Decorating your home

Inject a little style into your home with our decorating trade secrets!

1. Know how much you can afford to spend

Remember, the aim is to create a nicer environment, not to spend so much money that you are worrying how you will pay it back!

2. Paint

It’s often the cheapest option and most effective. You can paint one side of the wall as a feature or create a focal point.

3. Move your furniture around.

By repositioning furniture, removing items that you no longer use or are broken you might be surprised to find you have created more space.

4. Sell / Recycle

One man’s junk, is another man’s treasure. Should you wish to donate your goods there are a number of charities that will come and collect bulky items of furniture from your home. Websites such as Freecycle offer items for free or Gumtree sell items at a significantly reduced rate. Remember: as with all things in life it is a case of buyer beware.

5. Cover it

Replacing a whole sofa may be out of your budget but placing colourful throws, cushions on the sofa may make it more inviting.

6. Use the internet

The internet is a great source of inspiration. After all it's cheaper than buying decoration magazines! An increasing amount of retailers sell goods online at a significantly reduced rate. You may be able to create unique or bespoke items that can be made-to-measure such as blinds or curtains can be sourced directly from suppliers who may deliver too.

If you haven’t got a computer or internet access try your local library or check out Get Connected, our computer giveaway where you can win a free computer.

7. Clean it

You'll be surprised what you can achieve with a few everyday household items such as bicarbonate soda, vinegar and lemon. Check out the Earth Easy website for more information.

8. Make it

You may not be able to afford to buy new cushions or blinds but with a needle, thread and some material you can give the windows or sofa a new lease of life. Sanding down a chair and repainting it can have the same effect.

9. Use what you already have

By framing family photos or using your children’s or grandchildren's artwork you can provide a far more personal and unique addition to your walls. Supermarkets or 99p shops often sell inexpensive frames that you can use.

10. Don’t forget lighting

This is very important: too bright and it’s uncomfortable, too dim and it may look like your trying to hide something. Changing the shade can help cut down on costs, supermarkets such as Asda, Tesco or furniture store IKEA offer a range of inexpensive lighting fixtures with interchangeable shades.