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Big Decorating Ideas for Small
Rooms on a Tight Budget!
by Kathy Wilson
Decorating a small room is one of the biggest challenges many families
have in their homes today. Making a small room work for your loved ones
can be frustrating and confusing. Here are some great low budget ways to
simply transform your small rooms no matter what your budget!
1. First of all, determine if making your room look larger is really the
way to go. After all, what's so great about large rooms? Maybe you want
your living room to be comforting, and to wrap people with warmth when
they enter. Or your bath to be charming, filled with personality
everywhere you look! So don't be so quick to assume bigger is always
better...you might just be creating a problem where there is none!
2. Make the most of a small room you wish to make cozy by using warm
rich colors. Drape the windows with fabric, and add throw blankets and
pillows to cozy up with. You can buy inexpensive muslin and twist and
swag it over a curtain rod for a casual but stunning frame to your
windows. Buy flat sheets and sew up pillow covers, and make throws from
fleece fabric from the craft store. Make your room cozy deliberately,
and its special style will show through, not the size of the room.
3. Reduce the clutter in a small room! This is the #1 problem within
small spaces, and also the fastest to fix. Take a box and remove all
clutter from the room. Move out accessories, pillows, everything! Now
bring things back one at a time, and stop when it's perfect. The key
here is restraint!
4. Use large scale items in a small room. Now traditional rules about
scale in a room would lead you to believe a small room needs small scale
furniture, but the opposite is true. Using just a few larger scale
pieces reduces clutter and gives the eye a smoother trip across the
room. The same goes for artwork! If you are trying to make a room look
larger, go for one large print on the wall, or hang a decorative rug,
instead of small collections.
5. A simple tip to make rooms look larger? Keep your windows and slick
surfaces sparkling clean! Believe it or not, the reflection of clean
will make a room look brighter, fresher and larger. Try it!
6. Paint just one focal wall a rich deep color to add depth to your
room. Leave the other walls either white, or a much paler version of
your accent wall and those walls will appear to fall away. Also keep in
mind that cooler colors such as greens and blues tend to recede from the
eye, while warmer colors such as reds and yellows seem to close in a
room.
7. Finally, remember to use as many double duty items in the room as
possible to reduce clutter. A chest of drawers can hold a TV, and store
all your magazines and games, a futon sofa can double as a guest room,
and a pine chest makes a great coffee table, while storing extra linens!
Remember, it’s not the size of the room; it’s the size of the heart who
creates the room. Let yours show through with personality and
creativity, not cash!
About the author
Kathleen Wilson is author of
Quick Decorating Ideas Under $20: The
Budget Decorator's Bible and editor of the popular ezine, The Budget
Decorator. You can find more free ideas and information on ordering her
book at http://www.TheBudgetDecorator.com
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