Step 2: Make Small Changes First

If you want to succeed at interior decorating on a budget, you must think small. Most people believe to be successful at interior decorating, they must make dramatic changes to their entire living area. This very seldom is the case. In fact, smart decorators are those that take on projects that are small first, before moving on to extensive endeavors.

Sometimes small changes are all that are needed to make a big difference in your home's appearance.

In this section, you will learn about some simple steps and ideas you can take to improve your home's appearance. Once you take the steps outlined in this section, you may find you redecorate your home without spending a single penny. Chances are high you will spend some money, but you can improve the look and feel of your home by making changes that require time, not money. We will show you how.

You may find after adopting some of the changes in this section you need not change your home any further. Decorating on a budget can be as complex or simple as you want it. Try to simplify your life, and you will find becoming a successful interior decorator the easiest job in the world.

Here are a few small ways to make dramatic differences in the way your home looks and feels.

Small Changes to Improve Existing Rooms

Consider adding wallpaper to a room that needs a little perk up. You can also use wall-border, which is much less expensive, to decorate the lower or upper sides of a wall. Alternately, you can create boarders by painting or stenciling designs on your walls, or by removing existing boarders to give a room a new look or feel.
Find some mirrors and place them in locations in your home where they reflect light. This will make the room you place the mirrors in appear larger. Your home will also seem as if it receives more sunlight. Do not place mirrors throughout your home in areas where they detract from the room's appearance, or in places where they reflect unattractive objects (like your garage or driveway) unless you really want this.
Try restoring old furniture or antiques rather than buying new furniture, which may be expensive, but not nearly as valuable as your used item. You can do this inexpensively with the help of a local Home Depot or home improvement store. You may need to sand and finish, then stain a dresser for example, to improve its appearance. In cases where you need to cover water stains, you may consider placing a strategically positioned crocheted cloth or other decorative item, such as a lamp.
Cover stains up rather than re-carpet your home. You do not have to hire a stain removal specialist to improve the appearance of your carpet. So many people have stains on their carpet, and most find a way to decorate over them without spending a fortune. Let's face it. Often times, once a stain is there, it is hard to get rid of, no matter how much you wash it. You may wash it so that it appears to go away, only to find it reappears a few weeks later. Fortunately, no stain is impossible to hide. And hide it you will IF you want to save money. Most bargain interior decorator's tactfully use furniture and throw rugs to cover up hard-to-remove stains. If you have young children, buy some inexpensive remnants to place throughout your home so you can easily remove and wash them if they become stained.
Try letting more light in your home. If you have curtains, remove them. Try blinds, or try a bare window. Just be sure you keep your window clean. You may want to paint or stencil on the window using paints you can find at any hobby store. This creates the effect of stained glass, without spending the money. Some people find they can use stick on appliqués on a bare window to create the appearance of stained glass. These appliqués are inexpensive, and you can usually find them on the Web. They are a great tool for decorating children's rooms, as many come in cartoon themes.
Consider adding some plants or a small, inexpensive fountain in your home to add a subtle ambience and calming appeal. If you do not have a green thumb, go with something that is easy to grow, and hardy, like a bamboo tree (some believe this even brings prosperity and luck to your home. You do not have to buy a one thousand dollar fountain. Try getting a small yet attractive $15 fountain online. Throw some rocks in it and let it go. You may find you feel more at peace in your home. Fountains are also very useful for improving the ambience of a home office.
Use fabrics to help improve the look and feel of tired furnishings. Fabric stores sell beautiful fabrics and slipcovers inexpensively. Far less expensive is it to use a cover or recover an existing sofa than to buy a new one. If you are not handy with a needle and thread, look for slipcovers that can instantly change the look and feel of your sofa (and even hide stains).
Try painting one or more of the walls in your room or in many rooms in your home to give your home a fresh start. You can buy paint inexpensively, and you do not have to hire a professional painter to do the work (though you can find some college students handy at painting, that are likely to charge less than "professional" painters). Use light and bright colors for rooms you enjoy during the day, and calming colors like blue or dark green for rooms you want to relax in. Make sure the colors you select match the furniture you have or the upholstery you use in your home. Some people find good painting is all they need to decorate their homes in a new and meaningful way.
Try using lamps with no shades, or decorate plain shades you have at home. This will add color and intensity to any room. You can buy colored bulbs that add an interesting look and feel to almost any room, and make any lamp look wonderful instead of lacking when you do not use a shade.
Use even more paint to create a mural on a wall or a sponge you dipped in the paint to add texture to a wall's surface in your home. You can practice this ahead of time by applying the paint to a piece of old wood, or a wall you plan to repaint anyway. There are endless ways to decorate using paint, so give paint a try. Do not simply consider paint as something to use as a cover for an entire wall.

Consider it an accessory where plausible. Some people for example, buy inexpensive stencils and decorate the walls of a room in their home by applying paint to the stencils. This is especially fun for a young child's room or playroom, where you can stencil paint your child's name, the letters of the alphabet or fun numbers.

Remember, small changes often make a big impression on you and the people visiting your home. Start small, see what you think. If you want to move on, you can.

Now that you know what it takes to change a small room or part of your home, let us now take some time to evaluate change on a much larger scale. Remember, even while making massive changes to the inside of your home, this guide is all about budgeting.

Some people find however, after implementing some small changes they change the list they made when first prioritizing the way they felt their home should look. If you find the small changes you make are enough to create an aesthetically appealing environment, you may opt for only one big change, your "high-ticket" item, or you may decide to stick with small changes indefinitely, so you can decorate the entire interior of your home. Remember, the choice is yours. The lesson to learn is to start small.

Starting small will also build your skills and aptitude for making larger changes when the time is right. You may find you can put off making larger changes for several years when you make a few changes to improve the appearance of your home.

Now is the time to learn how to make a big difference in the way one room or several rooms in your home look without spending a fortune. While we have spent a lot of time talking about how wonderful small changes are (and they are), there are times when large changes are really what you want to decorate your home's interior.

Some refer to this process as the home "makeover." We've all seen the shows on television, where people have $3,000 and have to redecorate an entire home, providing it a new, fresh face. You can do the same, and spend even less money.