The Best Tips for Saving Money When Decorating Home and Garden

Decorating House. Photo: Mymove

Find Free Materials

You will be surprised to find out how many things you can actually get for free! A lot of people will want to just get rid of items they do not want anymore because they are moving or redecorating themselves and cannot be bothered to try and sell them. This is where you can get some amazingly useful items without spending a cent.

Ask friends and family or check out local Facebook Groups for opportunities to turn other people's excess into something you can use. From small table lamps to area rugs, to tables and chairs, and even knickknacks, people will often happily give you these things for free if you are able to pick them up.

Improve your existing furniture

Before you start throwing out all of the furniture in the room it might be worth considering if it can be updated or improved by upcycling it. One of the biggest trends right now in interior design is repurposed and reupholstered furniture, especially with wooden furniture. As the vintage look has never been more popular, we are seeing a huge rise in people repurposing old tables and chairs, bringing new life to something that was once nearly thrown away.

Featured Wall

One of the quickest and easiest ways of adding a fresh new feel to a room is through painting or wallpapering the walls. Paint and wallpaper vary in price, but one thing that is consistent with this is the amount of time it takes. Updating a room can often be accomplished in a day and the entire home can be done over an extended weekend.

However, if you are not an effective painter or lack the resources to take on an entire area, to save money and time you can simply just update one wall, the feature wall. You might be surprised at how much a feature wall can change a room’s dynamic. It draws the eye as soon as you enter and instantly sets the tone for the rest of the space.

Use Lighting

Photo: DIY HOME & GARDEN

Soft, bold with color, accents, and even as a feature, the importance of lighting on a room cannot be overstated. Lighting has the power to create a mood and even add size to a room. If used right, lighting can completely change how a room feels and looks.

Whether you make use of natural light more or invest in some new lamps or lampshades, lighting is an interior designers best friend. To save money, look at simply changing the lampshades, bulbs or positioning of where the lights from/to and see how different your room can look.

Update the plumbing fixtures

Your bathroom and kitchen plumbing fixtures are often untapped resources when it comes to adding a new design feature to the room. By simply changing the usual metal finish to copper, brushed chrome or brushed bronze you can quickly update the style without having to purchase a new sink or bathtub.

Reorganize

You don’t always have to buy new pieces for a room. I often clear all the accessories out of several rooms and put them in a pile on the dining table. Then start grouping things in 3’s or 5’s and display them in different places. Doing this with soft furnishings, or even furniture can give your home a completely new lease of life. And it costs nothing.

Do It Yourself

Photo: Shieldsgazette

Teach yourself some DIY and save hundreds in labour costs. It’s really not that difficult and there are lots of tutorials if you search for them. How about making some home interiors from old pallets – still the most popular post on my blog.

Skills Exchange

Find like minded people and share your skills. We are in a community group just like this and it saves us so much money. We share our technical IT knowledge and in exchange can buy plumbing, gardening and lots more. If you don’t have one near you, why not set one up yourself.

Use a Paint Calculator

If you're purchasing the paint for your DIY painting project, you can save money by not overbuying paint. Use our paint calculator below to be sure you're not buying too much paint, or too little. It's okay to have some paint left over to save for touch-ups, or to ensure you can fully cover your walls, but you could easily end up with an extra gallon or two if you don't calculate what you'll need. The paint calculator can show you how to measure your paint area, and give you a good idea of what you'll need to purchase. Be sure to take into account the number of coats you'll need to cover your walls, especially if you're using a paint + primer product. If you need help choosing the right paint color, there are several excellent paint color apps available to help you match or explore paint color ideas for your home.

Shop Second Hand

This may seem like one of the more obvious ways to save money when decorating your home, but shopping through second-hand or thrift stores, flea markets, and swap meet sales can result in finding fantastic items for incredibly low prices. It is also a great way to get a bargain on a novelty item or eclectic piece you have coveted to complete a space.

Some designers make a great living this way so it is definitely worth checking out local options for bargains. There are also a variety of bargain sites so do not limit yourself to only shopping in person. If there is a market for it, you can bet it can be found for sale online.

Bring the outdoors inside

Photo: Mymove

The past few years have seen a surge in popularity with indoor plants being used to create a new type of bohemian style. Often in vintage-looking pots and hanging from the ceiling, these indoor plants are relatively cheap and a great way of updating your interior design.

You’ll be happiest in your surroundings when you strike this balance.

Mix and Match

It’s almost too easy to go over budget when decorating your home as there is just so much to choose from. Sometimes it really pays to compromise, only on the items themselves, not the style. Mixing different types of furniture is a great way of adding a modern style to any room.

For example, a dining room chair isn’t too expensive for one, but if you need 6 then this really adds up. So, instead of this, you can simply get two for the ends of the table and then cheaper chairs for the middle. It can still look fantastic and save you money.

Determine your budget BEFORE you begin

Let’s face it, if you didn’t have a budget your home would be already complete, and you wouldn’t need these money saving tips. Everyone needs to set a budget to have boundaries on your wallet and your home! Once you’ve set one, buy a few major pivotal pieces to center the theme of your room around. Then use thrift shops and department store clearance areas to fill in with gorgeous accessories.

Don’t underestimate using mirrors in your décor

Photo: Shieldsgazette

Mirrors have reinvented themselves in the last few years in the design world, and they are bigger than ever in home décor. For cheap décor ideas visit your local craft store and buy inexpensive mirrors to use as mosaic pieces on furniture, or picture frames. Make your own frames for larger mirrors and customize the look to hang in kid’s rooms or in your bathroom.

Decorate with artifacts from past vacations and travels

If you are a lover of travel and bringing back home décor items, use those items proudly around your home. An empty corner could house an expensive piece of furniture, or tucked in a closet may be an artisan artifact from your trip to Tahiti that you didn’t know where to put it! Jewelry put in shadow boxes or used as framed art is beautiful for display.

Use natural ingredients for an eye catching centerpiece

The next time you are in the grocery store; don’t overlook the produce section to add color to your home. Lemons, limes, apples, oranges make great centerpieces in a beautiful vase or aligned in a modern horizontal platter. Add these with glass marbles and tall greenery to make a statement on a foyer table.

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