The Budget Room

With everything costing more these days hiring an interior designer can be an expensive venture. Combined with the fact that when building or renovating a home other contractors are often hired to do the building, the painting and the flooring it can often end up with you living on broke street!

However, by being your own interior designer and being smart in what work you contract out and what work you do yourself you can end up saving a lot of money.

Below are some methods and tips on how you can reduce the cost of designing and decorating the interior of your own home by taking over the role of interior designer.

Research Your Own Design Styles

You don’t need to hire some interior designer to tell you what style would look good in your home! There is a world of resources on interior design available, both online and in your local bookstore or library.

By doing your own research you can save money by having one less contractor to worry about. Furthermore, it’s YOU deciding what is appropriate for your home and what suits your tastes and needs.

Also when researching your own interior design styles, if money is stretched, there are quite a few economical interior themes. A number of contemporary and Japanese styles are based on ideas of minimalism. These styles can look really effective and actually focus on de-cluttering the amount of stuff in your home and can reduce your furbishing costs.

Shop Around and Online for Décor

Going to garage sales and discount stores can be a great way to pick up items and furniture for your home at ridiculously low prices.

However, for those who can’t bring themselves to buy second-hand or from a discount store, it’s a good idea to shop around and try and get things on sale. Also, try shopping online as you can often dodge hefty in-store prices.

By being smart and savvy in your purchasing of furniture and decorative objects you can end up saving A LOT of money.

Make Use of Your Existing Furniture

Don’t always follow the philosophy of ‘out with old and in with the new’.  Try rearranging your existing furniture in your newly designed room. Sometimes merely moving furniture around can cast it in a new light and bring new life to the room.

However, if your furniture doesn’t suit the theme of your interior or you no longer have a use for it – don’t throw it out!  Sell your old furniture either online or through a garage sale and you can generate a nice cash flow to put towards the new furnishings you want to buy.

Do What You Can Yourself

When it comes to designing the interior of your house there are some things you can do yourself and some things you can’t – so it is important to know your limits. But it is also important to not be afraid to try doing new things.

Avoid hiring painters! Buy the supplies, invite some family and friends over and paint the rooms together. Nothing brings people together more than sharing a tin of paint! If you have never painted a room before it might be a good idea to read up on interior painting first.

When it comes to the installation of flooring and carpet it’s usually advised that you enlist the aid of professionals. However, even before you think of getting new flooring – take a look at the existing one.  Sometimes having a carpet steam cleaned (you can even hire the steamer yourself) or the wooden floorboards polished you can make a floor look brand spanking new!

A lot of money can be saved by doing things yourself and cutting down on the number of contractors you need.