The Finishing Touches

Edwardia

I'm sure that there are plenty of people out there like me who have renovated a house/part of it and have gotten to the point where it's over budget because of unexpected horrors. Suddenly you have way less money than you thought to make your house/room(s) look good.

So if you have any tips please post here. I'm NOT talking about DIY stuff and decorating, I'm talking all the other things like curtains, furniture etc.

Here are mine..

Choosing fashionable colours is great if you can afford to change the look of your house often but if you can't it pays to go for colours that you can use with other colours without needing to re-paint. In one room we used a golden sand so could use red or gold or blue or brown in future.

Photographs are a cheap way of filling up walls and windowsills.

Blinds can often be a lot cheaper than curtains.

Furniture can be re-used by painting or re-covering. One bookcase has gone from kitchen to landing to bedroom with different changes of paint.

Charity shops, junk shops and boot fairs can produce great finds. As can ethnic shops if that's your style.

Plants are a cheap way of filling up space eg a Kentia palm at 14.99 is cheaper than most corner tables.

Another thing I've found useful, was once I'd thought of a colour scheme, gathering all the things I had in those colours to see if they'd go rather than lash out on new cushions, lamps etc.

Patterns date more than plains on curtains and sofas. Throws are great for hiding up an old sofa. We've also used plain ribbed chenille bedspreads with fringes, bought in charity shops.