5 Inexpensive Ways to Update and Decorate Your Home

by Katie @ Little House of Four

You probably know by now that I am fairly cheap when it comes to a lot of things, especially decorating my home. Don't get me wrong, we've spent large amounts of money to make major improvements to our home, but that has always been after a period of living frugally and saving like crazy to be able to pay for those improvements in cash. Trust me, things don't happen quick around our little house and if I have any chance of expanding our kitchen I need to cut costs and watch every penny.
Loving to shop and watching what you spend can make things a little challenging when trying to decorate your home. In the 8 years that we've lived in our house, I've definitely had to find creative ways to stretch our money to make our house reflect our style.

5 inexpensive ways to update and decorate your home, bedroom ideas, home decor, wall decor

1. Gallery Walls

Gallery walls are a great way to fill an empty wall, share memories of your family and bring style to your home. They can get expensive if you're buying new frames and art, but there are many other ways to create gallery walls without spending a fortune.

For both my daughter's gallery wall and the basement gallery wall I used free printables, Goodwill frames, my kids artwork and a few DIY arrows and signs. It was a super inexpensive way to share memories of our family and bring color to the rooms.

2. Don't Buy New

Most of our furniture in our home has either been bought at second hand stores or has been handed down from family members. We did buy a new bedroom set for my daughter, but our bedroom furniture as well as my son's are all hand me downs.

If you can't find items for free, second hand and vintage shops are always a good place to hunt for furniture and unique home decor pieces. The blue vintage server in our dining room was purchased on sale from a local vintage market. I love that it's unique, didn't cost a fortune and I was able to support a local shop.

3. Add Interest to Your Walls

It's amazing how much a little wood or paint can completely transform the look of a room. Spending a minimal amount of money on paint or wood instantly makes your room feel more expensive without actually being expensive.

4. Think Outside the Box

If you're going to save money on your home, you have to think outside the box. More than likely second hand shops and clearance aisles aren't going to have exactly what you're looking for. They might be the wrong color, size, shape or even damaged, but that doesn't mean you have to pass them up. If you keep an open mind you can completely transform just about anything.

5. Be Patient

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I am not a patient person. This tends to be a problem when it comes to decorating and remodeling our home. When an idea pops into my head I run with it and want it done right away. Thank goodness I have a frugal side that holds me back from rushing into projects and spending more money than I need to. I've learned over the years to be patient and wait for sales or a cheaper version to come along.

I fell in love with a West Elm console table, but at a price tag of nearly $1100 that table was well over what I would spend on a piece of furniture. Instead, I waited and searched for a similar item that I could alter to resemble the West Elm table, spending only a fraction of the price.

For more frugal decorating ideas and pictures, head on over to my blog.

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4 of 6 comments

B. Enne on May 05, 2015
I like that table! I'll be checking your blog next. Thanks :) UPDATE: I like your table better!

1 Reply
- Katie @ Little House of Four on May 05, 2015
  @B. Enne Thanks SO MUCH! I'm really happy with how it turned out.
  
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Gail Salminen on May 05, 2015
@Katie @ Little House of Four very sage advise. I love your furniture and ideas and have used some of those ideas before. Your tip on patience is also very important. Usually takes me a couple of years to decorate a room - put in the basics and fill in with free, used and extremely low priced sale items - a lot of time don't use the piece as intended LOL. Thanks for sharing.

1 Reply
- Katie @ Little House of Four on May 05, 2015
  @Gail Salminen I know what you mean, it takes me awhile to decorate a room too! It doesn't help that I change my mind every other day :)
  
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