Are you living in a house that seems to be getting smaller as your family is getting larger? Need more room but moving is not an option? Do you have a basement or an attic that is under used or not used at all? If your space is finished but not appealing you can make it comfy and cozy for your family for a song. I love looking at Ethan Allen, Design Within Reach, and Pottery Barn as much as anyone else and how I would love to be able to afford a room from one of those places but it is not in the budget. If you’re anything like me, paint, fabric, a few accessories and a whole lot of creativity is in order.

     I have always had other people’s hand-me-downs. I have bought good pieces from eBay, garage and estate sales. I have a few good things from Goodwill. I have bought a few new pieces from an unfinished wood store and from Ikea. But my favorite pieces have come from consignment shops. True all of the pieces I have brought home (except those from Ikea) have needed a little tweaking but then again I’m a little crazy when it comes to decorating and I like things just so.

     As far as accessorizing your room, this can be cheap and easy (my two favorite things).  You can make your own custom drapes by cutting around the edges with pinking shears (to stop frayed edges) and hang them up with drapery clips.  You can buy pillow forms very cheaply from Walmart and customize them with fabric paint.  You could stencil on your initials or numbers.  You could free hand flowers or stamp circles with a glass.  You could shop your own home for accessories.  Most rooms could stand a little editing.  You could frame your kids’ homework or artwork and put on the walls.  One of my favorite ways to find accessories is to shop relatives’ basements or attics for family treasures. 

     If your furniture is in good shape but needs a little pizazz, you could drape it with a quilt from your linen closet or you could do what I did and buy a cotton drop cloth and drape it over your couch (Pictured above.  Please don’t mind my empty frames.  I’m going to have mirrors cut for them after Christmas.  I am hoping to get a new white  lamp to replace the little brown one for Christmas). If everything looks good but the room seems to be still lacking, perk it up with paint.  Paint is the quickest and easiest way to get the most bang for your buck.  You can introduce color, pattern, and texture (but please not all at the same time).  You can click on the paint category for tips on painting circles, stripes and squares.  Love wallpaper but not the price?  Stencil your favorite pattern on your walls.  Besides a reasonable price-tag, stencils win out over wallpaper in my book because you can paint right over it when you want a change and you can get the EXACT colors you want.  You can also click on Paint for stencils ideas.  Lastly, if it all seems like too much work, throw a good old fashioned Paint Party.  I know, just because you call it a party doesn’t mean it’s not a lot of work but it does make it fun. 

     You really can change a room that nobody wants to be in to a room where the whole family loves on the cheap.  When you boil it all down it comes to this, the stores I mentioned above want your money.  You don’t have to feel bad because you aren’t handing your paycheck over to them.