Around Your Home

If you are ready to start on an interior decorating venture but you have a limited budget, there are ways to achieve a special look in a room that only looks expensive. Keep in mind that decorating a room involves more than carrying in furniture, hanging pictures on the walls and adding a lamp or two.

Because you want your room to be attractive as well as functional, you need to take time to plan and learn as much as you can about design and decorating principles. Books, articles, online research and design television programs are all good sources for budget decorating information. Start with these inexpensive home decorating ideas that can be used in any room of your house.

You can save money by mixing and matching colors and textures. For instance, bed linens can be found in individual packages that can be coordinated for a pleasing visual effect. Adding ribbon trim to an inexpensive pillow will give the bed a more luxurious touch. Another way to achieve a coordinated look is to add a fabric trim to the top of plain curtains to tie together the look of the room.

An idea for inexpensive artwork is to scour flea markets, garage sales, and used-book sales for old botanical and insect books, postcards, and advertisements. Use ready-cut mats and discount store frames to create economical artwork to use in any room of your house. Poster art is also an attractive, inexpensive way to add interest and appeal to your rooms.

While shopping for artwork, look for good deals on mismatched chairs that can be used to achieve a relaxed, informal feel or can be used as an accent piece in a more formal room. Look for chairs that vary in size, style and decorative appearance.

By the way, if you are anxious about the idea of painting a whole room, make things easier by adding color to one accent wall. This allows one wall to become the focal point while at the same time saving you time and money on additional paint.