- Making your own stencils with margarine lids, potatoes or with cardboard.
- Using acrylic or craft paints rather than buying the expensive “stencil” paints you can find in the store.
- Making your own sponges, by cutting into desired shapes, or find your own natural “sea” sponge rather than paying for one.
- Using any of your favorite stamps you have already or by buying very cheap all-purpose stamps, rather than specialty “paint” stamps.
Filling the Spaces… Furniture can be expensive. Whether you are in college, newly married, or just wanting to decorate with little or nothing, don’t be afraid to take freebies. You can always cover that really ugly table, couch, chair, etc. With a sheet, or other piece of fabric. If you find you have more storage containers or file cabinets than furniture, put it to work! You can easily create a tightwad end table, desk or other stand, by simply draping a pretty, (but cheap) blanket, sheet or other fabric remnant over the containers. Put a plant on top, a lamp, or some books and you have functional, decorative furniture for very little, that provides easy yet camouflaged access to whatever you need below the cover. Try also seeing rejected furniture in a new light. Your grandma’s book shelf she no longer wants can be used as perhaps a kitchen shelf for canned foods, dishes and glasses, a entertainment center for your Playstation paraphernalia, dvd’s, vhs’s, cd’s and or records. Or you can put your TV, stereo etc. directly on the shelf and if need be, cut holes in the back to pull cords through. An old dresser can hold the materials for your hobbies, such as paints, brushes, paper; fabric, needles, thread, or computer memory, spare parts etc. Use shoe boxes, cereal boxes and other containers to keep these free resources that much more organized. For instance, on our desk, I have various cd’s in one shoe box. Various office products such as stapler, paper clips, and correction fluid in another.
In case you browsed most of this article, please just remember, you can decorate and furnish for much less than you could ever imagine. The key is to not be a snob when you see something you can use, either from someone you know, or something found at a rummage sale, thrift shop or curbside. Think of new ideas to use things. A cup = a pen organizer, a laundry basket = a coral for kids toys. If something is dirty, wash it up with soap and water or bleach and water. If it's smelly, spray it down with a vinegar water solution or sprinkle it with baking soda, and if it's ugly, cover it. Use fabric, paint, old blankets,or sheets, or contact paper. As always you are helping yourself and the environment, and that is what makes you a great tightwad!
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