How to decorate on a budget

by Huma Qureshi on 22 August 2011  |  8 comments
Tweet

Get great design for a snip of the price!

Decorating, or redecorating, is always a bit of a nightmare - and that’s putting it mildly. There’s the clearing out, the moving things around and accidentally scraping the wall that’s just been retouched or dropping a spot of paint on a freshly carpeted floor.

Then there’s managing the tradesmen and their ever-increasing quotes, not to mention the dusty mess they leave behind (oh, the mess), all the while hoping they’ll turn up on time again tomorrow.

Together with my fiance, I’m in the middle of decorating our new home that we’ll be living in after our wedding. With a wedding and a honeymoon to budget for, that means there’s not as much left in the pot for doing up our home as we’d both have liked - but we’re determined not to cut corners and still, for want of a better cliche, turn our house (well, more like little London flat) into a home.

When it comes to frugal decorating, most people will always recommend the same, one and only thing: Ikea. But the thought of identikit soulless flat-pack furniture just doesn’t tick the box for me. As an occasional interior design blogger, I’ve been itching to do up our home and have it reflect our own individual style, but I’m conscious that many of the shops I ogle at (Heals, SCP) are also ridiculously overpriced.

So as someone who is annoyingly almost always attracted to products that are way beyond my budget, I’ve quickly learnt to be a far cannier shopper, and have banked a fair few savings on my interior decorating mission. Here’s how:

Part-renovate: no one will notice...

Not everything has to be ripped out and replaced. New kitchens and bathrooms can cost a small fortune - so take a careful long look at the existing units and ask yourself just how badly in need of replacing they are.

We were going to gut the entire kitchen, only the cost of a total refit (£7,000) made us stop. Instead, we spruced up the perfectly fine white-and-silver handled units with a new dark wood worktop, sink and tiles all bought savvily online (see below). It saved us at least £3,000 and overall, the whole kitchen now looks brand new.

Kitchen or bathroom units you might not be able to stand initially can come to life with a little imagination (order plenty of worktop and tile samples to help you picture how it will look), a good scrub and a few new finishing touches.

...And part-decorate while you’re at it too

It’s not necessarily skimping, but why wallpaper four walls when one wall will do? Creating a feature wall with wallpaper or paint is a great little budget makeover trick, and the only way I’ve been able to indulge in an otherwise costly wallpaper for our hallway (we only need one roll which suddenly makes it affordable).

For something less permanent, wall decals or stickers like these are a clever temporary way to bring rooms to life - great for creating a focal point and you can find plenty here that are affordable too.

Google shop until you drop

Never underestimate the power of Google. See something you like in a big fancy design store with a price tag to boot? Don’t buy it. Go home, get online and Google it; switch your filter to shopping and rejoice in knowing you’ve just bought the same product for far less than it was in store.

Take this nifty little kettle in Heals for £75; in less than two minutes, I found it for £56 instead - still not quite a bargain (it is just a kettle, after all), but a saving nonetheless. Use the same tactic for big ticket numbers, like new shower fittings, taps or large electrical items. You can easily source quality brands for far less.

Join the quirky craft revolution

Want unique and individual pieces for your home that won’t break the bank? Head straight to Etsy, the “world’s marketplace” for crafters, designers and more. I have bought no end of original and quirky pieces from Etsy, including original typography prints at just £12 and retro cushions made from otherwise costly Sanderson fabric for just £15.

Etsy admittedly can take some sifting (the worst of Etsy ends up here), but it’s worth it and plus there’s an added satisfaction in not just saving money but also knowing you’ve bought a one-of-a-kind.

Don’t always do it yourself

There are some simple house jobs that you can do yourself and are practically no brainers for saving money on - like painting walls white (you can’t really get it that wrong) or, say, hanging up picture frames.

But at other times, it really does pay to get the builder, plumber, electrician or decorator in. For instance, the flooring in our flat was put down by a novice and it shows; tidying it up will now be a costly project. Cutting corners is a total false economy so even if a job’s initial quote sounds pricey, it’ll still be far less than you making a mistake and then having to pay twice the money to get it fixed again.

Move over eBay

When clearing out all your old junk preferably before decorating, look for specific websites where you can list them for sale, rather than waiting for someone to bid on it at random on eBay. Use Greenmetropolis to sell off old books (every book sells at a flat rate of £3, and you don’t have to waste time taking photos of covers; enter the ISBN number and a jpeg will automatically upload) and swap old CDs and DVDs for cash on MusicMagpie.

Since it’s not an auction site, you don’t have to hoard the discs until someone buys them - send them off immediately to keep your newly decorated place clutter-free, or for the time being at least...

Share your own tips!

Got any tips of your own? Please share them other lovemoney.com readers using the comments box below!

More: How to make home improvements; Best ways to pay for home improvements