Re-Decorating
If you’re like me and Sherry you have a mild case of design A.D.D. that requires you to refresh your decor fairly often. But constantly snatching up new furniture, art and accessories isn’t a cheap habit, which makes it an especially hard itch to scratch in this economy. So more and more lately we’ve found ourselves exercising the art of remixing the items that we already have to give ‘em a whole new life and a fresh new look.
Which is why we just had to share this list of the 5 “Quick Fix Makeover” tips that Apartment Therapy spotted on the O at Home website. It’s a great collection of some low- and no-cost ways to redesign your space, leaving you more dough to stash under your mattress…er, I mean in your high yield FDIC insured savings account.
Rearrange: Take a new furniture arrangement for a spin; try art on a different wall or move things around on a book shelf. Even pulling things in from different rooms can make quite a difference. Then just live with it for a day and leave it if you like it.
Reorganize: Organizing is a way of turning random clutter into deliberate, functional design. And a room that looks more clean and organized automatically looks bigger and better.
Repaint: You know Sherry and I are strong believers in the power of paint. Whether you’re taking a fresh coat of new color to a whole room, an accent wall, or a piece of furniture – it’s a surefire way to give your space a new look.
Repurpose: Find new uses for things you already own. For example, Sherry and I just started using a decorative capiz shell covered jewelry box to hold our extra remotes and recruited some rarely used juice glasses to double as votive candle holders.
Retail: Once you’ve tried some of the above ideas, you can at least feel better about resorting to dishing out some cash for a few new things. If nothing else, you will have narrowed or focused your shopping list to the stuff that you really need. Better yet add the items to your Christmas list to save dough and get only the stuff that you really want and need for the holidays- instead of a bunch of clutter that you then have to organize come January 1st.
And I’ll add one more to list…
Reconsider: I have my frugal father to thank for always double-checking my purchases with these questions: “do I really need that?” and “do I already have something that does this?” For better or for worse, this moment of pause has probably saved me and Sherry from buying more than few unnecessary items for our home- which means less clutter and more money in our pockets.
Have any of these redecorating reminders saved you guys from forking over some unnecessary dough recently? Got anymore quick fix ideas to add to the mix? Share and share alike.
Image courtesy of O at Home
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I get the decor itch often as well. Thanks for the tips and the link.
take care,
Lisa
Ok, in the spirit of budget design, I have a few challenges for the writers and readers of this blog! My husband and I bought a foursquare in the city. We bought the house at a great deal b/c it was only partially renovated. So, these are two of the challenges that we have:
Challenge #1: BAD wooden floors upstairs. I’m not talking a rough patch, but as this house was once Section 8 and used as a brothel during that time, think ruts, discoloring, uncovered holes (where radiators used to be), and even termite damage. Basically, it’s like acne. We will probably have the upstairs done in berber eventually and currently have rugs and runners down, but it barely covers the yuckiness that is the floor. How can I cover this up cheaply in the meantime, or where’s the cheapest place to get carpeting (and installation)? And, no, I am not sanding those things by myself.
Challenge #2: BAD bathroom upstairs – unfinished walls and forest green appliances! Appliances on the cheap, anyone?
Repaint is a big one for me. I recently re-did our office, and instead of buying new Ikea Lack shelves I repainted them! From Birch to Modern White:
Before:
[IMG]http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f384/irlndsumer/sd.jpg[/IMG]
After:
[IMG]http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f384/irlndsumer/P1020455.jpg[/IMG]
Well, geez, everything is going to look better if you have one of those ghost chairs! But yes, good tips. My husband will thank you.
I do this about every two weeks in at least one room or another… I think I have a problem…
I’m with you Sallie, my dog walker told me it’s always fun to come into the house cause she never knows what its going to look like.
I made a post about switching things around for a fresh new look as well and posted a similar photo just 1 day before you posted this! ;)