the color would look like with your furniture.

References

• Family Corner: Decorating on a Shoestring Budget
• Home and Garden Television: Low-Budget Decorating, High-Style Looks

Resources

• Martha Stewart: Painting Projects and Ideas