Decorating On A Shoe String Budget

Firstly I just wanted to say "I love you" to my mom who is in the hospital right now. The doctors have no idea what is wrong with her and she needs a lot of prayer right now. Can I encourage you today to let the people you love know how much you love them? It's never a wrong time to say I love you!

Something I have been thinking a lot about lately.......
photo courtesy of BHG

How to have a beautiful home with little or no budget. Of course I want to tell you to go to my shop http://www.southerncharmhomedecor.com/ and buy something but.... I won't do that today. Today is about a shoe string budget. My home for instance is filled with beautiful things. Some of those things I paid quite a bit of money for and they were well worth it, for instance my 20x20 frames (absolutely gorgeous!) but some of my pretties are all handmade D.I.Y. projects from a shoestring budget. And they all look great together and nobody knows. So please take a look at some of these ideas and go ahead and give them a try, you might just surprise yourself. Do you like the look of gallery wrapped wall decor such as these? Need to fill a wall in a hallway or bathroom or like to change the look of your walls regularly? Try this..

Gift Wrapped
Create artwork to ooh and aah over by covering inexpensive 12-x-12-inch artist canvases with attractive paper patterns. Wrap the canvas like a present with a 1- to 2-inch overhang. Attach the paper to the front with double-stick tape, and secure the excess paper to the frame's back with electrical tape.

I have seen this done with scrap booking paper and fabric and it always look great. Clip you a 40% off coupon for Michaels from your newspaper and head on in to get your supplies. Canvas is pretty inexpensive and you can use your coupon for that. Scrap booking paper has some beautiful patterns and just recently I saw the most beautiful fabrics at a local Wal Mart while on my way to purchase some games for the kiddies. You can wrap the fabric easy too. When you are ready for a new look, tear of the old and start new. The canvas can be reused over and over. This is especially good for the kids rooms as they never like anything for too long.

photo courtesy of BHG

What a pretty look! This room makes me want to stop and enjoy the surroundings. The prints on the wall pictured here are photocopies made from books or calenders. What I have done before is use the frames from old existing prints in my home that I am tired of and purchased a pretty calender with pretty English garden flowers (like pictured here) in muted shades and cut the calender photos down to fit my frames. Or you can take a book or magazine that has prints you like and take them to a local store with a color copier (Kinkos, UPS store etc.) and copy away you some free home decor. Simply cut down your copies and place into existing frames at home or very inexpensive ones can be purchased from the dollar store on up depending on your budget. Have a frame you don't like? Spray paint goes a long way ladies. Like the window treatment but don't have money for new curtains? Take some of your prints and a paint swatch if you have it (I always save mine when I have paint mixed and keep them in a folder) and take a trip to a fabric store and yes even the larger Wal Marts have some great fabrics and hit the clearance bin first. Find you a pretty panel on the cheap and don't even buy a curtain rod. Purchase some upholstery tacks and just tack that bad boy up. I have hot glued my hems many times as I don't sew and you can't even tell. This scene can easily be copied on the cheap.

And don't forget.... white, black and red make great accent colors. A trip to the local thrift store and some spray paint in whatever of those three colors you choose can bring you many many possibilities for new decor additions without much cost.

Now more than ever I believe it is so important to make our homes a haven. A place of security and calm to ease troubled minds. We can do it!!