Five budget tips to fancy up your space
By Morgan Hannah, Life & Style Editor
Like my dad always said, investing in a good pair of shoes builds a strong foundation for the rest of you to grow from. Can’t the same be said about your home?
“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away,” said Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French writer, poet, aristocrat, journalist, and pioneering aviator. Apparently, he had a thing or two to say about minimalism too. Minimalism as a philosophy can be applied to many different channels including art, lifestyle, architecture, and interior design. Minimalist style in interior design involves using the bare minimum to create a simple and uncluttered space. This is good for students because we’re forced to live meagerly at times due to our budgets. But just because we’re following a budget doesn’t mean we’ve got to live in a space that makes that obvious. Here are five inspirational budget home decor tips to inspire:
Splurge on things you use most
Instead of buying all kinds of fancy little accessories which rack up in cost, put your money towards the things you use the most, like your couch and your bed. Find core items that see a lot of attention and, coincidentally, take up a lot of surface area. It’s an excellent investment that will go a long way. Like my dad always said, investing in a good pair of shoes builds a strong foundation for the rest of you to grow from. Can’t the same be said about your home?
Don’t binge shop
Much like grocery shopping, people claim you’ll save money if you make large, infrequent trips to the store. The reasoning behind this is you’ll spend less time running around and you’ll save money because you’ll have fewer opportunities for impulse buys. But I say forget that both for groceries and home decor! You can find yourself with substantial savings when shopping over an extended period. For groceries, this means less spoiled food and waste. For home decor, it means finding all the hidden gems and sales! Besides, if you are on a tight budget and you buy everything all at once, you’re more likely going to want to replace your purchases within a few years anyway. Shop for good quality items over time as you can afford them or as they become affordable!
Little paint goes a long way
I recently watched a collaborative effort on YouTube of the guys from the Rhett & Link channel painting their office walls to look like themselves. They called it “Skin Walling.” I call it ingenious! They matched their skin tones, eye colours, and hair colours in paint, then painted their walls in such a way as to lean against them and “disappear.” Did they actually disappear? No, but they did have a super fun time decorating their offices, and the results were amazing! Paint is one of the most effective and cost-efficient ways to change up your space and it really is the most fun, too. Who says you need to just paint your walls a solid colour? Why not try painting a mural, some flowers, a map, or like the YouTube stars, try painting your walls to look like you! A simple paint job can transform the entire look and feel of your home.
Shopping second-hand
Everyone knows that estates sales, auctions, Kijiji, Craigslist, and thrift stores are excellent sources for quality home decor pieces and they are a far better alternative to buying new if you want to truly minimize your costs and your eco-footprint. You are 100 percent more likely to find that perfect, one-of-a-kind vintage piece too! It’s true what they about “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” When shopping second-hand, it’s sometimes easier to negotiate on prices to get what you want for cheaper simply because the previous owner is looking to get rid of it!
Decorate with books
Books are for the mind like the gym is for the body! Not only are books great for our self-development and as inexpensive entertainment, but they can be used to decorate your home too! Stack a statuette or a nightlight on top of a pile of books or fill in any empty shelves and corners with beautifully bound books. The livelier the designs and covers the better. And as a bonus, if you’ve got some unusual titles, having them on display can lend well to conversational pieces with guests.
