Room renovations can easily be more than what you’re paying in rent or mortgage. The key to keeping your budget in check is not getting carried away by upgrades that won’t enhance the value of your house.
You may be asking ‘how to decorate my room without spending money?” You’re not alone.
Here are five tried and true hacks to help you transform your space.
1. Focus on Floors
Refinishing wood floors is expensive. Replacing them is a small fortune.
There’s a third option that brings just as much of a wow factor as changing the wood flooring in your home. This option is vinyl plank flooring.
It’s inexpensive and can be installed over most types of hard surface flooring. Aside from vinyl flooring, you might also opt for an area rug to hide imperfections on your floor.
Though it’s rare, some people even install area rugs over existing carpet. This is best left to low pile carpet types.
If you install an area rug over a shag carpet, you’ll risk uneven surfaces in your room. There’s nothing worse the constant floor stains because cups won’t stay put.
But any flooring makeover will bring a real transformation to your space. Floors, like walls, are one of the first things you’ll notice when you enter the room.
It takes up a lot of space giving you a chance to make a major design impact without breaking the budget.
2. Go Crazy on Pillows
Your couch won’t know what hit it when you come with a truckload of toss pillows to adorn the seat cushions. Remove the back cushions to allow more space for your newfound color scheme.
Go exotic with textures and finishes to bring a dramatic new design style to your room. Make sure you have ample back support by choosing pillows in a comparable size to your old pillows.
You’ll need at least one large pillow per seat cushion to provide adequate back support. Toss pillows are cheap to install, use and replace making them the ideal choice for changing the color scheme in a room.
When you’re tired of them, simply buy new pillow covers instead of replacing the pillows. One man’s junk is another man’s pillow insert.
3. Rearrange Statement Pieces
The trouble with your room might not be a lack of great accessories, but not having them arranged for maximum visibility. Rearrange your room so that a statement piece is the focal point of the room.
This piece might be vintage or modern or shabby chic. The main reason to choose it as a focal point is to bring you a sense of joy when you look at it.
It’s that piece you want to show off but aren’t sure where to put. Well, now you can make all the rest of the items in the room work to catch up to this piece.
Upgrade your other accessories until they all bow down to your statement piece. There might be some decluttering needed to make this happen effectively.
Don’t be afraid to throw away or repurpose. Anything that takes away from your statement piece is keeping you from your design goals.
Use small accessories in other rooms in the house that might need a little love. If you can’t find room for a piece, recycle it at a thrift store or swap meet.
If you don’t have any statement pieces, try rearranging the furniture for more functionality. Areas that seem cluttered can be broken up to provide more space for walking or morning yoga.
Clear surfaces and floors make the room feel anew. Use what you have to get a better styled environment that feels relaxing when you enter it.
4. Use Repetition
One way to update your home on a budget is to use repetition to make your design more impactful. For example, you might light a bookcase with vintage bottles to create a rustic look.
Or use plaid on pillows, drapes, and accessories to show your affinity for log cabins. The trick is to find a common theme and stick to it.
The human eye is trained to find patterns. When you see the same green repeated throughout your kitchen you’ll find a deeper appreciation for your design style.
This is a cheap idea because it can be done fairly easily with accessories. You won’t need to go out and buy three sofas in order to make a statement.
5. Skip the Holes
It’s not uncommon for renters to be forbidden from putting holes in walls of apartments. The good news is that wall hangings are often overrated.
In recent design trends, propping up a mirror or oversized piece of artwork shows style and sophistication. Prop up your pieces on a mantle or in an unused corner of the living room.
Oversized artwork can be expensive, but there’s nothing stopping you from using mirrors as art. Mirrors are easy to find at the local thrift store and require little maintenance to maintain.
Consider experimenting with the frames on your mirrors to add character to a space.
How to Decorate My Room Without Spending Money?
There are countless tips on how to decorate my room without spending money. In some cases, you’ll spend a little to get the project started, but most dramatic makeovers can be done with what you already have.
The cheapest way to do a complete room transformation is with flooring. Of course, this rule applies to homeowners only since renters usually don’t have the approval for renovations.
For more information and tips, visit our blog for updates.