Decorating Dollars and Common Sense

A Few Tips for Before You Redecorate on a Budget

Redecorating can be a costly venture, and for many people, a complete redo is beyond their budgets. How can you update your décor without breaking the bank? By using fewer dollars and plenty of common sense.

Assess your Current Décor Portfolio.

With notebook in hand, take stock of your furniture. If a chair or table or couch or cabinet is in bad condition, decide whether or not you want to repair it or replace it. If a piece is in good shape, but the fabric or color is outdated, consider reupholstering or, if that is too much of an investment for the piece, use a slipcover. For cabinetry or case pieces, consider stripping and painting or staining.

Take stock of your accessories, everything from area rugs to paintings and prints to vases and knick-knacks. List those things you would like to incorporate into your new scheme, and pack up those that don't make the cut this go around. Accessories can be rotated out, and changing the artwork and area rug in a room can freshen up the space. Having a stock of accessories, then, allows you to change the feel of a room from time to time without having to reinvest dollars.

The assessment of decorating assets saves you money. Updating the more expensive items means you have fewer items to replace, and by rotating your accessories, you don't need to redecorate as often.

Click, Clip and Shop

Visit websites such as hgtv.com. Clip photos from magazines. Shop the furniture stores and home décor departments. Build a collection of ideas and from this, plan out your new interior design. You most likely ran across several very expensive items you would love to have, but the cost is prohibitive. Take a close look at these items and decide what it is that you like about them. Is it the graceful turn of leg that caught your attention on that $1400 chair? Did the molding on that $900 coffee table catch your eye? By isolating the characteristics that you like, you can search for less expensive items that have those same characteristics. You can also, with a little creativity, alter your existing furnishings to mimic those high-end items.