Decorating for the Creative and Cost-Conscious

A recent USA Weekend article offers solutions on sprucing up your home’s décor for next to nothing.

Not everyone needs to hire an interior designer to have a beautiful, stylish home. In fact, there are many easy, cheap decorating ideas you can use right now!

1. Bring clothes out of the closet. You’ve spent a lot buying clothes, shoes and accessories you love, so why not display some of them. Tack up a display of interesting purses, or several of your most unique necklaces. Or, find a fantastic vintage kimono, jacket, dress or other clothing item and hang it on its own on the wall.

2. Get great art for a great price. The Library of Congress sells fine art reproductions at bargain prices online. Visit loc.gov/rr/print/catalog.html and find black-and-white 8-by10-inch photos starting at $25. A one-time processing fee of $14 covers up to 25 prints.

3. Give your kitchen a quick makeover. You may be hankering for a set of new cabinets, but if you’re on a budget, this can break the bank. Instead, you can repaint your old cabinets and add unique new knobs and pulls. Both Liz’s Antique Hardware and Anthropologie (lahardware.com and anthropologie.com) have fantastic hardware.

4. Transform your living room in seconds. And do it as often as you like! If you have natural-colored furniture, you have great flexibility in adding colorful, eye-catching throw pillows. You can buy several sets you like, for different moods or different seasons, and change them often!

5. Get some professional help – for next to nothing. “Interior refiners” differ from interior designers in that they help you maximize what you have for only a few hundred dollars per room, which is a fraction of what a full interior design job costs. You can locate one in your area at interiorrefiners.com.

6. Go Goodwill. We all know how hard it is to find that one fabulous item at a charity shop or vintage store. If you shop at shopgoodwill.com, however, you can find less bidding competition than at eBay, and a better selection of vintage household items, such as linens and housewares.

7. Create a cozy home office. If you work at home a little or a lot, you’ll be grateful for a space you can enjoy. You can turn standard household items into office accessories easily and give your office some quirky charm. Try using a dish drainer for a file holder, or a vintage sideboard for a place for fax machines and printers.

8. Make your own pop art. Pop art never loses its charm, and you can create your own by taking household products with bold labels – think Tide or Campbell’s soup – and putting the labels into pre-matted frames.

9. Give up the dining set idea. Complete dining sets, antique or modern, are usually expensive. Instead, create a funky look by piecing together mismatched pieces that complement each other.

10. Create large, ever-changing art. Indulge your creative side by installing a giant chalkboard and doodling at will. Take a quart of Benjamin Moore chalkboard paint, about $11, tape the perimeter of the area you have in mind, brush on a few coats and allow to dry. Get some multi-colored chalk and let your creativity flow!

11. Improve your magnetism. Maybe your refrigerator door can’t hold anymore notes or mementos, or you just want a unique design idea. You can make any wall magnetic by painting a blank wall with Magically Magnetic Paint Additive, available at lyt.com for about $15. You can mix this with a primer to make any surface magnetic!

12. Use funky frames. A unique frame will make any photograph more interesting, whether it’s your grandmother or your latest trip to Antarctica! Some of these ideas take a piece of Plexiglass, which most retailers will custom-cut for you (look in the Yellow Pages under “Plastics”).

• Etch A Sketch. Pop off the knobs and red frame with a screwdriver, insert your photograph and a piece of Plexiglass and reassemble for an unforgettable frame.

• Action figures. Wouldn’t you love G.I. Joe to hold your favorite photo of your mother? Find a toy with a steady stance and weapon-ready hands, like G.I. Joe or Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, insert your photo and stand it up.

• Napkin dispenser. Use a diner-style napkin dispenser as a photo holder. You can find one at a site like restockit.com for about $5. Place the photo and a piece of Plexiglass where the napkins normally go, and you’re all set!

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