Without a budget in mind, decorating can quickly get out of hand. Avoid seeing moths fly out of your wallet by using your tax return wisely. If you are a saver looking to redecorate like a spender seeking high-end floorplans and designs, we’ve rounded up some tips to suit your needs.
Decorating Tips for Savers: Copy Cat Affordably
As you flip through home decorating magazines and slideshows of celebrity homes and find something you like, take a mental snapshot or find the exact image. The decorations in these feature spreads and star villas probably cost far more than you expect (think your whole budget spent on a throw pillow). The good news is that you can recreate that exact look, if not something really similar to it, by copying their design! Here is an example of an inspired room design:
Emeril Lagasse’s Living Room / DIY pillow / Wall Art / Black Coffee Table / Tissue Paper Flower Arrangement
Throw Pillows: Make your own gold pillows by personalizing them with your own style, or buy affordable pillows at your local craft store and cover with low-cost gold fabric.
Wall Art: Same applies for the wall art. Large canvas art can quickly add up in cost. Find an old frame or piece of art at your local thrift shop and swap out the art with your favorite gift wrap or piece of DIY’d work. Since Emeril’s room is more gold, white and beige, we’ve provided an image for a white and gold art piece. It’s as simple as buying a less than $10 canvas from your local craft store, and cutting out circles or other shapes of your favorite color or paper and gluing them on. Voila! Art! You can even take a large mirror from a thrift shop or garage sale and slap some paint on it for some extra dimension.
Coffee Tables: Need a black coffee table on the cheap? Go to your local hardware store for a cheap wooden pallet and a can of black spray paint. Screw some coaster legs or some additional wooden block to the bottom for legs and presto! A black coffee table, that’s just a little more rustic than Emeril’s.
Flower Arrangements: Little touches like a white flower arrangement can make a big difference. Although Emeril’s are probably real, you can make an equally beautiful one using fake flowers, again from your local craft store. These flower arrangements were used using tissue paper! Fake it until you make it!
What are your tips for affordable high-end design? Do you have any design hacks?