Money Crashers: Home Decorating Ideas on a Budget

Here's a new Money Crashers post I'm rather proud of. Over the years, I've done several posts here on budget decor, which highlight the best examples I've seen online of dazzling room redos on unbelievably small budgets. (Room makeovers from Young House Love show up often, but I've also found great room makeovers on This Old House and numerous other blogs.) These posts have been fairly popular - especially the second one, which for some reason has more than twice as many hits as all the others combined and is on my "greatest hits" list.

So I thought I'd do a single article that outlines all the tips and techniques these budget decorators have used to produce such amazing results with so little cash. Based on my extensive (probably too extensive) examination of budget decor posts, my personal top ten list is:

1. Do it yourself - whether "it" is painting, tiling, or installing hardwood flooring.
2. Rearrange the furniture. Use What You Have Interiors, which is probably the world's most ecofrugal decorating service, is built around the premise that you can make a room look and feel completely different just by putting what you already have in different positions.
3. Repurpose furniture and accessories. Lots of budget makeovers feature old pieces put to new uses, such as a sink vanity made from an old dresser.
4. Shop secondhand - at thrift stores, reuse centers, on Craigslist, and of course, on Freecycle.
5. Use paint. This is probably the single most important tool in a budget decorator's toolbox. I go into detail about decorative techniques like ombre, sponging, stenciling, and rag-rolling, as well as how to create the illusion of architectural detail with paint. I also discuss the use of paint on furniture, floors, counters, appliances, and pretty much everything.
6. Use paper. Wallpaper is pricey when you use it on a whole room, but small pieces, strategically placed, can substitute for even pricier treatments (like wainscoting or a tile backsplash).
7. Use fabric. Swapping out the fabric pieces in a room - pillows, curtains, rugs, bedding - is even easier than repainting and creates almost as dramatic a transformation.
8. Add woodwork. This takes a little more work, but there's nothing like a few strategically placed boards and battens to make a builder-grade room look custom-made.
9. Focus on details. Little touches like faucets, knobs, accessories, and lighting can make a big difference.
10. Create cheap artwork. I could have done a whole post on this alone, because there are so many ways to DIY your own art pieces on a budget. But I limit myself to a few tips and examples, since once you have the general idea, it's easy to come up with more.

For each of these tips, I provide details about where and how to use it and some examples of budget room makeovers that have used it to great effect. And at the end, I highlight several complete room makeovers that show how you can combine all these techniques to transform an entire room.

Read all the details here: 10 DIY Home Decorating Ideas on a Budget – Tips & Techniques