Tell me if this sounds familiar: you want to redecorate your house, but you don’t have the money right now.  What do you do?  Here are 6 free (or nearly free) things that you can do for an instant facelift.  And who can’t afford free?

1. Clean your windows.  Unless you just cleaned them, there is probably a film on them that is not letting in as much light as they could be.  Get out the vinegar and newspaper and let the sun shine in!
2. Embrace your inner artist.  Pre-hung canvases are not expensive (you could even buy one that has been used at a thrift store).  Buy some mis-tinted paint from your local paint store, put on some music and go to town!  If you have kids, include them in the festivities – kids’ creativity can’t be beat!
3. Remove 5 things you no longer love.  Or more if you want!  Then rearrange the things that are left – the room will feel lighter and fresher instantly!
4. Get out the paint.  If you have a piece of furniture, picture frame, lamp (or anything else) that you are tired of, but still serves a purpose, change its color.  Spray paint was invented for you!
5. Change your lampshades.  It sounds crazy, but you can update the whole look of a room by changing the lampshades.  This one isn’t free, but if you want a free version, swap lampshades from different lamps.  Or at the very least, give those bad boys a deep clean.
6. Move it around.  When I got married, TC moved into my house.  In an effort to make the house feel like we were both moving in, we rearranged all the furniture.  I like my married house so much better than my single house!

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 14th, 2010 at 5:18 pm and is filed under Tip of the Week! . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.