Today - Thrifty Decorating (part 1)

Remember - with decorating; as with clothing, it's not so much what you have as what you do with it. The biggest secret of a fabulous (and thrifty) decorator is your imagination. You have to see the possibilities in what you find. You don’t have to spend a lot of money. You'll be surprised at what you can do yourself at no cost at all.

Look at objects to see what they could become: old milk-can could be transformed into a lamp, the base for a small table, an umbrella stand, or a planter. Be creative as you see each object's potential.

Look for inspiration. There is no shame is scouring books and magazines for the look you desire, then adapting their scheme to a budget decorator’s plan! Go to your local bookstore to get ideas for rooms, painting and refinishing furniture, etc. Their stock is much more up-to-date. Your library's current magazines are great, too.

Tackle the larger areas of the room first, such as walls, windows, and floors. That will make the fastest impact on the room.



Move things around
Rearrange until you find a new pleasing setup! Swap furniture from one room to another. Put items on a pretty shelf over a piece of furniture or some summer or fall branches stuffed into a vase. Mix and match furniture styles, fabrics, eras, etc.


Do some painting!
Paint is one of the most thrifty and fastest ways to get a new look. Use COLOR. Let your walls make as much of a statement as your furnishings (for a fraction of the price).

To create a sense of flow from room to room, select a dominant color for your main room, then pick up different shades of the same color and use them in subtle ways throughout the house.

It's no great surprise that desert colors -- oranges, reds, browns, and yellows -- are often used in decorating in the Southwest or that deep greens, earthy browns, and dark reds show up in mountain homes. Those are predominant colors in nature in those regions. The dominant natural colors of any part of the country can be used to subtly tie the interior of your home to the world outside.

You can fool the eye with the way you use paint, making a room appear either larger or smaller just by the choice of color. Cool colors and lighter tints tend to make walls look farther apart; rich, dark colors bring walls dramatically closer, creating an intimate look even in a large room.

Different colors tend to elicit different emotions:
Cool colors. Shades of blue, green, purple, and similar cool colors tend to have a calming influence -- excellent for bedrooms if you want to create a soothing haven.

Warm colors. Shades of red, orange, and yellow tend to have a strong, dramatic, inviting effect -- a look you might want for a living or dining room.

Light, bright colors. Lighter shades of yellow and the spectrum of whites can be cheerful and sunny -- great in a kitchen or family room.


More to come!


Check out http://www.thrifty411.com/ for more on being thrifty and frugal.