I need help. I really want to do a little redecorating around our house. Nothing too fancy, some paint, new curtains, maybe some table decorations and DEFINITELY on a budget! The rooms I am shooting for are the big living room, the little living room, the laundry room and my daughter's rooms.
The only ideas I have so far are....
1. To dye the ugly faded 80's country blue cloth type vertical blinds in the big living room brown or tan with RIT dye. Do you think it will work? I have a snipped off piece and it is soaking in hot water right now to see how it holds up. :) I am thinking of getting the dye tomorrow and giving it a go! We are getting new carpet come spring, and also going to put ceramic tile in front of the deck door and under the wood stove. Currently the also faded old country solid blue carpet runs right up to the door (UGH!) and the wood stove sits on an ugly square black piece of metal stuff. I am going with a dark multi tone brown shag type carpet, and thinking of doing tans/browns for the tile, maybe throwing in a little color, in a circle under the wood stove and a half circle in front of the door.
2. The laundry room. Currently the walls are an old gross pale matte pink and the cabinets are white. It has flat utility type carpet that is a pain to sweep/vacuum, but I am not sure if we'll be changing that anytime soon - just the wall and cabinet color. To what colors? I have no clue! And it has one window that I would like to get a vertical blind for and make a new curtain.
3. Youngest daughter's room. It is currently pink bare walls. See? I am not much of a decorator! She mentioned blue with flowers and butterflies painted on. I am fairly artistic and like to make things, so I could probably manage that. Hubby also wants to add a chalk board painted section. She also recently got a bunk bed and the bottom is full size and folds into a futon/couch thing. I would like to make a curtain to cover the bottom bed so she could use it as a tent or hideout or place to read, etc.
4. Oldest daughter...well she is 16 and is probably going to want to do it how she wants to! Luckily she has a lot of style! :)
Now, a couple of barriers....dust. We live on a farm, use wood stoves, and it gets really dusty in here really quick! I am not a nic-nac person for that very reason - keeping up with the floors, walls, fans, and ceilings is work enough! I actually just packed up the baskets with fake plants in them because they are so hard to keep clean. So stuff has to be easily washable. Money...there is so much I would love to do here, like actually remodel and update! But for now, it is just some surface level tinkering to make things look a little nicer. The cheaper, the better, of course. :)
So if you have ideas or favorite websites sites or tips on how to put a room together or pictures of your own decorating...please let me know!
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On the Laundry room I would use Green or blue not quite a pastel but not a dark bright(hmmm now does that make sense?Lol)
ReplyDeleteOne thing I have found is always go a shade lighter than what you think would work lol.. After Several times repainting because it ended up to dark!!
I am picturing Autumn Blue skies with sparkly butterflies in various colors! You could use the gemstones from the craft department for making flowers and butterflies.. Or you could go to thrift stores and find clothes with material/pattern you like and cut it out and make the butterflies out of fabric..
I would just google the type of decorating you favor and it will bring up all kinds of websites.. thats what I do when I need new ideas.
Good Luck!
Thanks for stopping by our farm blog. Another canning, gardening, knitting farm mamma - you are too cool!
ReplyDeleteWe live in dust and I just sewed some curtains out of cheap unbleached cotton ($2/yard - just throw in the washer - They look like linen and wear like iron. Just an idea if your dye idea doesn't work.
I love a bright and cheerful yellow and white. You can easily add in small amounts of other colors to change it up. It's spring-like, but I tend to like that.
ReplyDeleteFor dust, I always go with as high gloss paint as I can. Wiping dust off is easy. I hate the chalky feel of flat paint.
Post befores and afters. :)
~Faith
You ladies have some great ideas!!! Tonia, I am TERRIBLE when it comes to paint! The color in my head is never what ends up on the walls! Great idea about sparkles and jewels!!! Cotton...I like the look of natural fabrics! :) Faith...my counter tops and stove back splash are yellow. Only problem is the rest of the kitchen and dining room walls are barn wood! And the floor is black tile. Dark. And there are stupid cheezy cow tiles for the sink back splash! Would LOVE to change that soon! I typically go with the semi-gloss. Matte does suck, but high gloss scares me for some reason! Do you prefer it to semi gloss too?
ReplyDeletehmmm...i am not great at decorating...but i'll throw in a couple thoughts
ReplyDeletefirst--post before and afters :)
second--that's what rit dye is for
i used it once for something it wasn't for and it didn't work--the only experience i have, lol
simple is best--i'm with you on saving on dusting
pictures are our decorations
ones i take and ones the kids make--that's mostly it
i am afraid of gloss paint too...so i use satin usually
paint can change a room all by itself
post a pic of the room you are trying to decide on with the stove and such if you can...i might be able to think of a color better?
or go with what you think--it'll be good--any change is good when you don't like what it looks like now
my house is small--so i pick lighter colors to keep it from getting boxed in feeling
the dollar store has wall clings--like butterflies and flowers that just stick on the wall safely--they look nice--have them at my daycare--and you just pull them off when you don't like them, and, they are a dollar
though i like the idea with the jewels/sparkles
i love sparkles
you can take a can of spray glitter and spray it on wet paint (or even dry--but it won't stay as well)
it's pretty--i had it on the bathroom at my first house--it was a nice tan and white bathroom and when the light hit it right it sparkled--i love sparkles!
i have no curtains at my house--maybe you could just take them down
in fact, i have no window coverings except last year we put blinds over the side the sun shines in for cooling (since we had no air)
but they are up all the time cept the heat of summer
Nope, no fear of gloss paint at all. I love it and it has always been my friend. I use it in kitchens and bathrooms, I also use it on the floor moldings in all rooms so they are easily cleaned. For the walls in the rest of the house I use either semi-gloss or satin.
ReplyDelete~Faith
Faith, thanks for the info! I bet it would be easier to clean! :)
ReplyDeleteOh, I wish I had been better about posting all my DIY projects now! I've done so much on a really tight budget but have been terrible about posting. I'll try to give you a few of my best tips:
ReplyDeleteBuy sheets to make curtains. Wayyyy cheaper than buying fabric. I even buy big sheets at Goodwill to make curtains out of. I made insulated ones with some new fabric and old blankets from Goodwill.
If you have a Family Dollar (or Dollar General, I can't remember) they have stick on floor tile for like $10 for 30 square feet - and it not crap. I've redone the floors in two apartments with it and it is cheap cheap cheap and looks really good. Maybe for your laundry room?
Paint is great but keep your ceilings white. It keeps things from being too dark.
Good luck!! If you have any specific problems maybe we can all help.