The festive season gives us many reasons to cheer, to celebrate with friends and family. With shopping and feasting and gifting for the family, there’s also a drain on the finances. Homeowners often settle for less when it comes to their homes, keeping all the expenditure for later. But, one can still spend less yet decorate more with a few clever hacks. If you’ve always wanted to decorate your home during festivals yet held yourself back for the amount of money you will spend, below are small yet festive home decor ideas that can transform your home for very less.
1. Plan The Budget You Have To Spend on Festival
Changing the decor of a home during festivities is something all of us look forward to. The budget for this is however never defined. The first thing to do is to set a boundary for your wallet and home. Having one makes it possible to visualise what are your immediate needs and what can be done later.
Buying 2-3 main decor pieces or furnishings and making do with second hand smaller pieces for the decor or handcrafted ones, ensures your budget is in place and not overshot.
2. Use Free Resources You Can Find
Decor ideas can be found everywhere, in magazines, on TV, Youtube and even programs, and there are plenty of ways to get inspired. Understand what your taste is, and then browse material to learn or replicate what you see. Flower vases made of clay or papier-mache look attractive and can be made at home. Using broken tree trunks and twigs as decor bring the outdoors inside the home. Even placing a rustic ladder in the living room, or a bookcase made of recycled or waste MDF boards can dramatically transform the home.
3. Begin The Decor At The Doorway
People come to the home and form an impression as they walk through your doorway. This is where you can start putting together your ideas. Your sense of style must be evident in the foyer, with a large mirror, decorative baskets or wall accessories. This doesn’t need much expenditure but can brighten up the space for festivities throughout the season. Save money by using natural or recycled vases for a unique look.
4. Optimise Your Current Furniture
Furniture can look old and dated over a period of time, but there’s only so much that you can do for it. For existing ones, re-upholstering gives them a new look. A layer of polish, some touchups for damages, slipcovers over existing seating, a fresh coat of paint and mirror frames can transform even the oldest and most antique of pieces.
5. Give Walls A Makeover
If painting home and especially the walls aren’t possible every time, one way of ensuring affordability and still newness is by painting or tiling a single wall in a bold dark colour. Complementing or contrasting an accent wall is affordable yet transforms the look of the space. If you need help with colour choices, reach out to HomeLane and we can suggest or you can look up warm and cold colour tones online.
6. Use Accessories Liberally Throughout The Home
Accessories aren’t just useful to spruce up decor but have a very specific purpose in some instances. Adding throw blankets, pillows and rugs to the decor change the look completely. New palette colours, mix and match of prints make the mundane look exotic. These accessories don’t cost much too.
7. Use Accent Lighting In Strategic Places
Wall lights, sconces, hidden lighting fixtures add drama and intrigue to boring rooms and especially hallways. Accent lighting works well on the artwork, focal lighting on couches or in corners gives people something to focus on. House plants and accessories in your home can do well with such lighting.
8. Accessorize Bedrooms & Bathrooms
A majority of us leave bedrooms and bathrooms undecorated and believe that the basics are enough. These places are actually where we de-stress and relax the most and therefore can do with some kind of decor that won’t cost the earth. Bedside curtains, towels, shower curtains, hanging racks and bath mats are often inexpensive and add colour and interest to space.
9. Buy Products That Make The Most Impact
Since buying is something we all love doing, rather than ignoring it completely it is important to splurge on big impact pieces. Furniture sets, a full-length mirror, a great looking chandelier elevate the look of a home, making it look as good as new.
10. DIY As Much As Possible
Do it yourself projects are ‘in’ and it is today considered a matter of pride to decorate and craft for your home. There are plenty of online tutorials to craft different kinds of furniture and accessories and you can add your uniqueness to everything you create. To add to it, DIY saves you money.
11. Stop “Spur Of The Moment” Buying
Most of us buy things that are never quite needed for the home. Decor items get bought and stored away or languish for want of a place to keep them. Instead of spending on such items, plan what you want and make a list to refer to whenever you go shopping. Furniture and large pieces need to be of great quality to last longer, rather than those needing frequent replacement. Compare prices, shop online when required, raid department clearance sales whenever possible.
12. Use Multi-purpose Furniture Wherever Possible
It is difficult to get rid of existing furniture but if you have the option, but buy something that can have several uses. Folded table tops, ottomans with removable lids, sofas that double up as storage spaces are multipurpose furniture help reduce the stuff that otherwise lies around unused. These also make the space look neat and cleaner.
13. Re-Do Children’s Rooms Without Spending
It may seem impossible, but children’s rooms can be decorated for less. Rather than putting together costly wall paints, try using chalkboard paint and allowing them to draw whatever they like. Paint animals and other pictures yourself. Stitch drapery and furnishings at home, since they will inevitably get messy and need to be changed frequently.
14. Opt For Laminates
Laminate wood flooring and laminate kitchen shutters not just look unique but cost less compared to real wood. Laminate shutters are available in a wide variety of looks and materials to make your choice easy and very affordable.
15. Prioritize Wants Over Needs
Home decor is often put together haphazardly. It is not too difficult to replicate the decor you see in magazines and book. What matters is how you put it together and what do you really ‘want’ as opposed to what you ‘need’. First, understand what rooms will be used frequently and which need an immediate makeover. If kitchens and dining areas are where the family will be spending time, work on these rooms first.
2 Comments
Loved how furniture are made so easily with perfect creativity.
How to design a room with old furniture available by renovating them?