Archive for June, 2009

by Iza del Carmen, MomAuthority.com

Do you feel the need to fix up your home – maybe brighten it up a bit or add some spice to it? Or are you just in the designing process of your new home? Accessorizing your home, whether you are upgrading or just starting up, is fun to do. This is where you can put your creativity and imagination to good use.

You might think, though, that buying all those nice-looking home decors might be a rip off. But there’s no need to worry! You can definitely make your home look elegant and classy without spending too much money.

When you decorate and accessorize your home, you must consider some of the basics so your finished product won’t look like a mess. The accessories that you have in mind should match the color and theme of the room where they will be placed. The colors and design should compliment the room and not look like it’s out of place.

Here are some tips to help you in accessorizing your home if you are on a budget.

1. If you want to revitalize your living room, you can just add throw pillows to your old couch to take the emphasis off of it. A combination of throw pillows of different sizes and shapes can be a good and inexpensive alternative to having your sofa upholstered.

2. If you are into rugs, new ones can be expensive. An alternative to that is to check out garage sales or shops that sell pieces of older pretty rugs. You can cut them into different shapes and sizes and scatter them around the house to emphasis specific areas. This can also be a good cover-up for hard-to-remove stains on the floor.

3. Lighting fixtures are important additions when you are accessorizing your home. It gives the ambience that you want and creates a dramatic effect when positioned correctly. If you don’t have enough to spend on expensive lighting, you can buy the inexpensive ones and place them behind a plant or at the back of the couch. It gives a romantic effect to your bedroom or living room.

4. Scented candles are popular nowadays and you can get them for only a few dollars. You can even place them anywhere like your living room, bedroom, bathroom, dining table, and kitchen area. Adding them to your room adds a romantic effect and warmth, not to mention the sweet aroma that it spreads throughout the house.

5. Plants are another option for an inexpensive home accessory. You can add flowers, orchids and other indoor plants to add color to your room. These plants also make good conversational pieces for your guests. You can find one for about $20. Not bad, huh!

6. An accessory that never fails to impress is a picture. You can hang framed photos or those of your loved ones on the wall or have them lined up atop a shelf. You only need to buy the frames for the photos which can be inexpensive yet look elegant and sturdy.

7. Curtains can add drama to your windows. If needlework is your thing, you can just buy elegant inexpensive fabrics from flea markets and make curtains on your own. Doing this will give you control on how you want your curtains to look. If you think you’re not up to that, you can buy ready-made curtains from flea markets, craft stores or home accessory stores. Just make sure that you have measured your windows before buying to make sure they will fit.

8. Remove all the clutter and unnecessary pieces you find in your home. If you want to redesign your home and add new accessories, make sure to get rid of the old accessories that don’t match the theme that you want. Just keep a few base pieces and throw the others or recycle them for a different purpose. Keeping your place simple will brighten the ambience and lighten the mood of your home.

There are different ways for you to accessorize your home without spending too much money. You just need to think out-of-the-box to discover new ways of making your home look more cozy. Use your creativity and imagination in decorating each corner of your home.

If you have the eyes and hands of an artist, you can even make the accessories yourself using recycled materials. Now that’s a real budget-friendly idea! There are several ways to make budget decorating possible, you just need to explore!

by Iza del Carmen, MomAuthority.com

Your day starts with a morning ritual of drinking coffee on your porch, when suddenly, the truth struck you hard. Your porch needs a little makeover or else you will be trapped rummaging through those piles of bricks that have already fallen or cracked due to wear and tear.

This is just one of the many problems that homeowners are facing nowadays. That is why home improvements are one of the many feasible means of modifying a home without having to buy a new one.

However, if you don’t consider the right factors in order to come up with a low cost home improvement plan, you might as well buy a new house than spend all of your money improving many things, which may cost you more.

Low cost home improvements are easy to achieve and are definitely practical especially these days where everything is increasing and getting a loan is not next to impossible.

For people who wish to have their home remodeled, improved, or renovated but without any budget to do so, here are some tips that you can use to save more money:

1. Start with the porch

Keep in mind that the porch is the first part of the house that your visitors would most likely see first. Hence, it would be better to start improving the total outlook of your porch.

If it has minor cracks and you think that it can still hold itself together for quite some time until you get a good budget to work on it, you can temporarily opt for some ornamental plants that would hide the flaws. Just keep in mind to use colors that will complement the whole area as well as the house as well as the existing landscape.

2. Use pastel colors in painting

If you have a small place and you are wanting to expand it to create a roomy atmosphere, why don’t you try using lighter shades of paints and re-paint the whole house. Lighter colors could definitely add volume to your home, thus, creating an expanded look.

In this way, you don’t have to instantly spend more money just for the extensions.

3. Be creative

There are so many things inside the home that you can use in a thousand and one ways. All you have to do is to be creative.

The bottom line is that the secret for low cost home improvement is to look at things in a different way. Re-use them and create new things out of them. Improving at its best without spending more.