Decorating
Tips from our Readers
New table linens
can change the look of a room instantly. Check out your local thrift
store for tablecloths at a fraction of the price of department store
linens. I recently found a large white linen tablecloth for $3!
I
didn't want to spend a fortune on wall paper borders for my
sons room, So I painted two lines in the middle of the wall.
We then dipped their hands in primary colors and placed their
handprints between the two lines. And there you have it! A
personalized wall border. The kids had a ball getting
involved, and love that their room is personalized with their
hands! -- Judy from TX
Redecorating
your home can be a revival of your Family! So many people
never think to decorate, using the items they already have
that are dear to them. Decorate using your families cherished
heirlooms and treasures. Do you have your Grandmothers
set of teacups and saucers in a box somewhere? Where are your
old family photos? Where are your children's birth
certificates... or your marriage certificate for that matter?
Are all of your prized collector pieces highlighted in your
home? You see the decor in your home should reflect the
character of you family and highlight milestone and
achievements made by family members. Updating an entire
room could be as simple as putting your children's birth
certificates in coordinating frames and displaying them on a
wall rack. You will find that when you decorate using
cherished family heirlooms your decor wont go out of style and
your centerpieces, mantel displays and coffee table pieces
will become wonderful conversation pieces that will delight
your guests and serve as wonderful mementos for your family.
-- Michele from IL
Shop at second hand stores.
Such as Goodwill or Salvation Army, especially in upscale
neighborhoods. I've found great deals on furniture and
decorations at second hand stores. Also instead of
using couch covers, and curtains, buy plain fabric from
discount stores like Walmart. Drape the fabric over
windows, you can even thumbtack it in and cover the
thumbtack. Use fabric to drape over, or even reupholster
your couch. Also check flea markets. My favorite
thing to do, is to trade with friends. I've traded
bathroom curtains and decorations with friends every few
months. Its free and it looks like you've redone your
bathroom a few times a year. -- Lorene from NJ
Living in an apartment I am not able to use paint to add
some color to my walls, but I've found other ways. I buy
colorful contact paper and make it into a border for my
kitchen. I also bought big cutout alphabet letters at an
office supply store and taped them around my daughter's
room. They are easy to take down when we move, and she loves
helping me hang them back up again. It's a good opportunity
to review the alphabet!
Here's a great way to save
money to decorate your kids rooms with a theme on a budget.
Does you kids like Minnie Mouse or cartoon figures with here
is a cheap way to decorate them in their rooms. Go to a
fabric store and buy the fabric with the characters you
like. Then buy liquid starch. Cut out the characters and use
2 teaspoons of starch and one cup of water. Soak the fabric
in the starch and water and place anywhere you want on the
walls. When you move or get tired of the characters you
simply take them off. no mess no stains! -- Cherylinn from
NC
Having a slim budget to decorate
for our twins baby boys, once we purchased the bedding set,
I bought sheets of fun foam at my local craft store in
corresponding colors. I'm not an artist by any means, but
was able to copy the animals and patterns on the bedding
onto the foam. I cut them out and used two-sided adhesive
and placed the scenery over the boys cribs. It turned out
adorable !! I also used some of the lovely baby gift bags
from my shower (the most sturdy ones), stuffed them half
full of tissue paper and thumbtacked one side to the wall,
(leaving the bag open) and arranged stuffed animals inside
to peek-a-boo their cute little faces out of the top of the
bag. Total cost for tip #1 about $5.00 for the foam, for #2
Nothing !! and all the colors matched perfect !! -- Gail
from TX
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To decorate our children's room
(We have three in there!), we saved their projects from
Sunday school and hung them up in a fanciful way. We
strung up clothesline on each wall, periodically securing it
with hooks. Then we attached the projects to the
clothesline with clothespins. You can get even more
colorful by using colored line and pins. The kids are
proud to have their artwork displayed, and we no longer have
a crowded refrigerator! -- Kit from CA
Create an
occasional table by taking a large plastic garbage can, cutting a wooden
plywood circle for the top, and draping with a large tablecloth. Use
the garbage can to store blankets, linens, or out-of-season clothes.
Purchase old
wooden furniture such as chairs, toy boxes, and shelves at rummage sales
and thrift shops. Paint it in fun colors that match your kids'
rooms.
Paint is cheaper
than wallpaper. Use paint effects such as sponge painting, rag
rolling, and stenciling to add pattern and interest to your walls. The stencils cost around $5.
You can use acrylic craft paint instead of the oil based stencil paint because it is brighter and easier to clean. Stencil your designs on tables, bread boxes, shelves and
other accessories to match your border.
Use a medium to dark color palette to paint your room. As a
general rule, the darker the color the more distinctive the room will be perceived by others.
Marketing experts use this trick all the time - you can too!
Use a wall to
display family photos using frames purchased at thrift stores and garage
sales. Paint the frames to match furniture, curtains, etc.
Plants can make
a room come alive... literally! Put them in interesting containers
such as baskets and crocks. Don't buy plants; take clippings and
regenerate roots. Ask your friends and family if you can take
clippings from their plants in exchange for clippings from yours.
Spray paint
willow branches white and secure them with floral foam in a weighted
pot. Place Spanish moss over the foam, and drape the branches with
small white lights.
Instead of buying decorative
soaps, either melt soap you already have or buy a block of
soap (5.99) from a craft store. After the soap is melted,
add to plastic cookie moldings for fun shapes and add things
such as dried flowers, small toys, food coloring or fragrant
soaps.
I make most of my curtains from
sheets. I bought twin sheets on sale for 4.99 a sheet. It
took three sheets to make cottage curtains for the den. The
fabric is so nice and I used the hems as part of the hem for
the curtains. This cut down on the time it took to make
them.
A great way to add a
decorative accent to a child's room: All you need is
construction paper (colors and white), a basket with a
handle on top, a hook for the ceiling, string, scotch tape
and a stuffed animal. Hang basket with stuffed animal inside
with string on the hook in the ceiling. Cut big balloons
(probably 5 is enough) from the colored paper, attach the
string to the balloons with the tape and position 4 balloons
on wall and 1 on the string hanging the basket. Bring all
strings together and attach to basket. Use remaining white
paper and string to make clouds to hang or attached to front
of basket. TADA! A lovely balloon riding display!
Collections are
a fun hobby to incorporate in your decorating. Display them on
shelves and tabletops. Collect fun, inexpensive items you can find
at flea markets and thrift stores. Ideas include: Blue glass
bottles, antique spice containers, antique matchbox cars (for boys'
rooms), antique dolls (for girls' rooms).
Create "natural" window treatments by incorporating branches and dried
flowers. Mix these terrific home grown materials with a
traditional basic fabric swag like natural textured cottons or linens.
Drape the ends of the swag through small grapevine wreaths.
Simply rotating your existing furniture at
angles diagonal to the walls will create little areas of interest where you can put plants or mementos that personalize your
space.
Use food to decorate your home
by making easy and inexpensive centerpieces. Place in the center of your
table in a brightly colored bowl.
Decorate with the things that
mean the most to you. Your wedding invitation would look great matted
and framed on a board with some dried flowers. Everything from your children's artwork
to autumn leaves can be displayed: think of them as art from your past.
Hate the colors of your carpet
and walls? You don't necessarily have to change them. The
mauves and country blue of the late 80s and early 90s can act well as
accent colors to the brighter jewel tones that are popular now. Add
new draperies, pillows, and other accents in the brighter, more popular
colors. You'd be surprised how they overpower the pastels and stand
on their own.
For an inexpensive children's
comforter, keep your eye out for cute kids sleeping bags on sale or
clearance. Trim the zipper with scissors, open it up and it fits a
twin bed perfectly!
I made a comforter for my son's room. I
found 2 sheets, one I had and one I bought at a yard sale for 35 cents. I
took an old blanket, put it in the middle, and sewed all three together.
Then I did a decorative stitch all around the edge. Wow.. what a cute
comforter for almost nothing! I can make these out of all kinds of sheets
with cartoons characters, flowers, etc.
For people who live in rented
housing, you can apply printed fabric to walls with liquid starch.
When you're ready to move, it is very easy to remove.
For an inexpensive window treatment, I took cloth napkins
that I bought on sale for 80 cents a piece, hung them over a curtain rod
-- and voila -- an easy window treatment!
Paint small clay pots, add
ribbons, buttons, jigsaw puzzle pieces, etc and put a tea candle inside
and you will have a nice piece to put on a table or in your garden.
Buy an
inexpensive plastic mailbox at a hardware store. Paint it to go with
your kitchen - mine is black and white like a cow. I use mine for a
bread box.
I purchased two inexpensive vinyl table cloths and used one of
them to recover the chair bottoms of my kitchen chairs and put
the other one on the table. Now when the kids spill it's not a
problem. The cloths were so inexpensive ($1.99) that I replace them
often as they start to look worn.
Cheap plastic lace tablecloths make great curtains! They look like
the real thing and can be washed, dried and hung in a matter or hours.
Buy a small fish bowl and
put marbles inside. Add food coloring and place cheap floating
candles inside to create a beautiful centerpiece.
For framed art at budget prices, look for interesting greeting cards and
postcards, or cut out pages from from books, calendars or magazines.
These items often will fit nicely into standard ready-made 5x7 or 8x10
frames and mats that you can purchase at any discount store.
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Try removing
wallpaper with cheap fabric softener. Fill a spray
bottle with fabric softener. Saturate wall,
leave for a few minutes and it will peel right
off.
To change the look
of your comforter make an inexpensive "Duvet
cover" by sewing together two bed sheets of
the size of your old comforter, leave an open end
to slip in your comforter and then finish the end
with sew-on Velcro. Buy extra coordinating twin
sheets and add a touch by making matching
pillowcases or shams. It worked wonderfully for me
and I didn't spend too much money.
Everyone has a medium to large colored or not
colored bowl. Get a big
candle and some coordinating potpourri, place the
candle in the bowl and surround with potpourri.
Makes a simple but elegant centerpiece!
Don't throw away
your beautiful flower arrangements! Once they've
dried up in the vase, expose them to the sun to
take away any funky smell. In a beautifully
decorated (or not) vase, show off your new
arrangement. Add some ribbons to bring out the
colors. You can also paint them if you don't
find them attractive. Put it in a corner on
a pedestal or a centerpiece.
Take a walk outside.
Collect leaves, grass, flowers, tiny sticks,
feathers, etc. & place them in a book to
flatten them out for a week or so. Then, place
them in a collage, overlapping one another in a
glass picture frame (or make a shadow box out of
some old plywood & -- Kristin Fields Mauer of Jackson, Ohio
Look for curtains
and sheets at thrift stores you can cut and make
into smaller curtains or valences for kids'
rooms. Leftover fabric can be used for throw
pillows. Wicker baskets can be spray painted
and used for storage: one on the coffee table for
the TV Guide and remote; one on the floor for
magazines. Look for frames at thrift
stores; ignore the picture, you can always remove
it. You can also spray paint and decorate
frames, so use your imagination!
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