When you don’t have a huge amount of money to play with each month, it can feel like you aren’t able to accomplish anything. In particular, interior design can often feel completely out of your price range, leaving you to accept your surroundings as they are, even if you don’t like them. However, this simply isn’t the case. The truth is that you can rework huge elements of your home without spending much money at all. Even if you’re living entirely off loans on benefits, you’ll find that there are options open to you. Here are 10 great interior design hacks on a budget.
1. Reuse old furniture
Instead of getting rid of furniture that you no longer use, why not try to find another use for it? For example, let’s say you have an old, worn-down chest of drawers that you no longer use. With a little modification, you could easily repurpose that as a bedside table, or use the drawers themselves as a clever little storage method. Alternatively, if you’re throwing out an old plastic rubbish bin, why not clean it out and use it as a recycling container instead?
2. Try dyeing fabrics
Rather than throwing out old carpets or other fabrics, it’s a good idea to dye them instead. This can give them a whole new lease on life; you’d be amazed at just how different and fresh a carpet can look once you’ve cleaned it out and applied some dye to it. Be sure to pick colours that complement your living space; the last thing you want is to permanently alter a carpet and make it look worse! There are plenty of cheap dyeing methods out there, and they’re usually cheaper than buying a new carpet, too.
3. Create your own art
There’s a creative soul in all of us, or so they say, and what better way to test that theory than by creating your own artwork for your space? It doesn’t have to match the quality of the masters, whatever that means; all it needs to do is communicate who you are and what you’re about at a glance. You can use it as a conversation piece when guests visit your house, too; when they ask about your art, you can say that you painted or drew it, which should (hopefully) impress them!
4. Display photographs
Another easy and cheap way to decorate any space is to display your own photography. Everyone has photographic memories of the places they’ve been and the people they’ve met, so why not display these photos in your home? You can get great digital photo frames for low prices these days, and doing so could also save you on the cost of getting photos printed so you can display them. Show off your family or the wonderful places you’ve been without breaking the bank!
5. Go for a mix-and-match aesthetic
You can often find some truly incredible pieces of furniture in charity shops (or “thrift stores”, if you’re in the USA). However, when you do stumble across the perfect chair or table, you might be worried that it won’t look good with what you’ve already got in your home. Throw those worries away, because a mix-and-match aesthetic can look seriously cool and chic. Of course, you’ll need to carefully cultivate the look, but if you’re smart, you can build your very own style without needing to coordinate.
6. Declutter
While this may not initially sound like an interior design hack, the fact is that you can completely transform a space by decluttering, and it won’t cost you a penny (depending on how you choose to approach the situation, of course). By recycling or upcycling your unwanted appliances and other goods, you’ll massively improve the space available to you in your home, and you might even find something worth keeping while you’re sorting through your things as well!
7. Try swapping with friends or family
If there’s something you really need for your space but you just don’t have it or don’t know where to get it, then why not try asking around your friends and family? You never know where you might find the exact thing you’re looking for, after all. Explain what you want carefully and concisely, because even if a friend or family member doesn’t have exactly what you need, they may be able to create it. By pooling your skills, you’ll be able to create interior design masterpieces!
8. Accessorise
A lot of the hard work of interior design is done simply by adding accessories and accoutrements to your space. Just like with art and photography, you should try to make these accessories personal to you if you can. Pick things that have great personal meaning to you and display them prominently as conversation pieces. This way, you don’t need to buy anything new, and you’re still communicating your personality and unique sense of style.
9. Paint your spaces
Paint is usually not particularly expensive (although it can get a little pricey if you want to apply multiple coats), so if you want a quick and easy interior design tip on a budget, try repainting your spaces. By switching to a different colour scheme, you can totally transform the look and feel of a home, and you don’t even need to buy any costly furniture in order to achieve this change. Make sure to pick something that feels right and is personal to you when it comes to your new colour scheme.
10. Emphasise lighting
Even the most high-end, expensive homes can be totally ruined if people pick the wrong kind of lighting. That’s why it’s important to choose lighting that complements your space and accentuates all of the features of which you’re most proud. A quick and easy tip is this: get dimmer switches. That way, you can always control the level of the lighting and put it exactly where you want it, creating lots of different ambiences for everything from dinner parties to working out.
