In America most of us are lucky to have things in abundance. But sometimes, we want just a little more, we want to enjoy life, to be surrounded by family and friends, and to live in a way that is comfortable and affirming. We want our dream home, and that’s okay! You work hard and you deserve to have a place to rest that is comfortable, comforting, and that makes you feel good when you get home from work.
But creating this dream home can be challenging. Designing the decorating style of a home is exciting, fun, but also very expensive. Many of us watch design shows on television or look through magazines to see amazingly talented designers who sweep into a home knocking down walls, building fireplace facades, performing amazing decorative painting techniques, and transforming the look of a home in minutes on the television, perhaps days in real time. And we want that too.
But for most people having a trained decorating come and turn your home into a show piece is simply not financially feasible. The good news is that your home can still be a showpiece if you follow these three steps to DIY:
Find a little extra cash
If you have some extra money on hand decorating is, of course, much easier. And there are many ways to find a few hundred dollars (or a few thousand, depending upon your decorating aspirations). You can consider a home loan; home equity loans have the lowest interest rates of almost any other loan out there, far lower than credit cards, which you do not want to charge up if you can help it.
If you are receiving payments through structured settlements selling some of these payments can be one way to fund a renovation or decorating effort. Remember to only sell as many payments as you must to fund your current project.
You can also consider selling your old items or unneeded possessions online. This can both net you some extra cash and make room for new decorations and baubles.
Be the designer yourself
Hiring an interior designer or a contractor might get your home decorating project done faster, but at a higher cost. If money is a factor do the design work, and the grunt work, yourself.
Begin by finding inspiration and then creating your plan. Flip through home magazines and clip images that appeal to you. Watch decorating shows, check out Pinterest and other home decorating sites such as ours. We have a ton of tutorials, design and home improvement guides. Once you have a plethora of appealing ideas take your stack to the room that you want to decorate and look around. Start to picture these techniques in your own space and begin to create your plan.
If you have a friend or family member who is a gifted designer, or whose home décor you admire, ask them to come consult with you. Make notes, draw sketches, and eventually create a list of what you plan to do in your design.
Then, figure out what aspects of the work you can do yourself. If there are areas that you want done that you feel you really are not qualified to do (perhaps you can paint, but not install new light fixtures) decide how you will allocate your budget and what you can afford to hire out.
Choose handicrafts rather than other decor material
Remember that not every item that you use – every vase, rug, and picture frame – needs to come from an expensive home store. First, look around to see what in your home you can repurpose. You can give an item an entirely new life by putting it in a new place or pairing it with something different; for example, a new area rug can change the look of your old chair entirely.
Consider what you can create on your own. You may be able to recreate an expensive look simply by repainting or embellishing something less expensive. Not only will you save money, but your will have more enjoyment from pieces that you know you created. With a little creativity, ingenuity and effort you can turn your home into a comfortable showplace, and you can do it on a budget!
I even picked up these oval mirrors from Walmart for under $15, and spray painted them silver. The pictures on the left, I got from Home Goods for $15 each. You can always find a steal of a deal if you keep your eyes peeled while shopping.
