I just moved into my first house. It's much bigger than the apartment that I lived in for the past 7 years so its really nice. Anyway I'm looking for cool decorating ideas, but I'm really strapped for cash since most of our money is now being sunk into bills and house repairs. I'd really like to 'dress up' my bedroom and living room somehow. The kids rooms look good because we painted the walls in bright colors and they have all their stuff to make it look nice. Also any good thoughts for kitchen themes? My kitchen is all white so I can do anything in there.
Ikea! That's the best way in the world to get great stuff cheap.
I'll post more later, I need to run to work.
i think painting really is the easiest way to make a big impact cheaply. can you find or make some cool stencils to paint on your wall to spruce it up? i've also seen some neat ideas for painting headboards on your wall if you don't have one.
visit a fabric store and go to their sale area and look for cool fabrics to make into drapes.
what kind of themes do you like? i personally am huge into big bold colors so my advice is going to center around that.
i love doing this kind of stuff.
also, do you have a livejournal? there are some communities specifically dedicatred to decorating on the cheap
I like the bold colors too, I'm trying to come with something for the kitchen...my laundry room is right off it and that room we painted in a color called Mango Crush with pure white trim so it has a peaches and cream effect so I want something to blend with the kitchen.
Yep I have a LJ, any good community links?
i saw a supoer cute idea for a kitchen window where the person bought old aprons at a thrift store and somehow turned them into a curtains.
i can't think of communities off the top of my head but i think there is one called "cheap decor" or some variation thereof. i'll be back with links
I second Ikea, also if you have any old fabric around that can be made into cheap curtains and if you want to see a change in your furniture, you could get furniture covers or cover it with nice looking blankets, cheaper than buying all new furniture. Also maybe get one piece like a picture/painting or rug that you absolutely love and add that into your room it will be nice for you to see it and it will help add some detail to your room.
If you have an active craigslist.org site in your area that can be a great resource for buying things cheaply. It is free to post on there so it's like an online yard sale. In my area people post a lot of things that they are willing to get rid of cheaply, even free. On painting, we painted all the rooms in our apartment. We used dark and bright colors. The only thing is I'm kind of tired of the colors after a year and we had a hard time figuring out what to put on purple, red and green walls. Maybe we just didn't choose the best colors though :)