Want to decorate your home on a budget ?
There is nothing like the feeling of living in a home that not only provides comfort and convenience, but also expresses a unique and personal brand of beauty. This is the space where you are at your most intimate, sharing love and laughter with friends and loved ones, and unwinding after a long day. Taking the time to create an oasis for yourself and those you love is one of the most important tasks for promoting good health and happiness.
Feeling comfortable in a beautiful surrounding not only calms stressed nerves after a long day at school or work, it becomes a sanctuary that the entire family wants to spend time in. It is also the start of many treasured memories. In order to create this oasis, you are going to learn top secrets from professional designers in this post.
These ideas will help you choose your favorite styles
Before getting started on decorating your home, it is important that you start with a clean canvas, at least as much as possible. What this means is to go through all of your belongings and get rid of everything that you do not absolutely need or absolutely love.
Oftentimes, this is the most difficult part of the process for many home owners, even if your home is a temporary apartment. You might feel obligated to hold onto gifts that you have either outgrown, or never really loved. It is okay to let go of “things” though, and if you cannot completely let go, just store it away for now. In fact, you might want to store as many items away as possible because the emptier you can make your space in the beginning, the better you will be able to plan and decorate.
You can always add the items back in and when you do, you will know where to place them to further enhance the beauty of the room. If possible, consider selling items that no longer work well for you in order to raise money to purchase new items that you can use to complete your home décor with later. Having a garage sale or placing items in your local classified is a great way to create a bigger budget for your decorating needs.
To make it as easy as possible, go into each room with three boxes. Label one box “Keep”, the next box “Donate/Sell” and one more for “Trash”. Whatever you don’t sell can be donated to help a family in need.
While you are removing everything you do not love or need, take some time to wash down the walls and give the floors, windows and ceilings a good cleaning as well. This will save time later as you begin to add your décor.
As you are clearing your home of everything that you do not love or need, it is time to choose the style of decorating that you are most interested in. Knowing the specific style you want to add to each room will help you choose every part of the room from color schemes to furniture.
Most Popular Home Decor Styles
Traditional
This style is more formal, with classic furnishings and colors, such as what you might imagine in a modern day castle. Art work will have a classic look to it, such a painted landscapes. The furnishings will be more on the formal side, such as wing backed chairs in the living room versus a reclining chair.
Modern/ Contemporary
More of a sleek and perhaps futuristic look that includes metal and glass accents and furnishings, this style seems more functional instead of warm and cozy. It can be achieved through stark black and white color schemes or adding some bold colors.
Country
If you love the home-made look such as what you might find at a local craft fair, then the country look might be right for you. Dried flower wreaths, shaker style furniture and what you might find out on the farm will fit this style. Pastels and earthy colors are the best to achieve this look.
Seaside
Light cool colors such as sky blue or aqua, shells, and images of seagulls can come together to create an adorable seaside style for those who love the ocean.
Eclectic
This is a mix and match style and works when colors and textures complement each other in pleasing ways more than the particular style. For example, having a retro wing back chair next to a glass and metal table with a dried flower arrangement as a centerpiece would be eclectic style. Any color choice will work well for this look.
Oriental
If you love bamboo, rice paper, oriental rugs, and brocade style items that you might find if you visited the Far East, then an oriental style will be right for you. Maroons and deep blues are lovely color choices to complete this look. If you are not sure which decorating style you prefer, think about your favorite clothing style. For instance, if you love the latest trendiest fashions, you may prefer contemporary home decor. On the other hand, if you wear a lot of flannel and jeans and prefer pickup trucks, you may prefer the country look.
If your family has a variety of tastes, putting them together in an eclectic fashion might be more comfortable. That way each family member can feel as if they are surrounded by what leaves them feeling most welcome and enjoyable.
This video demonstrates the most popular home decoration styles:
You can always mix styles up for an interesting look, such as traditional styles for your living room and a country look for your kitchen. Ultimately, what you choose is up to what you will feel the happiest in.
After you have defined your home décor style, you can measure the space that you want to decorate and make decisions about the size of artwork and furnishings that will best fit. You will also know how to choose colors to make a small room appear bigger or cozier.
If you already have furnishings, then you may not need to measure the entire room. You may just want to take measurements for specific areas, such as space for artwork, shelves or curtains. Having the measurements in advance will become more important as you begin shopping for what you do want to add.
If you are measuring the entire room, such as for carpeting, measure from corner to corner, make a drawing that shows where the windows and doors are and include notes about the size of each. You will need these measurements for choosing wall paper or what size furniture to choose as well.
For windows, it is important to measure for blinds by measuring the inside of the window panes. For curtains, measure the outside of the window panes. Then, choose blinds that match the measurements as closely as possible. For curtains choose double the width of the window pane for the curtain size and then match the length as closely as possible.
Remember to take measurements with you and a tape measure for when you are shopping for items. This way you will be sure to pick the right sizes instead of guessing and having to return items later.
Choosing colors that fit your style and the size of the room is always an exciting way to change the look and feel of your living space. Whether you stick with neutral colors, or go bold, bright or dark is up to you. You will find a great selection for any style you are designing.
Here are a few rules that will help you choose the right fit:
Choosing complementary or contrasting colors will depend on your taste. Either way, it will help if you visit your local paint store and choose a variety of color samples to try on your walls before buying paint.
Typically, you will choose at least one main color and then an accent or trim color according to the main color you have chosen. For example if you want blue walls, you might go with white or grey trim and use maroon a neutral shade for an accent color.
To make a small room look larger, match the colors of the walls to the floor. Generally lighter colors will expand the look of a small room while darker colors will make the room seem cozier. For added comfort, consider the placement of the room. Northern exposure rooms do best with warm colors, which are those with orange undertones, and southern exposure rooms do best with cool colors. Cool colors are those with blue undertones.
If you want one room to flow into the next, such as with the dining room into the living room, choose different shades of the same color. Otherwise, you can choose completely different colors for each room. Take some time to consider how each color will look when viewing from different rooms to make sure they have some complementary value.
Consider the furnishings or beloved treasures that you plan to keep in the room you are decorating. You can base the room color choices over what will enhance the colors of the items that you want to emphasize in the room.
When in doubt, choose neutral shades for your main color. It is easier and less expensive to change an accent color than to have to re-paint the walls. You can always use furniture and artwork to add more colors. Make sure to match the neutrals as if they are an actual color for the best results. When choosing wall paint, an eggshell or semi-gloss finish will hold up better and longer than using a flat paint. For ceilings, flat finished paint is the best choice.
If you love traditional style that has a more Victorian or retro flare, or oriental brocade styles, then you might want to consider wall paper that matches your color scheme for your walls instead of paint. This adds an additional texture and elegance to any room.
If the room already has wallpaper, it can save time and money to simply paint over it instead of tearing it down first. For this, make sure to use a primer to completely cover the wallpaper pattern before adding the paint.
Choosing blinds, curtains, valances, and shades is an activity that can get expensive fast, especially if you have large or quite a few windows to dress. Fortunately, there are a variety of ways to save money and still get a gorgeous look for each room.
Blinds are the least expensive to use for windows and can be found brand new, oftentimes for less than $ 20.00 for even larger sized windows. To dress them up, you can add a valance which will save money over full length curtains.
There are a number of ways to create curtains from common household items such as bed sheets. When you pair these up with interesting curtain rods and tie backs such as wood necklaces, you can create a variety of stunning looks.
Consider the lighting needs for each room before you make your final choice on window dressings. Bedrooms may require heavier draperies to block out street lights for the best night’s sleep, while kitchens may only need a valance to let in as much light as possible.
For more expensive window treatments, make sure to take advantage of sales. Many department stores will have semi-annual sales where draperies will be marked down by as much as 80%.
To make your ceiling appear higher, hang curtain rods at least four inches above window panes and make sure the bottom of the curtain is flush or just past the bottom window pane.
To make your room appear larger, match the colors of the blinds or curtains to the color on the wall. Otherwise, create style statements with your window dressings by adding interesting textures, accent colors and patterns.
Flooring can be one of the highest expenses, but it doesn’t have to be. Oftentimes you can use large area rugs or small throw rugs to cover older carpeting or tiles. Sometimes you can also refurbish hard wood floors instead of investing in newer flooring that costs more.
If you find that you must replace the flooring altogether to get the desired results, there are still a number of ways to save money. One way is to shop at discount flooring outlets or purchase remnants.
Carpet tiles are less expensive than wall to wall carpeting and can work very well in smaller rooms. You might find it more cost effective, yet still very attractive to use carpet tiles along with interesting area rugs.
Vinyl tiles are inexpensive and work great in the kitchen, bathroom and even the dining room depending on the style you are using to decorate with. This type of flooring can be found in a large variety of styles and colors from faux marble to even faux wood.
Additionally with carpet and vinyl tiles, they are so easy to work with, you can purchase the tiles and do it yourself instead of paying for installation.
Because every room serves a purpose, it makes sense to build the specific functionality into your design plan. If you are lucky and have large rooms, it should be no problem to add enough furniture such as cabinets, or shelves, to store your belongings in.
On the other hand, if you are challenged with smaller spaces, you will want to get creative in how to accomplish an organized and clean look.
Making use of unusual storage spaces such as under the bed is one way to go about it. When you add a bed skirt, only you will know what is stored under your bed.
The living room may not be as easy to hide items away in. At the same time, because this is one of the most populated areas in the house, keeping items convenient will help your family feel more comfortable.
Some strategies for challenging storage spaces could be to add entertainment centers with cupboards to hide items away in. Shelves work well also for items that look decorative enough for display. If you do not have room for shelves, small ledges can work very well to hold smaller items.
You may also choose bench seating that doubles as storage space, or footstools that act as storage boxes.
In the kitchen and bathroom, using curtain rods in larger cupboard spacing will allow you to hang some items up to make way for additional space on the shelves themselves.
A budget friendly way to store smaller items that would be inconvenient to tuck away in a cupboard or drawer is to get contact paper and completely cover shoe boxes. Interesting looking jars and vases can also be repurposed to hold items, and even decorative planters can work beautifully to keep areas beautiful and organized.
As you are laying out the functionality of each room, remember to think about comfort. Being able to feel relaxed will greatly enhance enjoyment of the room’s furnishings and amenities.
For your kitchen, comfort might be as simple as making sure the coffee pot is close by the cups and kept in an area of easy access, such as the countertop if you make coffee every morning. Refrain from keeping too many appliances on your countertops though as that will look unkempt and cluttered.
In the living room, you might want to make sure the couch is comfortable to cuddle up on for movie nights. Adding throw pillows and blankets can make even the most formal seating cozier for lounging on.
If the room gets drafty, consider a faux fireplace to warm chilly nights. In the bedroom, having adequate beddings such as pillows and blankets, room darkening blinds or curtains and a white noise machine are all ideas to include additional comfort.
Then of course in the bathroom, having easy access to towels and daily grooming items will make it more comfortable and pleasing to get ready for the day or for bedtime. You can use vases, decorative planters and other creative containers to add to the beauty of the room.
Choosing comfort items that match the style of décor you have chosen will help create the most beautiful environment. This is a cost effective way to not only enhance the style, but to also make sure the space you are decorating is as welcoming as possible for your family’s lifestyle.
To stay within budget, and add extra beauty along with comfort, getting slip covers for furniture will be more cost effective than buying all new furniture.
Also, finding items at garage sales or second hand stores will sometimes offer high quality furniture at a fraction of the cost. There is so much you can do to repurpose older furniture to make it more inviting and comfortable. For instance, you can reupholster chairs.
You can also sand down old wood furnishings and paint them to create a unique statement to tie in to the rest of your décor and beautifully store comfort items and personal belongings.
In the next part of this post , I will discuss how you can give finishing touches by Artwork and Feng Shui in order to decorate your home on a budget.
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