Ideas for Decorating with Art for the Conservative Budget

Home Decorating can be fun, and yet so many people neglect to decorate their home based on claims that it costs too much. Home decorating doesn’t have to become an expensive endeavor. Even if the look you’re after is on the elaborate end of the spectrum, you can create a look that will make you smile both when you look at your home and in your pocketbook. A good idea is to make small changes at a time instead of one huge change. Artwork can make a huge difference in the look of your home and is one decorating idea that you can easily reverse if the look doesn’t work.

What is the first thing you notice when you walk into someone’s home? The walls, right? Walls enclose the home, giving a thematic impression. So, if your walls are empty you’ve got to get to work to populate them. Wall hangings can be expensive, but that’s only if you purchase something by a famous dead artist. You can create your own artwork without any art instruction whatsoever. First, you have to consider your theme. If it’s the bathroom to which you want to add small artwork, you could consider framing sea shells. You would simply arrange the shells creatively onto either a sheet of colored paper or onto fabric.

Do you have hundreds of pictures and just don’t know what to do with them? Keeping with the personalized artwork idea, you could arrange the photos into a huge wall photo collage. Examples include pictures of exotic places, weddings, and children growing up. If there is a teenager in your home, their bedroom is probably home to a huge collection of music CDs. They can create their own wall collage using the cover art from their CDs. Although you will have more fun creating your collage yourself, there are companies that will take care of this for you. The cost ranges from about $50 for an 8×10 to $150 for a 20×24 wall collage.

If your home contains foliage, you might want to consider pressing leaves or flowers and framing your work; the best of these are flat. You basically place the leaves or flowers in a book to allow them to dry flat. They are ready for your wall hanging when they become crisp. This shouldn’t take longer than a week or two. After the items are pressed, you will just need to mount the artwork and hang it on your wall.

When you decorate your home with artwork you are only limited by your imagination. Don’t be afraid to experiment. As mentioned previously, artwork is easily reversible. So, be imaginative and creative and design your artwork.

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Under Bed Storage - Not Just for Dust Bunnies!

Have you looked under the bed lately?

If under your bed you find a dark recess that is home to dust bunnies, old books you forgot to finish, or the lost socks whose existence you gave up on months ago, you are missing out on a wealth of hidden storage!

The average queen size bed can garnish a good 25 to 30 square feet of flat storage. A twin bed still gives you a nice 15 to 20 feet and you could practically park the car under a king bed (although that might make the mattress a bit lumpy!).

WHAT IS THE SPACE GOOD FOR?

Depending on how big the bed is and how close to a wall you have the side of your bed, it may or may not be good for everyday storage.

If the area is not readily accessible consider using it for luggage, out-of-season clothing, old books or magazines and sports equipment. It’s also a great place for large pictures and other items you don’t currently have a home for. Use it for large winter blankets or some extra sets of linens.

It is also a great place for toys or children’s clothes when using storage boxes with wheels that can easily be pulled out from under the bed. Storage bins make it easy and fun to clean up since all items can be chucked into the appropriate bin and quickly wheeled back out of sight.

If your children like puzzles, train sets or building blocks like lego, you might devise a flat platform on wheels so they can push their projects under the bed for the night and pull it out - untouched - to continue playing the next day.

If you need an extra place for overnight guests (especially little ones) perhaps you could purchase or build a trundle bed. A trundle bed slides underneath a regular bed and only needs to be pulled out when in use.

A COMMENT ABOUT PROTECTING YOUR ITEMS

Because dust, humidity (or even bugs) can be a problem in areas under the bed you should try to use sealed storage when possible. Storage bags which allow you to vacuum pack your items makes for a great use of space AND keeps your items dust-free. You might also fill the empty luggage with other items or out-of-season clothing for double duty storage.

Items that are valuable or subject to breakage (which could include pictures if they have frames with glass) should not be stored under the bed in case of accidental breakage. However, it is a grand space of needed storage and you are sure to find many uses for it in your own home.

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