Decorating on a budget - 3 Basic Principles

Over 15 years in business, I’ve worked with every kind of budget. And it seems like the tightest budgeted clients really had the most work to do. When advising these clients, I really needed to get good at picking my battles, and showing them how they could pack the most punch with little to no money to invest in their home. So without further ado, here are my top 3 low budget hacks to improve your space on the cheap!

1.        DE-CLUTTER

Ugh, I know! Why couldn’t the first one be more fun?

When it comes to doing something with nothing, this is truly the cheapest way to make an impact, if you don’t count the hours you will need to commit. I have found that a good way to approach this often intimidating task is to tackle one small area at a time—clear off old unused items from one bookcase over a Saturday, then clear off the mantel the next Saturday, etc. Recycle anything you can of course, donate usable items, and put the trash in the trash.

Don’t be shy. If you haven’t used or even looked at an item in years, chances are it doesn’t need to be taking up valuable square footage in your home. There are exceptions for super precious family heirlooms of course, but for the old gift knickknacks that you never really liked, but feel bad about tossing, GO AHEAD AND TOSS THEM. You deserve to live in a space that gives YOU joy, peace, and tranquility.

And finally, getting organized can help with decluttering as well. And this doesn’t mean spending a fortune at the Container Store, it just means redistributing items in your home where they make the most sense, and establishing a system that works for you, and keeps random items in their designated place. Clean out those junk drawers that you never touch because they have become too crammed full of stuff (guilty). Make them usable again for things you actually use every day. Fill your home only with things that you use or really enjoy looking at. It will make a world of difference.

Again, tackle one small area at a time, starting with the spots in your home that you find yourself using the least. You may find that you have more storage space than you thought, once you clear out all the things that you don’t need, and don’t use. If you struggle along the way with clearing things out, just ask yourself these questions:

·      How long has it been since I used this? (be honest)

·      Do I have any specific plans to use this item again?

·      Do I like this item?

You will find that as you clear out the old from each small area, it will inspire and motivate you to tackle the next, and the next, until eventually (several Saturdays later) you feel calmer, more peaceful and content with your home, and that is after spending virtually nothing except time and some elbow grease. But that is where my zero spending advice pretty much dies, bringing us to the next key principle.

2.        UTILIZE SYMMETRY

One of the easy and inexpensive ways to create calm in the midst of a chaotic space is to use symmetry, or good balance. Identify if there are any anchor points in your room like a fireplace, or a window, and build around that. This may be worth a quick consultation with a designer if you get stuck. And sometimes you need to create symmetry in a room where none exists.

Example: Your living room has a dominant window that is roughly centered on the space. Use a simple curtain panel window treatment to enhance the window. Add a sofa centered on the window, flanked by two end tables with table lamps. Add an area rug that is large enough to be overlapped by all seating in the room, usually 8x10 or larger. And instead of using the gallery wall approach, keep it simple. Limit yourself to 1-4 pieces per wall, and use artwork to maintain the symmetry in your space. It will tend to calm the eye, and ultimately your nerves.

Sadly I don't have many pictures from this project, but it was a great example of the less is more principle. Starting with capitalizing on symmetry, and then strategic use of color and texture to direct the eye where you want it to go. This client had a passion for horses, and I helped her select this piece for over her mantel, after she explained to me how horses need companionship.

This bedroom was a good example of how a modest budget paired with strong use of symmetry and color can yield very attractive, tranquil, and classy results.

3.        UTILIZE COLOR

I’ll be honest. This one can be tricky. Effective use of color is a designer’s bread and butter, but not the average consumer. In tighter budget situations, I find myself coming back to the same tactic. Give your eyes a REASON to focus on certain areas, rather than others. I've said this phrase many times: "Direct the eye where you want it to go." It's so simple, and yet eludes so many.

Homeowners (or renters) are often so focused on the bad, they can't think about anything else. It is this issue that commonly leads to overspending, and not having very much to show for it.

Example:

I remember this specific client who had a larger house built in the 80’s. He wanted to make an impact in his space, but didn’t want to spend more than was really necessary. Upon entering the home, it was hard to ignore the peach toned wood staircase. Really, really hard. But the cost of modifying, even painting that staircase would have been impractical. So that left me with one option—create a distraction so powerful that visitors would inevitably not care about the ugly peach staircase. I chose to create a bold accent wall and refinish of the living room mantel, which was adjacent to the staircase. Thankfully he did have the budget for new furniture, so utilizing SYMMETRY AND COLOR, I created a rich warm sitting area that drew the eye and sucked any visitors right into that space.

Note the peach fireplace, which was a miniature version of the offensive peach staircase. Much less expensive to refinish though! As you can see, the living room was nothing to rave about either. Money needed to be spent, but refinishing the staircase would not have made this living room any better. It would have been an excess of 10k for a bandaid fix at best.

A repaint of the walls and fireplace mantel, along with some strategically selected furniture pieces and light fixtures made a strong statement to effectively distract from the outdated staircase.

Another key point when it comes to using color to distract from eyesores in your home: If you want to distract from yellow oak cabinets, don’t use blue walls. It will only enhance the yellowness. And don’t paint a neon orange accent wall just to distract from your old brick fireplace.

If you don’t understand the science of color, it may be worth a consultation with a designer. If you're in the Lamorinda, Danville, or Pleasanton region, you can inquire to set up a One & Done consultation and keep design fees to a minimum, while getting some solid guidance and direction. Click here to see service options.

Example B:

A long time friend and colleague texted me, asking my opinion about which new floors she should get, one being a white oak with a warmer hue, and the other being cooler in hue. I looked at the photos of the flooring samples laying in her kitchen, and the first thing I noticed was her outdated kitchen cabinets and countertop. I texted her, explaining that no matter what new floors she put in her home, they would end up amplifying the outdatedness of her kitchen, and she would then be compelled to spend more money on that, and in short order. I told her that if she definitely wanted new floors first (which is a HUGE chunk of change), to select whichever was her favorite, but understand that it would likely be a snowball effect of expensive improvements because the flooring change would make it harder to ignore other outdated things.

I share this because when using color to manipulate the eye, you want to do the opposite of this, and make it EASIER to ignore the things that are too expensive to change. You want to give the eye something else to focus on. Not only this, but you want that distraction to actually be attractive, because it’s your home. Again, sorting out this problem in your own home may warrant a conversation with a professional, but if you have the time to study up on color, and symmetry in design, you may be able to work out a solution.

I could probably ramble on for pages, but I will keep it simple with this one final piece of advice that I have shared countless times, and applies to virtually everyone regardless of their budget:  Keep it SIMPLE! Less is more.

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