Re-decorating Your Space for Free

You can make your rooms over without spending too much money or can even do it for free...here are some ideas to get you thinking...

For a small price:

• Buy throw pillows to change your couch or bedding appearance
• Paint can change a room dramatically, even if it's only on one wall
• Buy an interesting lamp to add light to a room to bring out a new glow
• Flowers - buy various kinds of grocery store flowers - and put in unique holders to add a changed look of beauty every week to your home
• If you have interesting articles or pictures from magazines that you already recieve but don't want to toss them away, why not buy some inexpensive frames and change up a wall by displaying them as a piece of art work - makes for an interesting conversation piece as well
• Change your dining table immediately by adding seat cushions or a new tablecloth and placemats
• If you have blinds on your windows, why not add some curtains to soften up a room or two

For free:

• Put a decorative shawl or blanket on your sofa or bed to make it look revived (I have a curtain panel on our piano that didn't go so well on the window and it simply looks like a runner rather than a curtain, so there are all kinds of ways to be creative with fabrics)
• Make your own art work, if you are creative, create your own art piece and hang it up
• Take items from other rooms (art work, chairs, etc.)  and place them in a new room to make it look as if you bought new items (you just bought them from your other rooms)
• Rearrange the current furniture in a room; if it seems impossible, just try to angle it differently to add instant dramatic flare
• Take rugs from different areas and put it down at an angle to see how you can easily change the appearance of any room
• Take fruit and place them in interesting canisters or vases to show them off; it's also a way to change up a drab kitchen every week
• Use your current books or photo albums and stack them on top of each other in a corner to add interest to an otherwise dull area 
• Add your children's artwork to a blank wall space (just get some string and clothing pins or put them in frames that you already have)
• Display items that you own that are too pretty to be put away.  Place them in a bowl or other clear container and display them proudly and then change them up whenever you want (jewelry, beautiful cards, pretty soaps, etc.)

Look around your home, I'm sure that you have interesting items that can be placed elsewhere to add immediate sparkle to dull areas and/or rooms.

Have a good week everyone!

Marlin

So Many Vases...What Do I Do With Them?

Over the years I had collected many vases, most from my darling husband who showered me with floral arrangements on a monthly basis, and I had collected so many that it was time to let them go. 

If you have too many of your own collecting dust in your home, here are some ways to re-use or get rid of them safely and efficiently. 

• Send to a local thrift store for re-sale
• Recycle them (although I have heard some say that it was not ok, but my recycling unit took them)
• Buy or gather new flowers and put them in the vase to give to a friend for their birthday or if they are not feeling well
• Try your hand and creativity at faux floral arrangments (you can always give them as gifts later or arrange them around your home)
• Take them to the office, for others to use
• Give them to a local nursing home
  
• Give them to a local community center (for flower making workshops)
  
• Give them to a local hospital
  
• Give them to local event or wedding planners (this is especially handy if you have many of one style)
  
• Give them to your school (art teachers could use them for crafts)
  
• Use them as candy dishes
• Use them to showcase pretty shells or stones
• Use them at your child's next Lemonade stand to make Lemonade
• Use wide shaped vases to hold household items, such as keys, wallets and other odds and ends
• Use them in a craft room for buttons, paper clips, ribbon, scissors, etc.
• Use them as centerpieces for your table (add lemons, pinecones, ornaments, anything eye-catching)
• Use them as utensil holders, if they are tall enough
• Buy a Beta fish and use the vase as an aquarium
• Log on to Freecyle (this site allows you to give away items, in your area, for free), someone else might be in need of a vase(s) for a small wedding or other event

As you see the possibilities are endless. 

Just remember not to get rid of all of them, keeping some vases in various sizes and textures can certainly come in handy.

Marlin