The beginning of the year is often the time when people decide to freshen up their home by engaging in some renovations or redecorating. While you might be keen to do this too, perhaps you have a strict budget to work with, or want to save some dollars to spend on other items through the year, such as a relaxing vacation.
If this sounds like you, don’t fret about how to spruce up your home decor with limited funds, as there are lots of great tips to be found that will help you spend less yet still have your house looking a million dollars in no time. From selecting sale or floor stock items, and utilizing specific decor-related credit cards and discount coupons, to making your own pieces, and checking out garage sales, there are plenty of ways to shop smart. Read on for some top tips to try out today.
Utilize Blogs and Magazines
Lots of people hire an interior designer or other type of decorator to help them decide how to dress or revamp their home, but this certainly isn’t the cheapest option. If you’re on a budget, look for up-to-date ideas from sources such as magazines and blogs instead. There are thousands of options out there to investigate, and you can easily keep track of all the ideas in a notebook filled with printouts/lift-outs, or by using an app like Evernote to keep everything in one place.
Select Floor Stock or Sale Items
Another way to save some cash is by purchasing discounted items from stores. Next time you want to buy a new couch, entertainment unit, coffee table, hutch, dining room table, bedroom set etc., make sure you check out whether there is a version of your favorite piece on the shop floor that you could pick up at a discount price. In addition, it’s always smart to sign up to store newsletters or loyalty clubs so that you’re notified straight away when end-of-season sales are on.
Accept Hand-Me-Downs and Buy at Garage Sales or Online
You can often find the perfect pieces for your home at bargain prices if you just think outside the box a little bit. For example, ask your close friends and family members if they have any items they want to part with, as you can often be surprised by what a lick of paint and some TLC can do for older furniture.
Alternatively, spend some weekends checking out garage sales in your local areas, or online sites such as Craigslist where you can pick up low-cost pieces. Oftentimes you’ll find that choosing items for your home in this way will not only help you to save money, but also help you secure more unique, interesting pieces that can become a real talking point in a room.
Spend Less on Art
While many people dress up their rooms by investing in lovely, but expensive, works of art, you can add flair to your home like this in more cost-effective ways. For starters, if you have the interest and skill, think about creating your own pieces to display. There are hundreds of blogs and YouTube videos online which can give you instructions for painting, drawing or otherwise putting together a striking artwork, for a fraction of the price you would pay at a gallery.
If you don’t feel like getting creative yourself, look for artworks by emerging artists instead. You’ll find plenty of websites advertising affordable art for the home, or might even find an art student or other novice in your local area who charges low rates for still striking pieces.
Finally, prints of favorite artworks can be purchased cheaply online when you seek out coupons.
Simple Updates Can Go a Long Way
Often you’ll find that rather than needing to spend a whole lot of money on expensive renovations and lots of new furniture or fittings, simple changes can actually still have a profound effect on the look of your home. For example, it definitely pays to freshen things up with a new coat of paint. This can lighten and brighten tired-looking rooms quickly, and may actually make you realize that you don’t even need to do much more to a room to be happy with how it looks.
Other ways to make simple changes at a low cost are buying new door handles or pulls for kitchens and bathrooms, re-tiling splashbacks, painting over cupboard doors, putting in some new lighting or even just lampshades, and utilizing low-cost accessories. For example, display pretty collections of natural items like shells, flowers, fruit, and driftwood to dress up a room, rather than paying lots of money for brand-new pieces.