Living Room For Less

Living room for less with little more than some serious creativity, a willingness to hunt through garage sales and a bit of elbow grease. Keep reading to find out how you can redecorate your space while still keeping your costs at a minimum.

1. Divide the room into sections. By dividing the room using furniture, area rugs or other space indicators, you can create more space - or at least the appearance of more space - and break the monotony and uniformity.

Try creating a small area for lounging and watching TV and another for conversations, playing games or enjoying a good book. Not only will you give the illusion of more space, but you'll also make your living room that much more multifunctional.

2. Refresh your furniture with custom slipcovers. While store-bought slipcovers are relatively inexpensive, unless they're made specifically for your furniture they can look sloppy or ill-fitted. Try either sewing your own or consulting a seamstress on having custom slipcovers made.

With new slipcovers, you can instantly refresh a space and update your entire color palette at once. If slipcovers won't work, try having your sofa or chairs reupholstered as it's often cheaper than replacing an entire set.

3. Keep your accessories simple. If you're on a budget, keep your accent pieces subdued, classy and basic. Don't overdo it with cheap garishness - instead, invest your money in a few select pieces that truly pull together a room.

For an inexpensive wall hanging, try arranging beloved family photos in an artistic and fluid way. Use vintage picture frames for a unique look.

4. Remember that not everything has to match. By breaking out of that could of matching furniture sets, you'll soon find yourself combining small prints with large plaids. It may seem wild, but it works. Instead of matching your curtains exactly to your couch cushions, try a complimentary or contrasting color combination that gives it a visual pop.

5. Always try a fresh coat of paint. Start by brightening your ceilings with a new coat of paint, and then reinvent your living room with little more than a new coat of paint as well.

6. Update your window treatments. For less than a few hundred dollars, you can take a living room out of the dark ages of dusty, old Venetian blinds and into the future of sustainable, bamboo curtains or slatted California treatments. You'll instantly brighten the room and create the illusion of more space.