by Kathryn Kirby

Created on: October 13, 2010   Last Updated: April 08, 2012

Decorating your living room doesn't have to cost your life-savings or require a degree in interior design. I recently redecorated my living room for less than $200. It was surprisingly fun and easy to do, I just had to look at things a little differently. My biggest expense went to the one item that made the most impact, the paint. That was after deciding on a color that would best suit the space.

Changing the color on the walls and ceiling transformed my old, boring space into a fresh, bright and lively space. I did not buy the expensive stuff either. I enjoy mixing my own colors so I found the cheapest gallon of white paint I could and a couple of small bottles of craft paint in a color I liked. Cost of paint: $16.00 a gallon. However, you can get the paint mixed for you in that perfect shade that matches your life.

I had to do a little extra work on my walls before I could paint though. The previous owners had made a mess of the sheetrock when they hung and finished it. Every seam was visible; some places had received a different thickness of sheetrock causing sunken spots. I finally determined that the quickest, cheapest and easiest way to fix the walls was to cover them from floor to ceiling with sheetrock mud.

Sheetrock mud is available at any Home Depot for about $13 a bucket. You will also need a mud tray and a six-inch trowel. Use the trowel to smear mud on your walls from floor to ceiling. Do not worry about getting it on smooth or to thick or thin. All you are doing is covering a messed up wall or a boring wall with the added bonus of having a nice, white base to paint on. You will naturally have ridges, thin spots or ripples in your mud application.

You can gently sand the ridges down if you wish or leave them for an old-world finish. Now onto the paint. When choosing your color consider the size of your space and the over-all feeling you are going for. Light colors make your space bigger while dark colors can make a space feel either cozy or closed-in.

For the accessories, look around your home for items that you can re-mix into your new decorating scheme. Get into your linen closet or blanket chest and pull out blankets and throws that fit your colors. Lay these items on sofas, chairs and maybe even the footstool. You have added color and a cozy feeling with just the throws. Turn an old set of sheets, curtains or table clothes into new covers for your throw pillows.

You have just redecorated your living room for under $200. The one tip that saves you the most is re-using items from other rooms in your home. Rotate items every few months for a quick makeover on a whim. While decorating seems daunting for someone with a small budget, I have found it to be fun. Bringing items out of storage, giving old, forgotten pieces a new life. Just breath, now begin decorating.

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