HG Openhouse Blog

These days it seems like everyone is more careful with their spending, keeping an eye on the family budget at all times. If you are anything like me, then you don’t want to let a silly little thing like a budget keep you from decorating your home. I am frugal by nature and even if it weren’t a need, I would still always try to find the least expensive way to do a project. With that in mind, I started redoing my dining room, purchasing some things and reusing and making do where I could.

These plates were purchased a few years ago and only got brought out at Thanksgiving before I decided to hang them on the wall. The mirror was gold and not working with the rest of the room so I used some leftover paint from another project to give it more pop. I am a big believer in buying things that can be used in different ways or places in my home.

This room is small but had a lot of wall space to fill and hanging art on every wall would have been boring. I found these wicker trays at my local thrift store and they filled the space nicely while also adding much needed texture.

I don’t know about you, but I find window treatments to be a huge budget buster and to be honest, that’s where most of my budget went. Two windows! Whose bright idea was that? To save money I bought 2 linen panels and split each in half, hemming the cut side. This allowed me to have 2 panels for each window at 1/2 the cost. I’m so pleased with how this turned out, that I’m going to use the same trick in my study.

For about $300, including wall art and paint, I’m well on my to the dining room I was dreaming about. Looking for creative solutions allowed me to stretch my dollar and do more than I otherwise would have been able to do. I’d love to hear how you used your creativity to get around your budget.