I love switching things up at home and experimentation with decorating styles, but like most of us, my decorating budget doesn’t allow for purchases made on a whim. Instead of spending money (and littering up my house with more stuff), when I want a change I try to use what I’ve in a fresh way. From new furniture arrangements and easy DIY makeovers to ideas for innovative reuse, there are lots of techniques to upgrade your space which don’t require money. If you’re prepared for a house makeover without spending a dime, then it is time to store your house.
Also called “use what you have” decorating, buying your home involves searching your own home for abandoned treasures and looking at what you already use with fresh eyes. Get started with these three measures:
Do a walk-through of your house, exploring every nook and cranny for abandoned items. Note anything you would like to have mended.
Take photos of everything. It is simpler and faster to see what will work where if you can hold up a picture, instead of dragging furniture from room to room. Remember to remove, not only put in, items. If a piece of furniture or a decor item was rubbing you the wrong way, move it out, try it in another area, paint it or sell it — but do not let it sit there.Here are 12 imaginative methods to kick off your shop-your-home makeover. Feel free to add your ideas.
Kate Riley – Centsational Girl
Shop your own kitchen for pretty organizers. Bowls, creamers, cake plates and serving trays may make fantastic organizers for everything from jewellery and makeup brushes to office supplies and mail.
Natalie Myers
Give an old twin bed new life. A classic twin bed frame (or even only the mattresses) languishing in the basement can easily be converted into a chic daybed with the accession of a pretty coverlet and an armful of cushions. The real key to making it appear more sofa-like would be to cover the mattress with a fabric you would not normally find on a bed. A classic Moroccan wedding costume, a hefty linen coverlet or anything with pretty trim would be sublime.
Dress up your walls with dishes. Have a heap of pretty dishes hiding out in a darkened cabinet? Bring them out where you are able to appreciate them by developing a wall display. Try incorporating one larger platter in the center to anchor the structure.
See how to hang a plate set
Sullivan Design Studio
Put an unused desk to get the job done. Placed behind a couch drifting in the middle of the room, a desk provides a handy place for sorting mail or exhibiting a few preferred objects. You may even try with a desk as a games table, an entryway planner or an unconventional bar cart.
Emily McCall
Stop before purchasing that changing table. Dressers (the long, low kind) are usually the perfect height to be used as a changing table and have the added bonus of storage in the drawers below. Later, simply remove the changing-pad top and fill out the drawers together with your little one’s clothes instead of diapers.
6 Great Uses for a Vintage Dresser
Kate Riley – Centsational Girl
Give mismatched accessories a cohesive look. Wondering what to do with all the random range of vases, bowls and other trinkets unearthed out of your loft? Assuming none are too valuable, try unifying the collection using a coating of white paint. When you’re finished, group the items together in 1 place (on a bookcase, for example) instead of scattered throughout the area for the most impact.
See how to make over knickknacks with paint
Emily McCall
Create a unique display space with a spare coffee table. Just because you bought that table to use in front of the couch doesn’t mean that is the limitation of its potential. Try with a coffee table (more, thinner models work best) pushed against the wall to hold artsy novels or a pottery collection. Or use it as the focal point within a meditation or yoga corner using a candle and other special items put on top.
Feldman Architecture, Inc..
Swap out your present coffee table. Shifting your coffee table is a quick way to freshen up your living room. Look around your house for things you might have the ability to use instead, including a leather or wooden bench, a steamer trunk or a set or stools or side tables.
Cut down a table to size. Before you give away an old dining table, consider whether you would use it if it had been shorter. Kitchen tables, consoles and easy desks can be shortened to develop into fantastic coffee tables.
The Virginia House
Reuse architectural components as cosmetic screens. If your basement or garage is packed with old windows, doors and walls, consider how you might use these creatively around the home.
Window panels may home photos, or you may fix them to a foundation to make a unique table. Shutters and doors may stand in for your headboard, while old mounts can hold up floating shelves.
Attempt that dresser in another area. Dressers are among the most versatile pieces of furniture, supplying both display space and storage. Try using one in the entryway with mail at the top, scarves and hats in the drawers beneath.
Or place one from the dining area to use as a buffet, with linens housed from the drawers. If you’re a crafter, try painting your old dresser with chalkboard paint and keeping supplies organized by writing with chalk on the drawer fronts.
See how to Create Your own chalkboard paint
Emily A. Clark
Want more workspace? Use an old dining table as a desk. When you have an old dining table you no longer use, think about swapping it with your own desk for more room to distribute. Also, be honest about the way you use (and the way you wanted you used) your own house. If you hardly ever use your formal dining area but seriously want more space to devote to a home company, why not give in and make your dining room the office? On the rare occasion that you want to host a dinner party, you may always clear your work away stuff.
Inform us : What’s your best repurposing or funding decorating tip?