Dollar-Wise Decor First-Time Homeowners Share Their Favorite Low-Cost Decorating Tips
You’ve emptied your savings account, wiped out your mutual funds and done just about everything short of searching the sofa cushions for pocket change.
Congratulations - you and the financial institution of your choice are homeowners.
But just how do you go about creating your dream home when a terrifyingly large mortgage stares you down each month? Hold on to that pocket change.
We’ve sorted through lots of useful advice from newspaper readers who were once first-time homeowners, too. Decorating on a shoestring? Forget it. These are folks who can make do on a dental floss budget.
And besides all the practical tips, they have this message: Don’t sweat it. Don’t fret over the perfection you see in shelter magazines, the carefully coordinated display rooms in stores or rigid decorating rules you picked up somewhere along the way to home ownership.
“The most important decorating tip you can remember is to follow your own instincts, and do what you like to do, not what you think you should do,” wrote Tori O’Halloran of San Jose, Calif.
You are creating, after all, a home, your home, not a showplace. Here’s your road map:
Experiment with paint.
It’s the simplest, most obvious and perhaps most economical dramatic change you can make. Grab a brush or a roller, and paint.
But don’t stop there, by the white and off-white paint chips. Take a couple of steps to your right or left when you’re standing in the paint chip aisle. Yes, right there, where the colors are bolder, say readers.
“Get rid of the stark, flat white walls!” e-mailed Donna Maurillo of Scotts Valley, Calif. “I like the reflection of light because it gives a new dimension to the space, so I always use semi-gloss.”
And if semi-gloss seems too shiny, try the eggshell finishes now available. Not only is eggshell more reflective than flat latex, it’s also easier to clean if your walls are under assault by small hands.
It doesn’t take much to buy a little courage in a can. The thing about paint, says reader Mary Adriani of Sunnyvale, Calif., is “It’s forgiving. Paint is fabulous.”
If Adriani doesn’t like a color, she just adds another layer in another shade. She suggests taking it one wall at a time.
Maurillo advises bringing the palette of your outdoor landscaping indoors. She uses lots of grays, blues, purples and pinks, the colors of the plants flowering in her yard, then leaves the blinds open so the colors come alive inside as well.
O’Halloran likes the look of buttery yellow kitchens or guest baths and the serenity of sage green bedrooms.
Her best tip: If you’re going bold, don’t overdo it. Make sure there’s continuity in your palette, so that rooms don’t clash.
And once you’ve mustered that courage, you can create a truly individual look with painting techniques such as sponging or stenciling.
Lisa Alcala and her husband acquired a “huge mortgage” along with their new-development home. They redid their guest bathroom with two shades of periwinkle, sponged on the walls. A change of mirrors, substitutions for the flimsy toilet paper holder and towel rack, and the couple has a new bathroom for $120.
“Now our bathroom looks cool and amazing,” wrote Alcala.
Adriani, who met her husband in Rome, has re-created the warm, Mediterranean tones of Italy in her simple Sunnyvale tract home. She uses paint, elbow grease and her natural artist’s gifts but says anyone can follow her lead.
“I’m all self-taught,” she said. “It’s certainly something that people can take a technique and learn to do.”
Adriani, who creates faux marble walls and rich, multi-layered blendings of paint throughout her home, advises to start simple.
If you want to try out a painting technique or even create a freehand masterpiece, start with a small piece of furniture, a flower pot, an old picture frame.
“People feel like they can’t do things artistically, and it’s such a mistake,” Adriani says.
And you’ll find information about alternative painting styles at almost any paint counter these days.
Be true to you.
Your best decorating assets, the conversation pieces that will make your home appealing and intriguing to others, are probably stowed away in a closet or cupboard right now.
“I love anything Italian because it is part of my ancestral heritage,” wrote Maurillo. “I have the requisite silver-framed photos, but I also have displayed my grandfather’s old oil can, his ceramic vinegar jug, my great-grandmother’s Bible, a crystal doorknob from the house where I grew up and an embroidered pillowcase that my mother made when she was a child.”
An eye-catching collection can help make one area of a room the dramatic focus, wrote Linda Carmichael. Placing a collection of like objects together makes a bigger statement, she wrote.
Cara Stoneburner of Sunnyvale has a solution, too, for the sorts of collectibles that find a way into our hearts and our junk drawers. Her family has made a shrine wreath, tucking memorabilia such as wedding favors, a San Francisco Zoo key and funky sunglasses into a simple grapevine wreath. (The wreaths are often available at craft stores such as Michael’s, but you’re also likely to find them on a wine country outing.) Originality is Stoneburner’s strong suit. And one original statement in your home will be what guests remember.
Stoneburner has turned two sturdy branches from a neighbor’s plum tree and a string of tiny white Christmas lights into a talker of a chandelier.
“It’s just really warm and subtle,” she says of her preferred lighting method.
Sometimes, it’s your vision of an object that makes it exceptional. Stand convention on its head. Maurillo took a tin panel reproduction of a Victorian ceiling she bought for $40 at an antiques show and placed it on the wall above her bed. That way she avoids the annoyance of a headboard, which she doesn’t care for, yet makes a powerful decorating statement.
And Kathey Piros of Santa Clara, Calif., turned a $25 Big Bird rug from Wal-Mart into a wall hanging for daughter Madeleine’s room.
Go natural.
They’re abundant, colorful and cheap. Seasonal fruits and vegetables and dried beans, pastas and the like make for instant decor in the kitchen and elsewhere. O’Halloran suggests lining fresh limes or lemons along a mantel or bathroom sink.
Carmichael finds inexpensive canisters at Cost Plus, then fills them with items such as beans, pastas and dried chiles. (Over time, though, with the exposure to light, these non-perishables can lose some quality when it comes to their first purpose - as food.)
Shop like you’re broke.
“When I bought my first new home, a two-bedroom, two-bath condominium in Newark, it was one of the most exciting times of my life,” wrote Sue Schlopp.
But at the same time, she was overwhelmed at the prospect of decorating and improving her condo. She found her bible in “Bargain Shopping in the Bay Area” by Sally Socolich. Using the book as her guide, Schlopp bought carpet from a Pleasanton warehouse, found furniture in bargain shops and picked up linens, towels and kitchen items at discount prices.
Other savvy shoppers scour the garage and estate-sale ads for expensive neighborhoods. Kathy Sherman of Mountain View, Calif., found the sectional she wanted for $300 in the classified ads, then took the Palo Alto Adult School’s upholstery class and reupholstered herself. “I estimate that I saved $4,000.”
The ready availability, too, of slipcovers and the popularity of the shabby chic look make the idea of buying used furniture more appealing.
A good number of homeowners aren’t above scouring neighborhood curb sides for discards, though it’s a good idea to ask permission before taking anything. Adriani found the additional kitchen cabinetry she needed on the curb.
The many professional gardeners who keep San Jose’s Rose Garden neighborhood manicured often separate large, overgrown plants, leaving agapanthus and fortnight lily and the like out for the recycling truck.
“They don’t care who gets them, nor do the owners, as long as they’re gone,” wrote Barbara Newman. “I’ve picked up some absolutely gorgeous plants that would cost a lot if purchased in that size from a nursery. If you’re not too proud to pick up castoffs, this is a great way to landscape.”
She also finds inexpensive cuttings at garage sales. And many gardeners, wrote Newman, will simply offer a cutting if you admire a plant. “Just a suggestion from a poor but kindred homeowner,” she wrote.
Change is good.
One final note. Be glad, say readers, that you don’t have a lot of money to fritter on decor. Because chances are, no matter what you do in the next few months, some day you’ll tire of it.
“I redecorate when the spirit moves me,” wrote Paula Knapp. “My daughter’s friends find it fun coming to our house because something will always be different.”
HOME DECOR High class, low costs * Experiment with paint. Try a new technique on a small piece of furniture, flower pot or picture frame first. * Be true to you. One original statement in your home will be what guests remember. * Go natural. Seasonal fruits and vegetables make for instant decor in the kitchen or bathroom. * Shop like you’re broke. Scour estate sales and garage sales located in expensive neighborhoods. * Change is good. Need we say more?