Save Money with DIY Home Decorating

Especially in today's economy, most people can't afford to spend a lot of money on decorating their homes.  I've discovered that I can decorate my home inexpensively when I do it myself.  The types of DIY projects I 've done myself include painting the rooms, making curtains and valances, sewing stool cushions, pillow covers, place mats and decorative towels and even building furniture.  I'll briefly discuss each of these projects to get you started on your own DIY home decorating projections.

Room Painting

Painting a room is the most inexpensive and quickest way to update a room.  In fact, I love painting.  I really enjoy seeing a room transform.  The hardest part when planning to paint a room is deciding on the color.  Glidden's Room Painter is a great tool to use to find out which wall color will look best with your furnishings.  You can read my review on Glidden's tools here.  In fact, you can get creative with your painting as well.  My son wanted to have a football field painted on his bedroom walls.  We decided that the top half would be sky blue and bottom would be the football with the lines and yard numbers.  I was able to do this with the help of Frog tape.  Frog tape is a necessity when painting.  It works just like blue painter's tape but better.  Frog tape has a special gel that adheres to the nooks and crannies on the wall so that you're able to create straight lines.  To create the football field, I simply applied the frog tape horizontally all around the room and then vertically leaving 10" between them.  I then painted a sky blue on the top half and a nice grass green color on the bottom half.  I removed the tape and then used stencils to paints the yard numbers and viola -- a football field.

Curtains and Valances

When it comes to decorating a room, it can be difficult to find the perfect window coverings that match your furnishings the way you would like.  In my case, my sliding glass doors are not traditional sizes.  Therefore, I would have to pay to have curtains custom made.  To save money as well as get the exact window covering fabric I want, I make them myself.  I have used sewing patterns in the past but lately have found it just has easy to design them myself.  If you want to make curtains or valances which require a rod pocket, it's pretty simple.  My formula for making a rod pocket valance is this:

1. I measure the width of window/door.
2. Then I double that measurement and that's how long I make the curtain.  By doubling the window measurement, this will create the gathered look across the top.
3. Decide how long you want the curtain/valance to be and then add 5" to that measurement.  That's 1" for the bottom hem and 4" for the top rod pocket.
4. Now you know how much fabric you get to get.
5. I first sew a 1" inch seam on the sides and bottom.
6. To make the rod pocket, I simply fold the fabric 4" over on the top keeping the wrong sides together.  I stitch a 1" seam where the fabric meets.  I then sew a 1" seam from the top of the fold and a 2" seam below the top 1" seam.  
7. Now simply side your curtain rod in your curtain and hang with appropriate hardware.

 Here are a couple of the curtains I have made in my home.
 

Tab top curtains in my family room. 

Rod pocket valance in my kitchen nook

Cushions and Pillows

Making cushions and pillows is a quick and easy project.  Again, I don't use a pattern for simple square or rectangular pillows.  You can cover old pillows to give them a fresh look or buy pillows from the craft store.  Here are the steps I use to make a throw pillow:

1. I lay out the fabric on a large flat surface (usually I just use the floor).
2. I then lay the pillow on top of the fabric placing it in one of the corners.
3. Then take the fabric and fold it around the pillow.  Doing this will give you an idea of how much fabric you'll need to cover the pillow.
4. Cut the fabric around the pillow making sure to leave enough fabric on the 3 sides for a 1" seam. The 4th side will be the fold of the fabric.
5. Turn right side together and sew 2 of the 3 sides with a 1" seam.
6. Turn the fabric right side out and insert the pillow into the "pocket" you've just created.
7. Put the open end of the fabric together creating a nice inward fold.  Sew a seam to close the fabric.  

Here are some pillows and stool cushions I have made.

Pillows I made in our "NY Giants" themed loft

Stool cushions I made for my bar stools

Building Furniture

Until just recently, I would have never attempted to build my own furniture.  However, I then decided to give it a try.  My family room has tall ceilings and a very large wall that is the perfect place for an entertainment center.  Finding an entertainment center to fit this wall is a difficult and expensive task.  We decided to build our own drywall entertainment center.  It will be similar to a built in entertainment center. It will have drywall and wall texture and will be painted the color of the wall.  I found that the hardest part of this task was the initial planning.  I started with a sketch and went from there.  Youtube has several great videos on DIY projects so make sure to check it out when planning your next project.

Here are my plans.

Here's my progress so far.

You can follow my progress here.

If you put your mind to it, you can create just about anything you want.  Just take your time and plan out what you want to create.