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Have a Decorating Budget - Wednesday 1st April 2015
I don't redecorate every year, or even every five years. We tend to buy quality furniture, soft furnishings and paint and decorate to last.
I do however like to freshen our home up with little touches here and there that bring it up to date décor-wise. And those little touches can cost a lot of money.
To cover the cost I've put a decorating category in our Spending Plan so that when I finally find the perfect lamp for the loungeroom the money will be in the Spending Plan and I won't need to rob another category or miss out because I don't have the cash.
I also have prices I won't go over and in fact go out of my way to try and beat. For instance I recently recovered our kitchen chairs and the bar stool in a blue and white check fabric - for the grand total of $2! I found a tablecloth in a blue and white check that I loved for $7 on clearance at Target. When I cut it up I had enough to cover the four chairs and the bar stool, with enough leftover to make placemats and recover the chairs again twice if needed!
When Hannah wanted to redecorate her bedroom, curtains and drapes were going to be the biggest expense, until we found curtain fabric she loves on sale at Spotlight ($24 to cover her window) and two doona covers in the exact print she wanted that I used to make the drapes for $5 each!
We reused the existing rod and tracks and I very carefully unpicked the tape off the old drapes and re-used it on the new ones. Being doona covers I didn't need to line them and they were already double thickness.
So for the grand total of $34 she has beautiful new curtains that match her new bedroom decor beautifully.
Redecorating doesn't have to cost a fortune. Think outside the box, be a little creative and see what you can come up with.
Contributed by Cath Armstrong
I do however like to freshen our home up with little touches here and there that bring it up to date décor-wise. And those little touches can cost a lot of money.
To cover the cost I've put a decorating category in our Spending Plan so that when I finally find the perfect lamp for the loungeroom the money will be in the Spending Plan and I won't need to rob another category or miss out because I don't have the cash.
I also have prices I won't go over and in fact go out of my way to try and beat. For instance I recently recovered our kitchen chairs and the bar stool in a blue and white check fabric - for the grand total of $2! I found a tablecloth in a blue and white check that I loved for $7 on clearance at Target. When I cut it up I had enough to cover the four chairs and the bar stool, with enough leftover to make placemats and recover the chairs again twice if needed!
When Hannah wanted to redecorate her bedroom, curtains and drapes were going to be the biggest expense, until we found curtain fabric she loves on sale at Spotlight ($24 to cover her window) and two doona covers in the exact print she wanted that I used to make the drapes for $5 each!
We reused the existing rod and tracks and I very carefully unpicked the tape off the old drapes and re-used it on the new ones. Being doona covers I didn't need to line them and they were already double thickness.
So for the grand total of $34 she has beautiful new curtains that match her new bedroom decor beautifully.
Redecorating doesn't have to cost a fortune. Think outside the box, be a little creative and see what you can come up with.
Contributed by Cath Armstrong