Flipping through interior design magazines and watching the Home and Gardens channel it can seem daunting to decorate your house or apartment in an attractive way. Most of the rooms represented are done up in ways that would break the average person's budget. However, just because these beautiful interiors are achieved the hard, expensive way, doesn't mean that there aren't equally aesthetically pleasing decors that can be achieved easily and at a fraction of the price. Listed here are a few examples of ways you can create beautifully decorated rooms with ease and a less strained wallet.
1) Rummage Sales and Antique Shops
Rummage sales and antique shops are great places to find vintage items that will enliven your space as well as add infinite amounts of character. Often these items are at very reasonable costs, but that isn't always necessarily true. When you buy items from retail chains or offline there is the possibility of your decorations becoming conventional, whereas items picked up from garage sales and antique shops will often resurrect bygone eras (even some as recent as the 80's) and add a unique flavor to your decor.
2) Hang Plates
In lieu of hanging art on the walls, a really novel idea that can spice up your space as well as throw up some eclectic flare is hanging plates on the walls. Dinner plates can oftentimes be rather dull utilitarian objects, but there are a lot of plates sold inexpensively that have very colorful, artistic designs fired onto them or even worked into their ceramic design. Though meant for eating off of, plates can be objets d'art and make a bold statement when displayed as such.
3) House Plants
House plants are one of the most practical pieces of decoration you can get for your house. They are usually quite inexpensive, and offer lush greenery or colorful flowers, as well as improve the air quality in your home. Plus they can also be used to elicit a certain theme. Cactuses can be used to enhance a southwestern theme in one room, or potted bamboo can be used to help convey pan-asian themes in another. Plants offer so much possibility at a very inexpensive cost.
4) Hang Utensils
Another decoration tactic that is literally free and helps keep your space organized is hanging utensils. One of the best examples of this practice is hanging pots and pans from ceiling mounts in the kitchen. This frees up space, as well as adding a professional culinary flair to your kitchen. This strategy can be done also in art studios and any other public room where work is usually done to much the same effect.
5) Do Your Own Thing.
The best way to decorate your space is also the most universal and openly interpreted one of all: make art! Whether it is framing a meaningful document and hanging it up, doing a sketch or painting and framing that, painting a mural on a wall, showcasing a clay sculpture, the possibilities are endless. As mentioned in the first tip above, having a unique item or showpiece can be very important in your decor. While vintage pieces can achieve that for you, using your own artistic skill guarantees you a one-of-a-kind presentation that is unique unto your space. It also, more intimately, links you with your living space in a an essential way.
Using these five tips ensures that you will be able to make your home comfortable, attractive, and a statement of who you are, while at the same time allowing you to conserve your money for other endeavors.