You have already blown your savings on a mortgage for your new home and you are watching every penny you spend. So how can you create the home you want to live in without it costing a fortune? The answer is to shop smart and not to hire others to do the tasks you could quite easily do yourself.
Smart shopping
If you have moved into a new home, the chances are that it already has a neutral color on the walls. You may feel you can live with the color scheme as it is, or you may feel you have to change it immediately to make your home comfortable. If you are in the latter situation, it is best to turn to paint. This is a cheap and quick option to changing your home’s interior. If the color on the walls is dark and you want to make it light, do not plan to layer on several coats of your desired color in order to block it out. Buy a white primer paint to kill the dark color instead. White primer is inexpensive and using it will save you having to buy several tins of the more costly color paint.
Also, do not hire a painter to paint your home. Painting needs no particular skills and is a job that can be done after work and over the weekend. If you work hard, it is possible to complete a paint job on a room in a single day.
If the home you have moved into already has a carpet laid down, but it is looking a little tired, consider having the carpet cleaned by professional cleaners, such as Chem-Dry Ottawa. A professional clean may restore a tired carpet sufficiently so that it does not need replacing immediately, or you may be even luckier and find that you do not need to replace it at all.
When it comes to furnishing your new home, you should always be on the lookout for bargains. If your needs are not immediate, wait until the big stores, such as those that sell sofas or dining room and bedroom furniture, are having a seasonal sale. If you are not overly concerned with buying brand new items, you could consider buying pieces of furniture that have been used as display pieces in the store. Often these have only suffered superficial damage, which may not be all that noticeable or can be easily repaired, and which will be heavily discounted for this reason.
If you already have furniture for your home but want to ring the changes and give your interiors a slightly different look, you can achieve this at relatively little cost by simply adding some accent pieces. These can be different colored and textured scatter cushions for the sofa, a new table runner for the dining table, or new lamp shades for your bedroom lights.
It is surprising how little money need be spent to change the look of your home’s interior and to make you feel as if you have had the whole place redecorated.
5 comments
Yesss! I knew there’d be some decorating on a budget posts coming up when you bought the new house!
We have two DIY Home Reno projects coming up and I’m really hoping we’re able to save some money by doing most of the work ourselves!
Good tips on getting the house redecorated. IT helps knowing that you don’t have to shell out thousands to make minor changes seem bigger.
Erika,
Since you guys are in California I would recommend getting your Kitchen Cabinets or any other home improvement goods from http://www.hdsupplyhis.com/
The prices there are generally ~30% cheaper than Home Depot or Lowes. This store is where the Contractors go….
We are slowly making our home more and more us and also doing so one a budget!
We’re definitely going to be doing some painting in the next few months.
Another tip is to use your own art to decorate! My husband loves taking photos so we print his photos whenever we see a deal online and that way our art is also meaningful. I knit so we have hand knit blankets lying on our sofa and beds.
This summer, I am gonna redecorate my home because my children are at home and can help me with the task. I am gonna paint my house, which they can also do, and change some of the furniture like the sofa set. We’ll do it ourselves and not hire painters or designers, paying them are a bit expensive.