After hiring an underemployed friend to paint my bedroom last summer I began, finally, to put art up on the walls. Probably my favorite piece is a cheap frame I bought on sale at Fred Meyer and filled with art postcards. Total cost was around $12.
But then there was this big blank space over my bed that I couldn't figure out how to fill. A mirror? A big art piece? A headboard? I couldn't decide, so it stayed blank for many months. Then one night I was laying in bed, looking at the blank wall and thinking about how I had no money for a headboard. I remembered that my friend Brad used two old doors for a headboard, so I started to riffle through my mind's files for things I already owned that might create a headboard-like effect. Suddenly it hit me: I had an extra curtain rod and a pair of curtains my mom had given me when I first moved in. Perfect!
It looks quite nice, if I do say so myself, though perhaps it leans a bit on the bordello side of decor. And because it's fabric, it has the added advantage of muffling *ahem* "bedroom noises."
Speaking of blank walls, there was one in my living room too, until I found an enormous (4'x5') painting of a zebra head out by the dumpsters. Amazing what people throw away.
Another time I found a 2'x3' gold-painted picture frame with the glass intact out by the dumpster. Snatched it up and used it to frame some mementos from Paris, so now I have a free piece of art that is also highly personal and sentimental.
It turns out I've managed to do quite a lot of decorating using items I found by the dumpster, filched from my relatives, or already had lying around. I've been challenging myself to open my eyes, look around, and think creatively about what I already own so I can re-purpose what I'm not using into something I actually will use.
What are your cheap decorating tricks? What do you have lying around unused that you could turn into something both functional and aesthetically pleasing?
My good friend Mead hung an old window in her kitchen on the wall. The walls were green and the window had old peeling white paint and four panes. It was really neat.
ReplyDeleteI have a shower curtain that has the image of bright green grass all over it. I once hung it up instead of painting an "accent wall."
Recently I found a product that instantly creates a patina effect on metal. So I took this ugly shiny metal frame and as soon as it looked old and patinaed (sp?) it was really pretty. Then I framed a pretty picture of my mom in it. It might be my favorite part of the living room right now.
My other favorite way to decorate on the cheap, as you say, is to trade art with my friends and make my own work to hang. It pays off having creative friends. Hee hee.
Thanks for asking!
Great ideas, Spellmonster! I too have seen old windows used as decoration and love it. The shower curtain idea is new to me...can totally see the potential.
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