Simple Tips For Life: Simple Tips for Decorating & Renovating Old Furniture

Pottery Barn Dining Room from PB Catalog

Decorating can be expensive: check out any Crate & Barrell, Pier One, Pottery Barn store or catalog... (all my favorite eye candy stores). However, once one can discover that you do not have to sell your kidney to replace your grandma's hand me down couch from circa 1952, by copying (note not stealing) ideas from these gorgeous catalogs; decorating can be sooooo much fun and INexpensive. Yes, copying with pride almost sets the inner hunter - gatherer free to go wild around flea markets, goodwill stores, rummage sales... When you can pay a $10 for an old coffee table (stay with me here, I will lead you to see the potential of that $10 invested in that old coffee table, which you know it will bring better returns than your damaged 401K), you will sense such a high that no amount of Prozac or a good bottle of pinot would bring...

First start looking around your house/apartment; try to figure out which room to start first. You don't want to boil the ocean and so start small. I say, best rooms to experiment are 2nd bedrooms/guest rooms/study etc; cause if the whole thing becomes an eyesore, you can revert to Plan B: Shut the door!

Well, let's start by picking a color palette for the walls, if you are renting then ask the kind landlord if this is ok. As in the past I had some ex-Nazis that were landlords in US, but some are just lovely they let you paint, as long as you paint it back to its original color.

Then start by painting either all the walls, or pick a nice backdrop color and paint one wall... (I highly recommend just paint one wall, especially as a FIRST project)... Then scour catalogs online and in print, for a room you would like to replicate.

Next, ask family and friends for stuff they want to get rid of... Trust me, free is better than inexpensive. Then start by searching in goodwill, rummage sales, etc. Once you found a piece, we will start the renovation process.

I really love these sites, that give you great ideas about turning the old into new...

http://livingthehomelife.blogspot.com/

http://decor8blog.com/

One of the first steps of turning old into new; is seeing the potential, so visit home DIY stores, to pick colors or stains (stain removers). Then start by renovating that old coffee table, whether you want to paint it fire engine red (make sure the area is well ventilated), or you want to bring out the wood grain with a cherry stain... Unleash your inner decorator.

Here are some pictures of old battered table turned into a new treasure of a gorgeous desk. But your imaginations has inifinite ideas, so bring them to life...