Budget Decorating
(featured column)
Furniture
Remakes
by Kathy
Wilson
One of the
biggest problems budget decorators face is having attractive furniture even when
the budget doesn't allow for new. Sometimes, we just have to make do with what
we have! Here are some great ways to transform what you already own, or can
cheaply buy to fill your furniture needs, and make it
look great! More...
Upholstered furniture
Generally, when you think of your sofa and chairs, you figure the only way to
remake them is to slipcover or re-upholster. While I am a big fan of slip
covering, (could be 'cause I have 8 kids!) there are easier ways to dress u your
couch or chair!
*Cover just the bottom cushions with a fabric that
coordinates with both the piece, and the room. The bottom cushions are usually
the ones with the most wear, and this technique appears very custom. Choose you
fabric in the same intensity as the couch fabric. For example, if your couch is
a muted green, choose muted gold or muted blues or the like for the cushion
covers. However, if you have a bright white
couch, feel free to go with clearer, brighter colors. Also, use a color that is
seen in the rest of the room, to pull it all together.
*Distract! Now that you have the cushion covers in place, add pretty
distractions in the form of throw pillows and throw blankets. Again, use colors
from the room.
*Paint the wall behind the piece a similar shade and
intensity of the couch. This will take focus away from the couch, and it will
appear to disappear into the wall.
*Lastly, be sure to spend some time creating other focal points around the room
to draw the eye away form the piece. Make a pretty display on your coffee table,
drape a piece of lace over your mantle and fill with candlesticks, just remember
to keep that eye moving, and it will forget all about the tired sofa, and see it
as a well worn friend of the room instead!
Case Goods
You have several choices when it comes to the case goods such as tables,
bookcases, and armoires.
*One of the cheapest and highly recommended is paint! You can paint almost
anything these days, even that cheap laminate furniture! If you have a
non-porous piece such as a photo laminate bookcase, prime it first with a
specialty primer such as BIN or KILZ. Your paint technique of choice will now
adhere properly, and you can transform it in anyway
you like!
*Need a cheap table? You can disguise even an inexpensive card table with my
techniques. I needed a small breakfast table in my kitchen for the little ones,
but couldn't put out a couple hundred dollars, and most tables were too big for
the area anyway. I bought a small card table at my local Wal-Mart for just a few
dollars and disguised it. I used tubes of fabric shirred onto the table legs to
hide those
hideous things, then layered tablecloths and placemats over the tabletop. The
layering adds a sumptuousness to distract from the meager proportions of the
table. I used accessories
to further distract, and voila! A sweet little breakfast
table for less than $25 dollars!
*You can get even more creative with used wood furniture by covering drawer
fronts with fabric and a staple gun, gluing broken tiles or dishes on in a
mosaic, or decopaging images cut from gift-wrap onto the surface. (Plain white
glue works
fine for this, and remember the dollar shop when searching for gift wrap!)
I hope you got some great ideas to remake your furniture in style, and on even
the tightest budget!
* * *
Copyright © 2005 by Kathleen Wilson. All
rights reserved.
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