10 quick, easy, and inexpensive decorating tips for Spring- by Ceil Petrucelli
Spring is a great time of year to make a few changes around your home. Redecorating your home doesn't have to be expensive. With a little creativity, ingenuity, and elbow grease, plus a few good tools, you can often do much of the work yourself. Some projects can be pretty easy and take less than a weekend to complete. Here are a few ideas that can yield some instant results and make a major impact, too.
Are you pressed for time? On a budget? These are 10 quick, easy, and low cost ideas that can give your home a fresh new look with a minimum of effort.
1. One of the easiest and cheapest ways to transform a room is to eliminate as much clutter as possible. Streamline your collections; remove all the little knickknacks and dust collectors; put things away. The trend now is to keep things simple, spare, and serene-looking.
2. Give your home a thorough cleaning. Make a list; go through your home room by room and make note of what needs to be done. Then set aside some time to either do it yourself, or if you can afford to, hire someone to assist you, especially with some of the bigger projects. Take it one step at a time; one project at a time so it isn't so overwhelming.
3. Rearrange your furniture! Reuse and reduce by rearranging! Instead of buying new furniture, move it around or swap things out from different rooms. Sometimes our rooms get stuck in a rut. We need to shake things up a bit and look at our rooms with new eyes. Not only is this very budget-friendly, it's very eco-friendly, too.
4. Paint can transform a piece of furniture, a room, or a whole house. Paint is still one of the easiest and least expensive ways to make a change when you're redecorating. When painting, try to use low or no VOC paints for a more eco-friendly environmental impact. When buying paint, only buy as much as you need since there's no easy way to dispose of paint. If you have leftover paint, see if you can donate it to a local school, shelter, or non-profit.
5. A new piece of artwork can totally transform the look of a room. It doesn't have to be expensive, either. On a budget? You can pick up inexpensive prints on line, at a local museum store, a local art gallery, or even at auctions, flea markets, and tag sales. You can often buy them already matted and framed, or you can do it yourself or have it done professionally at a local frame shop.
6. Antique shops and second hand shops are often excellent resources for interesting and unique pieces. Tag sales and flea markets are also great sources for treasures which can be transformed and given a new and repurposed life. Think creatively and keep an open mind when you're poking around looking for your "buried treasures."
7. You can repurpose and recycle an old dresser with some paint, new knobs, and some creative thinking and elbow grease. Get creative with stencils, faux finishes, decoupage, antiquing and crackle glazes, wallpaper, colorful papers…. The possibilities are almost endless.
8. You can make a wonderful mirror from an old window. I actually have a few in my home which I picked up at salvage yards over the years, then had a local glass shop insert a mirror.
9. An old chair with a good frame can be reupholstered or slipcovered. There are lots of options to choose from - inexpensive to custom. You can either do the work yourself or have it done professionally. Sometimes a slipcover is a temporary solution until you can afford to buy that new sofa or chair. Or just add some fresh new throw pillows instead!
10. Do you have a favorite lamp or light fixture that looks dated? You can replace the lampshade for an easy fix or paint the base a different color. Lots of options to choose from and you can get really great results with a minimum of effort.
These are just a few tips to get you started. For more ideas, there are lots of on-line resources, magazines, and books available -- not to mention all the home improvement shows on TV!
Ceil Petrucelli is an interior designer, decorator, and home organizing consultant based in Bennington, VT and is the owner of Ceil Petrucelli Interiors and The House Therapist. She can be reached at ceilpetrucelli@comcast.net or her website www.ceilpetrucelliinteriors.com
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