by Melissa Avery

Created on: June 08, 2009

Redecorating on a budget sounds all good, but realistically it takes time, patience and knowing what you want. Sometimes these things are harder to come by than you would think. The phone rings, the kids scream or the dishwasher explodes all over the floor. Despite all of these issues, it is possible to make improvements in your home for not a lot of money.

The first thing I did was change the paint colors in most of the rooms in my house. The former owner had very unfortunate tastes - teal in a very small bathroom, something crossed between peach and cantaloupe (orange sherbet, maybe?) in a bedroom and a perfectly horrendous orangey brown in the Master. Every room has been painted with OOPS! colors from Home Depot for $5 per gallon and $7 per gallon at Lowes. You have to check in frequently and keep in mind that you can tone down some colors by mixing in some white.

I hit the thrift stores and yard sales for dcor accessories. Knowing what you need and being able to see the possibilities in the pieces you find. Need a white lamp? Find a brass one with great lines and maybe even a glass ball and paint it. Can't afford a new lampshade? Cover an old one with pretty cloth, or drape it with old lacey handkerchiefs. Check out the clearance tables at craft and fabric stores for trim pieces you can dress up slipcovers or throw pillows with.

For larger items, garage and yard sales are great resources, especially church yard sales and estate sales. There is a great selection at church yard sales due to a wide variety of people who have donated items to them. This past weekend I scored a patio table and five chairs for $7.50 total. Yahoo! I threw a tablecloth on the table and used European style pillow shams as slip covers for the chairs. I still need to paint the legs, but it looks pretty good and no one will know they were cast offs if I don't tell them. Take the time to look at the lines, the quality and the potential in a piece and you have a unique piece to match your personal style.

Check out used book stores for home dcor books. I have found some great ideas in books that others have finished with. Home decorating magazines, the do it yourself ones are my favorite, give step by step instructions for a lot of projects and may jumpstart your imagination to go even further.

Above all, take one project at a time. If you let yourself start too many at once you will easily get overwhelmed. It's O.K. to plan ahead and get that piece that goes perfectly into what you want to do, but finish a task before starting a new one or you will end up with Shabby and not at all Chic. Good luck and let your style begin.

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