Saturday, March 19, 2011

How to Decorate with No Time and No Money #2


I know all of you reading this have stacks of magazines. You've probably ripped out pages or folded corners marking your favorite rooms. This is a great idea and a terrible idea. The down side is that since you have no time and no money, you won't be able to put together that exact room. You also probably don't have professional camera lighting in your house every day. So, how do you make your house look like those pictures without any money? Start to notice the details of the room, instead of looking at the big picture. What materials did they use? What colors? What textures? Do you have a picture of a beautiful table from Pottery Barn with pinecones and hurricane lamps? You can do something very similar without spending any money - I'm sure you have something that is glass in your house. Don't be afraid to use items to decorate merely for their color or texture. Be creative. If you need something shiny on your table, what about your juice glasses with a votive in them? If you need something bright in the bathroom, what about taking a couple minutes to cover the tissue box in bright wrapping paper? If you need some texture or height in your living room, why not bring in some branches from your back yard? If you see furniture that you love, take note of the fabric. Could you find a cheaper neutral piece of furniture and make a throw pillow out of the expensive fabric? Do you see where I am going with this? Start circling elements and details in those pictures that you like so much and try to find something of that same material that you already have. Just because it is wrapping paper, doesn't mean it has to stay in the wrapping paper box.

1 comment:

Hope said...

I wanted to click "like" on this post....I've recently started to try and train my eye to do this very thing. I've also been attempting to steer myself more into neutrals simply because it FORCES me to notice texture, shape, and dimension more. Thanks, Lindsey!