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Makeover your home for less
By Meg | January 16, 2008
If you’re looking for ways to update your home without spending a lot of money, then check out Frugal ways to update your home by Fabulously Broke in the City. My husband and I are updating our home, and are doing it in many of those ways. Our ultimate goal is a modern, rather minimalist look that is slightly Asian inspired — dare I say, “zen”.
So, here are some other ideas.
Do more with less
Whatever style you want to achieve, the number one tip that I would recommend is to declutter. Now, Fabulously Broke certainly mentioned this, but I’d like to stress that it’s not just about being organized. In a decluttered space, it really only takes a few pieces here and there to give a room a completely new theme. The problem is that it’s really easy to get too many competing themes and then all you have is clutter. This past weekend, we decluttered the kitchen completely and started working on the living room and it’s made a huge difference already.
And remember, you want to go for the essence of a style. Reuse items you already have that fit into a style and, at least for the most part, stay away from overtly themed items because they’ll be harder to reuse when you change styles again (and can look pretty cheesy anyway). For example, in the kitchen my husband and I have used a couple bookcases to display our new storage containers, his Japanese tetsubin teapot with cups, a jar of chopsticks, some square white fruit bowls, and bamboo steamers that we no longer use. We’re also planning to buy some new hand towels and a new floor mat, probably all in dark purple.
Coordinate your photos and frames
Another way to update your home for cheap: coordinating picture frames. Picture frames can be super cheap if you buy them at discount stores. Just putting all your pictures in matching or coordinating frames can really help. Thin black frames can be particularly modern and clean looking, as can frames in a dark wood.
Also, using black and white photos can be really classy. Sometimes, all you need to do is make a black and white copy of photos you already have, or print some from online. Right now, all our photos are being stashed away until we can decide which ones we want to feature and where.
Leave display space on bookcases
Finally, if you’re like us and have lots of bookcases, don’t fill them completely. I’ve started leaving whole shelves empty to display items and the look is so much nicer than when we just stuffed the shelves. On some of the bookcases, I’ve used plain bookends to create a column of empty space in the middle of the shelves, leaving enough room to display a single item on each shelf between the books. Looking back, it seems so easy, but I had never thought to do this until recently!
Tags: Home & Garden, Organization & Decluttering, Saving Money
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January 16th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Ahh.. feel that link love :)
I esp’ like your last tip about leaving space on shelves. I find people don’t do that often enough and cram as much as possible into the cubby holes or shelves.
The other thing is to also stack your books differently so it gives a visual interest without looking too bookish
January 16th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Thanks, FB! It’s been really tough for me to pass along books because I’m such a book lover. I have to remind myself that someone else will enjoy the books that I’m not reading and that I have access to lots of stuff online and at the local libraries. It’s getting easier with practice, in part because I’m trimming my to-do list when I admit that I’m never going to read this or that book.
Last night I tackled some more shelves. We have 8 large bookcases and two small ones in our living/dining area alone. A few months ago they were all packed. Now, I’ve cleared 5 or 6 large shelves and one of the small bookcases.
Now I have room to display things. I’m getting really creative with which shelves I leave completely open and how many books I leave on the others.
I still plan on cutting back on the books some more. Having so many books can make it hard to decorate, hard to move, and hard to find specific books.
January 17th, 2008 at 6:54 am
I am doing the EXACT same thing! :P
Making a huge box of books that I read a couple of times but can let go that are in very good condition (going to trade them in for a credit at a local used store)
And another box to just donate to the library/whatever to get a tax receipt
January 17th, 2008 at 11:23 am
Mostly I donate mine to the library. We put them in the outside bin, so there’s no tax receipt unless we get there in time to ask someone. If we do it at Goodwill, we can get one. I like donating to the library system, though, since I do use the libraries here and it’s a way that I can give back (the other way is at their twice annual book sales where I usually spend about $50 on as many books as I can carry without falling over).
For awhile I was selling them on Amazon. I did make some money, but it wasn’t worth the time and gas to drive to the post office to ship one book at a time. And I still have a pile of books that I had listed. The listing has since expired and I’m trying to figure out which ones, if any, I want to relist.
Maybe I’ll take some to one of our book stores to see about getting a credit. On the other hand, I don’t need an excuse to buy more books ; )
January 17th, 2008 at 11:58 am
I just loved your blog! Now if we could just get your Mom to read it and practice a few of your tips about making due with less!!!!!!
January 17th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Glad you like Aunt Bev!
But give her more credit! I’ve learned a lot about stretching dollars from her, even if our home decor styles are different.
Plus, things have definitely gotten a lot less cluttered over the past few years (hmmmm.. especially since you moved in, now that I think about it). Right now I bet y’all’s place looks less cluttered than ours. Of course, at the moment we have three people in less than half the space.
January 17th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
Thank you my baby cakes for sticking up for me. Aunt Bev would give away the clothes on my back if I wasn’t careful. And I really appreciate the fact that maybe you did pick up one or two tips about stretching the dollars while I was trying to raise you. I still use the ole water with lemon trick Grandma taught me (lemonaide). Thanks Mama.