A-B-C Frugality

Decorating Your House for Pennies-Part Two:  Room by Room Ideas

Free and Low-Cost Ways to Transform your Humble Home into a Holiday Paradise

A Few Room by Room Ideas for Redesigning your Retreat:

• Kitchen and Dining Room
  • A simple pretty bowl filled with some in-season fruit scored cheap on your last shopping trip can bring beauty and a feeling of abundance into your home, not to mention serve as a visual reminder to meet your 5-a-day quota. 
  • Switch up your towels.  Something as simple as switching to new set of pretty kitchen towels picked up cheap at Walmart can really improve the look of your kitchen. It sounds silly…but I got new kitchen towels for Christmas one year, and after draping one over the oven handle, it really did give the kitchen a new look. 
  • A fun idea to mix it up is to sew up some quick café curtains (you know, the little ones that only cover the bottom half of the window). They are so NOT practical or useful, but somehow…I adore them. Depending on the size of your window, you can probably do it with just a half a yard of some cute fabric that matches those new kitchen towels, and just string them up on a tension rod—these are less than a dollar.  A whole new look for your kitchen, for under $2.
  • To delight your inner culinary artist, plant a windowsill garden of fresh herbs. Not only will you save at least $20 a month off your grocery bill, you’ll have more flavorful food, the herbs act as a natural air freshener and aromatic delight, and the vibrant green hues of the plants are naturally stimulating and complementary to many of the colors you probably already have in your kitchen.
  • If you’re renting or in military housing, you probably won’t want to paint or do any permanent designing like painting, so go with the next best thing:  wallpaper. Find some cheap wallpaper that matches your color scheme, and cut out individual designs or pieces of the wallpaper and place them strategically in your kitchen.  For example, in one of my kitchens, I found some cute wallpaper with fruit on it. My color scheme has always been black and red, so I cut out the red apples from the wallpaper and placed them in a few key spots around the kitchen.  The wallpaper itself was hideous (probably why it was clearance) but the apples were adorable and matched perfectly.
• Living Room and Bedrooms, etc.
  • Throw Pillows: A variety of throw pillows in different sizes covered with a fabric complementary to your current design covers gives a cozy and elegant feel to any couch or bed.  Just pick up some fabric on clearance that complements the area they’ll be accenting, sew up some quick slipcovers and throw them on those bargain-bin throw pillows you picked up.  The stains and small tears on the pillow will never be seen, and your wallet won’t even have felt a dent from their purchase.  *Military Mama Tip:  Take one of your husband’s old flannel shirts, cut off the collar and sleeves so you are left with a rectangle, and sew up the edges so you are left with a big flannel square. Unbutton and stuff in a pillow and voila, you’ve got a great “Daddy Pillow” for snuggling during long deployments*
  • Blankets and Throws: A nice throw draped over the edge of a chair or couch is always inviting, or try finding a blanket with a scalloped or interesting edging that matches your throw pillows and drape it over the bottom cushions of the couch, with the edge hanging neatly down.  This always worked well for us as Allysa likes to snack on the couch (and consequently make a mess of crumbs everywhere…so we could just throw the blanket in the wash rather than having to wash couch cushions).
  • Glass Bottles or Vases with flowers: Pretty glass bottles or vases, grouped together, look beautiful when filled with real or fake flowers.  Try experimenting with different colored bottles on a windowsill for a pretty way to adorn your dwelling. My husband is a beer connessoir, so different colored and sized Ale bottles make great decorations after he’s had his indulgence.
  • Flaunt a Frame: The dollar store usually has a great selection of cheap picture frames. A picture frame acts as a great accent piece for an end table or the top of a TV or empty bookshelf.  Especially when we lived in a small apartment, taking advantage of every surface can give an area a cozy feel, without looking cluttered, if done properly.  Framing a photograph of a loved one or the entire family, or even a pretty picture cut out frame a magazine gives a room character and flair.  Pair the picture frame with some inexpensive candles you have (Glade candles, anyone?) in a complementary color and you’ve got yourself a beautiful and inexpensive display.
  • The Power of Pink: Try replacing the bulbs in your bedroom with pink bulbs. Although I usually advocate the energy saving fluorescent bulbs, this might be fun to try for an anniversary or *special night* as it gives a romantic glow to the room and can change the entire atmosphere of the bedroom, and a pair of these pink bulbs costs only about $3 at WalMart.
  • Magnificent Mirrors: Mirrors can make a room look much bigger than it really is, and they magnify the amount of light that is naturally let into the room through the windows. You don’t even have to hang them up; bigger mirrors propped up against a wall can give a quaint magical feeling to a room.  I’ve heard they look great just propped up against a wall rather than attached to one, but having little kids I’m too afraid to try this one. I’m sure it would take my daughter exactly two and a half minutes to knock it over and hurt herself.
  • A time for all seasons…A super cute idea that I recently heard of for a neutral décor idea is taking nice sturdy branches, clipping off all the leaves, etc. and then supergluing tiny white flowers onto the branches.  If you use a bouquet of tiny white flowers from the dollar store the branches end up looking almost like cherry blossoms. Place the branches in a tall vase and you have a beautiful faux-tree that you can then decorate according to the holidays. You could hang tinsel on it for Christmas, some tiny fake eggs for Easter, throw some colorful confetti on for a birthday.  The possibilities are endless!