Room Makeovers On A Budget
When you have a room in need of a facelift, but don't want to break the bank on redecorating, there are simple and inexpensive ways to get the job done.
Author and designer Lisa Quinn visited The Early Show to
In the end, this was how she met her budget:
Lighting: $60
Furniture: $100
Window Treatments: $42
Bedding: $64
Accessories: $237
Total: $503
Here are some of the suggestions Quinn has for creating a new and interesting look:
Bedding
"We were trying to give it a more sophisticated look," said Quinn, so she brought in a chocolate brown quilt from IKEA. "Very inexpensive, makes a huge difference in the room as far as making it more adult feeling," she said. "Then we added some fun pillows," including one she made from a bath mat, to get a special, nubby texture.
Headboard
"You go into a home and see a bed without a headboard and it just looks like a dorm room. It's not very sophisticated at all," said Quinn. "All we did was hang a curtain rod and then got these great pillows," which were actually seat cushions, with ties, such as what might be used on dining room or patio chairs. The cushions come with ties or Velcro, which can be looped around the rod to create a soft headboard.
Artwork
Quinn suggests bringing a favorite photograph to a copy shop to have them enlarge it and add a high contrast. It's up to you to add the color: "What we did to get this look is we have some oil pastels and just colored it like you'd color in a coloring book." She then put it in a sleek IKEA frame, for a modern pop-art look.
Window Treatments
Quinn suggests using shiny plastic shower curtains for a fun, youthful look, or sheets that coordinate with your bedding.
Trash Cans
Dirty laundry has to go somewhere, so Quinn turns that problem into an eye-catching design solution, using shiny metal trash cans instead of the standard hamper. "We're using these for laundry, for colors and for white," she said. "It's just a really a unique, different way. It's not like those ugly wicker hampers you see everywhere. It's an industrial look and it's a lot of fun.
Paint
"If you've got $50 to spend, paint. It's the easiest way to change a room, and very inexpensive. A lot of people get nervous about paint. You go out and see those little chips and then you paint on the wall and you are like, 'It doesn't look anything like what I had.' A really great trick is to buy a few quarts, go to a craft store and get some poster board. Paint the poster board and then just tape that poster board up on the wall. Look at it all day. See how the light hits it. That way if you don't like it, there's no commitment."
To stay within your budget, Quinn suggests shopping at stores such as IKEA, The Container Store, and Urban Outfitters, where you're likely to find reasonable prices.