Tuesday 15 March 2016

Decorating on a Budget: Making the most of your money...

Up-cycling is fashionable. This is great news for those who are living on a budget and have to be careful how they spend their money. Just because you’re hard up and need to make sure that every penny you spend is spent wisely, you don’t have to skimp on creativity and old furniture that’s crying out for a smart new makeover can be found everywhere.

Planning your decorating project

Once you’ve committed to decorating your home, allocate a budget to your plan. You may want to throw away some items of furniture that you detest but are wary about consigning these items to the skip. You may find that your tastes change and you could want this furniture at a later date. Instead of throwing these items away, why not source your nearest self storage facility to keep currently unwanted items of furniture and other possessions safe?

Choose your paint wisely

You will want your paint to stretch as far as possible and you won’t want it to start peeling the following year. You don’t have to buy the most expensive paint on the market to achieve perfection. Go to your local DIY store and ask for advice. Many shops will do a deal if you buy over a certain quantity of paint, they’ll also mix up the colours for you if you explain the effect that you’re trying to achieve with your paints.

Look after your brushes

Remember to clean your paintbrushes after use; why waste money on new brushes simply because you haven’t bothered to look after your existing ones? An article in TheDaily Mirror suggests that if you clean and freshen up any surfaces that look faded or tarnished you may find that you don’t need to paint them at all.

Haunt second hand shops

Many charities have fantastic second hand furniture sections. Instead of buying new wooden furniture, sharpen up your upcycling skills. You’ll discover that after stripping away layers of old varnish you’ll have a wonderful piece of furniture that you can paint, and then add stencils or decoupage in order to create a refurbished item of furniture that’s perfect for your decorating project.

Material remnants

If you’re trying to incorporate some new cushion covers, lamp shades or other fabrics into your home, you will be able to afford them by going to the remnant box of any good department store that sells fabric. The remnants that you’ll find may be slightly damaged or simply out of fashion. Simply create your own style with these unwanted pieces of material. The MoneyAware website suggests that you can transform your bedroom by simply adding some fabric to your bed’s headboard.

Even if you don’t have the largest budget in the world, as long as you have ingenuity and the energy to shop around, you’ll find that you can create a decor for your home which equals that of the world’s most expensive and sought after interior designers.

This is a collaborative post.