©2007-2008 The O’Neil Sisters, All Rights Reserved
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Decorating Your First Home
On Your Last Dime
©The O’Neil Sisters 2008
So you've finally purchased your first place. The real estate broker left with all your cash and the only thing filling your dream home is an echo. You’ve got style but no money and more rooms than one futon can furnish. Have no fear! Just tap into that new-homeowner's excitement and dive into these twelve tips for dazzling decorating on a ho-hum budget.
Crank Up The Color
Furniture alone doesn’t make a house a home. Your rooms want color and paint is cheap! For $19.99 you can get a gallon of paint from Kmart (and Martha Stewart as your personal color consultant). Be bold and paint three walls Sunflower and the fourth Mexican Tile Green. And don’t stop there. You don’t have to be Michelangelo to paint the ceiling!
Show Off Your Stuff
You may not realize it, but your collections are decorator touches you already own. Add your tin robots to a bookcase and display your apothecary bottles along a windowsill. Exhibit your Coldplay buttons, ticket stubs, and authentic set list in a shadowbox table made from a medicine cabinet and four table legs (less than $50 at Lowe’s). Replace the mirror with glass and your collection will rock!
Kick Up Your Kitchen
Turn Everyday Objects Into Objets D’Art
Ordinary items can add extraordinary charm when displayed with flair in your kitchen. Parade your vintage Thermoses across the tops of your cabinets. Restaurant-sized cans of frijoles refritos make bueno bookends for your cookbooks. For your kitchen walls, frame colorful 60s cookbook recipes and that ambrosia salad will finally be a masterpiece!
Spice Up Your Cabinets
Horrible cupboards, but no budget for a full facelift? Rejuvenate them with a coat of paint and updated hardware. Get mod by stenciling a six-inch street number on each door; a stencil set costs about $13 at OfficeMax. (You can tell your guests, “The goblets are in cabinet 7.”) For free-form fun, try chalkboard paint from the hardware store. You’ll have the perfect place to write your grocery list.
Display Your Wares
If your kitchen is cramped, think outside the pantry for storage. Unclutter your cupboards by displaying your pasta and spices in clear jars with antique-looking labels. A metal grate meant for a Weber grill can be hung from the ceiling as an inexpensive pot rack. Turn your kitchen into a culinary workshop by hanging your cooking utensils on a pegboard from Home Depot. Talk about form and function!
Dress Up Your Dining Room
Revamp A Flea Market Find
So you didn’t win a dining room set on The Price Is Right? Don’t fret. An old farm door makes a not-so-shabby dining table. Or polish grandma’s oak tabletop, then scour the thrifts for mismatched wooden chairs. Adorn the chair backs with finials and upholstery tacks, then spray paint them copper. Add silk seat cushions and you’ve got a glamorous “matching” set for under $100!
Turn Mass-Produced Into One-of-a-Kind
With a little elbow grease, even Wal-Mart furniture can be unique. Tack leather to the back of a bookcase, add bar stools, and start pouring the martinis from your custom-made bar. Decoupage vintage botanical prints to the cabinet doors of an unfinished-wood buffet, then stain the whole thing to create an instant antique. Or just add old-fashioned crystal doorknobs to an ordinary dresser to store your linens. Talk about kooky chic!
Bedazzle Your Lighting
Even a budget dining room deserves panache, so replace that frumpy light fixture with a glitzy chandelier. Yes, you can afford one, if you know where to look. EBay has a variety for under $100, and Salvation Army often has a crystal cast-off waiting to be rewired. If your preference is dining alfresco, bring a lamppost indoors (only $60 at Target). Then paint the ceiling midnight blue, spritz it with gold-glitter spray paint, and dine under the stars every night.
Wake Up Your Bedroom
Add Pizzazz With Pillows
Nothing says luxury like cushy throw pillows. Just start with bedclothes in a single color then add rich patterns and texture with a dozen throw pillows. Make plain cushions sparkle with vintage brooches and tassels. Or you can get designer ones cheap at TJMaxx. For a personal touch, have photos printed on shams at Kinko’s for only $10 each!
Jazz Up Your Living Room
Make A Bold Statement
Create a focal point without breaking the bank by displaying an everyday item as a conversation piece. Have an acoustic guitar? Hang it on the wall. Or place that old Underwood typewriter on a pedestal. Make funky art with an old store sign and your house can say H-O-M-E for under $20!
Get Modern With Art
Art doesn’t have to come from a SoHo gallery to be ultra-hip. You can decorate your walls with anything you like. Spark romance by framing love letters or your favorite poems. To really heat things up, make your own Andy Warhol with a box of Red Hots. Frame enlarged, color copies in frames from the dollar store. A wall of Red Hots is sure to light your fire.
Think Outside The Box Spring
Is your mattress still on that old metal frame? Add style and attitude with an unusual headboard. If rattan is your look, get it for less by using a bamboo trellis from a garden center. A mounted fireplace screen is just the right size for a twin. For a queen or king, try a garden gate. Wrought iron looks traditional, but chain link is wicked cool!
