Affordable Decorating Ideas

Here are some clever decorating ideas to freshen up your beach house
without blowing the budget!

1. Give it a lick paint.

Breathe new life into a tired or unwanted piece of furniture by giving it a lick

of paint in white or a splash of colour.

2. Give an outdated lamp a top-down makeover. 

A stylish white drum shade can modernise any old lamp base.

3. The $2 secret to beautifully stocked bookshelves: 

Scour thrift stores, garage sales and op shops for hardbacks

for a fraction of the cost of a new book

then arrange them by color for extra pizzazz.

4. Empty frames offer endless potential. 

It's easy to score these castoffs at junk shops for next to nothing.

 A coat of paint and an interesting display and suddenly they become a showpiece!

5. Group dime-a-dozen accessories for major impact. 

A single item won't have much 'wow factor' 

but a whole collection of similar ones makes a big statement.

6. Shop vintage and second hand. 
Think outside the square and hunt around for vintage pieces, antique bargains and second hand dealers for pre-loved furniture with character than can be
painted, refinished, reupholstered and re-vamped!

7. Art doesn't have to cost a fortune. 

Buy cheap posters from Ikea and frame them up stylishly in white box frames or recycled frames. One step better, make your own artwork - I make shell collages for a fraction of the cost of what I can buy them for.

 

8. The frugal fix for homely floors? Paint. 

Getting in a professional or even sanding and polishing floorboards on your own is an expensive exercise. As a cheaper alternative, simply clean floors then apply a few coats of a self-priming, cheap white floor paint ... and volia!

9. Expand your seating options.

Even affordable dining-room chairs become exorbitant, once you calculate how many you need to surround a table. Use mis-matched furniture and paint them in 'beachy' colours.

10. Feel free to scrimp on shelving. 

Bookcases can cost lots of money - 

think outside the square for clever innovative shelving ideas.

11. Why pay a premium for matchy-matchy pieces?

When pairs of lamps, chairs, and side tables get separated,

their prices usually plummet. 

Shop at sale time for the best bargains.

12. Keep it local when deal-hunting online.  

Finding a $20 chair on eBay seems like a coup 

— until you factor in the cost of shipping it cross-country. 

So search for bargains locally.

Melissah xox

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