Whether you’ve simply grown bored of your existing interiors or are moving into a new space, we can all agree that making a home over from the ground up can be quite the costly endeavor. The expenses add up especially if you want a room to be done up a certain way—before you know it, you’ve blown a hole through your savings from redoing the walls, updating the fixtures, and buying new or second hand furniture and tchotchkes.
Don’t despair, though! With a bit of resourcefulness and ingenuity, it’s completely possible to transform even the most outdated and drab-looking living spaces without breaking the bank. Learn how to decorate—or redecorate—on a budget with our tips below.
Give Your Interiors a Fresh Coat of Paint
Painting is one of the easiest—and least expensive—ways to breathe new life into a room. You can learn how to do it yourself, eliminating the cost of having to hire the job out to someone else. All you’ll need is a bit of time to get the job done and the equipment to get started.
Before putting your paintbrush to the nearest wall, though, it’s a good idea to come up with a plan. Envision how you’d like the room to look. Remember, you aren’t limited to painting all four walls in the same color! You can choose one wall to be an accent wall, or paint the trim or molding in a contrasting shade. This is also a good time to decide whether or not the ceiling needs a fresh coat of paint, too. Once you’ve prepped the room and got your paint roller ready, work from the top of the room downwards. Only tackle one wall at a time and use long strokes for better coverage.
Make the Most of Your Existing Pieces
It might not seem obvious at first, but you’d be surprised at what a difference simply rearranging your furniture can make. You can try moving some things around first or relocating them to another room entirely. If you can’t find a way to arrange them more comfortably, you don’t have to immediately head out to the store for new pieces. You can try “shopping your house”—taking inventory of every piece of furniture that you already own and swapping items around until things look just right.
Declutter, Declutter, Declutter
Sometimes you can instantly freshen up a room just by cleaning it up a little. Decluttering the room you want to update can open up the space and give you a brand-new perspective on it.
Thoroughly and thoughtfully declutter your spaces by employing Marie Kondo’s Konmari method, which encourages tidying by category instead of location. Kondo begins with clothes before moving on to books, papers, miscellaneous items, and finally to sentimental items, in that specific order. Keep only things that speak to the heart or, in the expert’s own words, “spark joy,” and discard the items that do not. You can sell what you end up discarding on websites like Carousell or Facebook Marketplace for a little extra income that you can then re-invest into your decorating efforts.
Re-organize!
After decluttering, you’ll find yourself with more space to display the things that you love and hold most dear. A great way to keep the place neat and clean is by buying inexpensive products that can help you stay organized, such as attractive baskets for toys and miscellaneous items or minimalist shelves for books and other mementoes. If you’re handy, you can even learn how to make your own desk, hanging shelves, or closet doors with a handful of supplies from your local hardware store.
Take Advantage of Discounts and Deals
Despite your best efforts, sometimes there’s no getting around the fact that you’ll need to purchase a big-ticket item to replace furniture that’s already worn down, like your couch or bed. In this case, you can still save a lot of money by keeping an eye out for discounts, deals, and sales at your favorite retail stores. An easy way to know when the next sale is going to be is by signing up to their newsletter or subscribing to their social media accounts. You can also take advantage of deals and rewards offered by your credit card or virtual wallets like Maya. Maya sometimes offers 100% cashback when you #ScantoPay at a participating Maya partner merchant or purchase something online. Another way to save money when purchasing new furniture is to pay for it in full with cash. Many furniture retailers offer a significant discount when you make a straight cash payment instead of going with an installment plan or charging it to your card.
Our final tip for saving money when buying furniture involves purchasing it secondhand from surplus stores or flea markets. At these places, you can find excellent quality pieces that usually only need a bit of love to look brand new again.
By combining the tips we’ve listed, you can redecorate any room even on a shoestring budget. All you need is a bit of sense, creativity, and the willingness to put in some effort.
