Re-decorating on a budget

With constant wear and tear, our homes may look old fashioned yet decorating even a single room in the house can be costly. However, did you know that you can make your house look brand new without spending a huge amount of money? Here is how to get it done:

Living room
In most homes, the living room is where you spend time together as a family and entertain your friends. Therefore, it needs ample attention when decorating.

Go green
Carolyn Mukasa Nalumu, an interior designer, tips on bringing plants into your living room for colour, freshness and a burst of life.
“Adding green plants to a room always makes it look classy and cool. Buy potted plants and arrange them in well-lit corners. You can also keep your plants in a dark corner and bring there light with a lamp. This will not only make your plants grow but will result in a beautiful arrangement,” she says.
Alternatively, hang the plants on the wall for a unique look.

Change your floor look
Scovia Mbabazi, an interior designer, says changing the floor will make a big difference. Buy carpets and multi-coloured rugs and place them across the living room. This will give your living room floor a new life. You can choose from a wide range of floor coverings depending on your budget and theme of your living room.

Change your upholstery
Nalumu says instead of buying new furniture, get the upholstery changed for a fraction of the price, and your sofas will look new again.
The good thing about this option is that one can do it themselves.
Alternatively, you can shop around for new cushion covers to give your seating space a new look for less cost.

The kitchen
Nalumu recommends the following to achieve a perfect kitchen at minimum cost.

Change the cabinets
If you have high quality wood cabinets, paint them. There are so many paint and glaze combinations you could use.
Be sure to clean the cabinets well and then paint. Allow to dry thoroughly before replacing hardware and doors.
Dining
Consider these tips:

Blend different colours
To Mbabazi, changing the colour scheme of a room is an easy and cheap method of decorating it.
“Choose a colour scheme that is different from the previous one. In order to give your living room a new look, mix and match two or three colours, paint one wall a different colour or use dark colours to highlight certain portions of the room,” she adds.

Make your own art
One of the cheapest methods of decorating a room is by using art work and decorative pieces that you have created yourself.
“Even if you are not very artistic, you can easily put together a collage of pictures, leaves or dry flowers that will look appealing once framed. You can also frame interesting pieces of fabrics or cushion covers to create a tapestry such as a wall hanging,” tips Nalumu.
Bedroom
Add space
Hang mirrors to create an illusion of space.

Buy multipurpose items
Instead of spending a lot of money buying different items, buy multipurpose furniture that will save you both space and money. For example, beds that have drawers where you can keep things such as books allow you to have more space.

Improve your lighting
Play around with different light types from chandeliers to the local types depending on which works for you.
Colour
Chose a colour theme and stick to it to create a sensible trend. Other colours used should complement your theme colour.

TIPs
Declutter
It costs nothing to reassess what your room already looks like. Why not move a few pieces around? Sometimes a fresh approach encourages you to get rid of tired pieces that only clutter up your space. Ask yourself whether you really need everything you see. If not, then sell or give away what is not needed.

Transform a dull window
A roller blind is a great low effort, high impact option. Whether you opt for a subtle floral pattern or statement stripes, it is bound to give your scheme the bargain boost it needs.

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