Frugal Decor

Frugal Living Ideas and
Frugal Ways to Save Money
on Decorating Your Home.

Frugal Decor Basics:

Color: Adding some fresh color to your home, by painting some walls, adding new throw pillows or framing and hanging some colorful art is one of the fastest ways to jazz up your home. Think about colors that make you feel happy, content, and comforted. Try them out in small doses until you are sure they are a fit for a room. Do a bit of research online about adding color to the interior or exterior of your home. If you do the work yourself, you will save lots of money.

Style: You can decide what decorating style you really like by looking at pictures in magazines or watching home decorating television shows. Think about why a photo or image appeals to you...is it the fabrics, the colors, the wood tones. Does contemporary style have more appeal or are you more often drawn to traditional styles? Do prints make you say "yes" or are you happier with solid colors?

Accessories: Be sure to include your collected treasures, favorite photos, books, art and the things you've inherited in your frugal decor. Surrounding yourself with things you cherish is more important that spending money on expensive "trinkets."

Lighting: Don't overlook what proper and creative lighting can do for a room. Good lighting sources can soften the feeling in a room, accentuate a piece of art and, as well, illuminate a corner for reading, crafts or other projects.

Frugal Decor Tips:

• Start a decorating scrapbook. Find pictures in decorating magazines of rooms that appeal to you and begin a collection. As your scrapbook grows, think about why you like these particular pictures. Is it the colors? The patterns? The style of furniture? The art and accessories?
• Think about some of your "prized possessions" and what you love about them. Did you impulsively buy a piece of art, a decorative pillow or some other object because of the color or pattern? This can be a clue to what your decorating style might be. Think about how you can add some of those ideas to your home decor.
• Add texture to your frugal decor home decorating plan. Include items that are shiny and matte, hard and soft, etc.
• Think "outside the box:" Hang a quilt on the wall; use sheets (lots of fabric for a tiny price) as fabric for curtains or to "re-upholster" a piece of furniture; frame inexpensive posters, photos, or "found items" to hang on your walls.
• Use wicker baskets as storage for toys, receptacles for magazines and books, and more. You can easily find lots of these at thrift stores and yard sales.
• Plants add "life" to a room. You can find them at reasonable prices at many stores. You can also start your own plants from "cuttings" from plants your friends have.
• Nature's bounty can provide many wonderful frugal decorating itme. Pices of driftwood look wonderful on a coffee table. Pinecones in a basket, seashells on a shelf, pussywillows or catttails or dried grasses in a vase, smooth stones as paper weights.....all are frugal decorating freebies.

Frugal Decor Resources:

Frugal Home Decorating TV Shows: Two of my favorites are Decorating Cents and Design On A Dime....both on HGTV. You can get lots of frugal decor ideas by watching these.

Thrift store and yard sales: Go to the stores and sales that are in the more affluent neighborhoods to find higher quality used items. Then think creatively about what you can do with a bit of paint, polish, and reworking of your found items.

Dollar Stores: These are a bonanza for frugal shoppers. You can buy many decorative and practical household items there. We love dollar stores for dishes, candles and candleholders, towels, kitchen items and so much more.

Online sites like Craigslist or Freecycle are great resources for cheap or free furniture and other home decorating items.

"A house is made with walls and beams; A home is made with love and dreams." ~Author Unknown