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Practical Design: Decorating On A Budget
04/14/2009
Decorating On A Budget
As a designer, do you have any advice to readers on decorating their spaces on a budget without having to sacrifice their overall style?
I would tell your readers that they do not have to sacrifice their own personal style when on a budget to decorate their space. How? Here are a few tips I have learned over the years:
Tip
1: Establish your style by finding something that "speaks to you" or "moves you." It can be a piece of unique furniture, a vivid or soft painting, fabulous fabric, or a sentimental object, such as a vase, broach, or scarf. Select anything that makes you feel great and makes you say, " I love it." Then create a color scheme and mood from those items. Play up those feelings and colors in different amounts to create flow and continuity in your living spaces, especially if you have an open floor plan. Thought and planning do not contribute more expense to any space, so take your time and think it through.
Tip 2: If you are doing a bedroom on a budget, start with your bedding first, since custom bedding is very pricey. Build the room around a comforter/ duvet that you love. It is easier to select the correct paint color or wall covering that accents your bedding, then trying to match bedding to walls. If a room requires an area rug, it is always easier to start with a rug in the right size and colors for your personal style compared to inserting one after all furnishings are in place. Be prepared rugs can be pricey, and the right one often takes a great deal of time to find. After selecting and purchasing an area rug that you love, build fabrics to support that color scheme for upholstery and window fashions. After the rest of the furnishings are in place, then it's time for the finishing touch--accessories!
Tip
3: I have found that if you are on a budget, select less expensive furniture then put your style into your accessories. What do I mean by this? I always use this example: If a woman is wearing a simple cotton t-shirt dress, she can change the feeling and style with accessories; she can dress it up with a strand of pearls, bright shimmering bangles, and a pair of dressy sandals. On the other hand, the same dress can be made more casual with a tweed blazer, neck scarf, and simple flats. So on a budget, create who you are with simple furnishings and well-appointed, stylish accessories. For example, a modestly-priced, simple, pine shaker cocktail table can become a WOW with a great orchid, 2 or 3 stacks of books, and an object, such as a wooden horse. This produces a more casual, library-like, atmosphere. Placing some crystal candlesticks, a porcelain bowl, and some fresh roses in a squat, clear vase on that same pine table transforms the mood into shabby chic. That same cocktail table can be dressed 100 different ways and convey 100 styles and moods. Simple furniture pieces combined with interesting, fabulous, and well-chosen accessories create a style and space that is truly your own. So don't skimp on the accessories; they are the finishing touch!
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