How to Decorate your Home for Free

Interior decorating can be a challenge when you’re on a budget. There are plenty of folks who have lost all of their income, if not all their income. Maybe they’re not thinking of decorating their home at the moment. But then again, what else can you do for entertainment if you’re struggling. Maybe a quick home makeover is in order. You can actually do a lot of spiffing up for free.

Here’s a great start for those of you who are thinking"yeah right, for free”? You can begin with a simple furniture rearrangement. Something as simple as rearranging your living room can make a huge difference. I rearrange my kitchen and living room at least every couple of months. Next, take a good look at what you already have to spruce things up. You can begin with your linen closet. Those old sheets that you haven’t used for 3 years can be out to great use. You don’t even need a needle or thread for this one. All you need is a hot glue gun and some glue sticks. I call this “interior decorating Po-mans style”! I have made curtains and even table cloths for my kitchen table. If you cut a straight line and iron out those wrinkles, you can have new window curtains and tablecloths that look fresh out of Better Homes and Gardens, or Martha Stewart-you take your pick.

Have any old baskets sitting around? Baskets can turn a bathroom or a kitchen from looking plain to pizzazz in just minutes. I have a flat basket with a handle in my bathroom with a couple of pretty rolled towels in it. I found some ribbon and toed it to the basket, and it looks lovely in the corner of my bathroom. You can also use baskets to store extra toilet paper rolls. It looks prettier than having them sit out on the counter. My kitchen has tons of baskets for many uses. It helps to keep me organized and it looks nice at the same time.

You can even walk outside and look at what nature has to offer you. When fall comes (depending on where you live) I gather beautiful colored leaves in all shapes and sizes. Leaves make gorgeous decorations and they don’t cost one dime. I scatter them on the dresser in my bedroom around a maple candle and they look more than elegant. I also scatter them around my apple cider candles in the bathroom on the counter. Pine cones are in abundance in the north Georgia Mountains. They too can make a pretty decoration in your home. Here’s my favorite decoration of all. Each year after the crops have been picked I cut down as many cornstalks as I can. I make my own cornstalk decorations, tie with ribbons and hot glue some silk leaves to them. I have them scattered in the front of the house, to the side, and around the back. They make gorgeous fall decorations. If you don’t have the leaves and ribbon sitting around, they still look pretty as naked stalks. If you don’t do any farming I am sure you can ask a local farmer if you can cut down a few stalks. They usually just plow them down anyway. This year I plan to grow my own pumpkins, so I will add them to my corn stalk décor in the fall. And it won’t cost me a dime! I saved the pumpkin seeds from last years pumpkins and I still have corn left over for planting. Now I realize that not everyone lives in the country or can farm their own land, but hey-I’m just writing this to give you ideas!

Here’s my last free decorating idea. Now I know some of you will balk on this one, but hear me out. Americans are known to be wasteful. Why just look at all the great things people throw away! I have found some wonderful things on the side of the road. I found an 800.00 dresser (brand new) on the side of the road one day! I grabbed that as quickly as you could say the word “free”! My X husband worked for the sanitation department. I received a brand new phone, a gorgeous blanket (new), and a chicken roaster which I still use today! When I lived in an apartment complex I went to throw some trash away in the dumpster and noticed a few things sticking out. Someone had thrown away a Calvin Klein suitcase with wheels and a rabbit fur jacket. I took them with a smile on my face! Are we on the same page yet? I have even seen computers and TV’s on the side of the road. Well ok, the computer didn’t work-but guess what? The 32 inch television did! Free, free, free!

And I nearly forgot…need and end table or a couch? You can go to www.freecycle.com and sign up for your area! The idea is to swap something with someone else so it gets recycled instead of thrown away in a dump. I received a newer model computer screen when my old one died. There’s so much you can do to give your home a face lift and you don’t have to spend one dime! Stay tuned for my next article on decorating your home as cheaply as you can shopping at dollar stores!

Until next time~Happy Decorating!