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Within a budget
Let's face it, few of us have the luxury of a sky's-the-limit budget for home decorating. Even for top interior designers, an unlimited budget is a rarity. Many confess they actually do their best work when they have to rely on creativity instead of cash.
High style doesn't have to mean high cost. Use inexpensive materials lavishly and expensive materials judiciously. Elegance is found in details, whether it's sewing trims, borders, and appliques or painting colour washes and stries. Remember that the objective is not just to see how inexpensively you can get by but to make every money-saving method count. If you do your own painting, you'll have more funds left for furnishings, frills, and labour.
Make the most of what you have, then fill in the blanks. Some of the best design ideas are free. Simply rearranging the furniture - floating it away from the walls, or turning it on the diagonal - can transform a tired room. Experiment with what's on hand before you go shopping for replacements.
It's all in the details
In a featureless room, architectural details can make a big difference for a little price. Moldings from the hardware store are the equivalents of architectural applique. They come in a wide range of sizes and styles, and they can be painted or stained. Use them to frame windows, doors, or to create a chair rail.
Hang around
Even if you can't afford a masterpiece, you don't have to settle for bare walls. Turn an ordinary print or poster into an extraordinary piece of art by splurging on professional matting and framing. Elaborate mats and frames can make an inexpensive print look far more sophisticated.
Arrange framed photos into a pattern to decorate a wall. With just a hammer and nail, you're on your way to turning framed treasures into dramatic groupings. But before getting too hammer-happy, make templates of your artwork by tracing the perimeters on newspaper. Cut out the shapes and tape them to your wall, rearranging until you're happy with the look. Nail through the paper, adjusting nail position according to the frame hangers. Remove paper and hang artwork.
Save with sheets
Using your imagination when decorating is money in the bank. Because they come in coordinated solids and patterns, sheets take the guesswork out of mixing and matching. Plus, they tend to be less expensive fabric. Use them to make curtains, craft table skirts, or upholster a salvaged headboard. Or applique strips of sheet fabric to inexpensive towels for a high-end coordinated look.
Sew it up
Fabric, like paint, covers a multitude of sins and can make a dramatic difference in an entire room. It also allows you to change the character of your decor seasonally. Use a floral-chintz print for wicker-chair cushions in the summer, and switch to a red-and-black tartan plaid in the winter. Because cushions take so little fabric, you may find what you need on sale in remnant quantities. For old chairs, consider new slipcovers: they can give a brand-new look at a fraction of the price.
Browse through decorating magazines and books and you'll find most have three fabric colours in diminishing proportions - for example, lots of blue, a little less white, and just a smidgen of yellow as an accent. It's a reliable formula that works for any colour scheme.
Size matters
Looking for abundance? You can stuff a room with furniture and accessories - an expensive proposition - or you can buy fewer but bigger items. Splurge on one worthy focal-point element and you won't have to spend so much on the elements around it. Try an oversize mirror instead of several small ones, for instance. Consider a large armoire you can appreciate every day instead of four tiny tables that never get noticed. Six small throw pillows won't do as much for an ordinary sofa as two 50 x 50cm ones, which can change the sofa's profile and personality dramatically.
Know-how stretches the budget
Often, the smartest buy is knowledge. Buying a few hours of an interior designer's time could help you decide where best to spend your limited resources and might keep you from making costly mistakes you'll have to live with for a long time. Look for ideas that are low-cost or even no-cost. Study furniture vignettes in furniture stores and design centres. Pay attention to the colours and materials you encounter in restaurants, banks, and clothing stores. Imagination is your most potent ally. To make the most of finite resources, be willing to take an unconventional - even eccentric - approach. Make the process of feathering your nest affordably an exercise in creativity, not an exercise in making do. Experiment and dare to be different, and your home will almost automatically reflect the good sense, good taste, good humour, and good will you put into it.
Paint it pretty!
For as little as R250, you can create a brand-new complexion with paint. But don't automatically resort to play-it-safe white, even if you're hesitant about stronger hues. White walls produce a gallery effect that almost demands beautiful objects and furnishings. And white intensifies the perception that something is missing if a room is sparsely furnished. Pastels and darker hues have a way of filling up a room's blank spaces. You don't have to stick with solid colours, either. With a little patience and practice, anyone who can hold a brush can turn an ordinary wall into a work of art for pennies a square foot.
Beyond your walls
Let your imagination be your guide when applying colourful paint on walls and furniture. Paint has just as much potential on floors and furnishings as it does on walls. Two coats of acrylic paint topped with three coats of polyurethane will produce a beautiful finish on tile. Similarly, you can get the look of new furniture without buying new furniture. Paint a hand-me-down dresser crisp white and you've got an instant cottage classic. Collect six different wood dining chairs from secondhand shops and give them a common bond by painting them the same colour.
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