A Big Home Makeover: Remodel Your Room on the Cheap

Remodeling shows are everywhere you look these days, from Extreme Makeover Home Edition, to Trading Spaces. They seem to be able to turn a tiny cottage into a mansion in an instant.

It's easy for them; they have big budgets and highly trained experts. What do you do when you need a home makeover and have neither money nor expertise?

Good news, you don't need them.

With simplicity and cost in mind here are:

Ten ways to makeover a room with less than $10

1. An ugly couch or empty bed really comes to life with interesting pillows. Pillows can be covered with textured fabrics from outgrown clothes. The more varied the colors and textures the more interesting your pillow arrangements. Sports fans can use old team t-shirts for a themed look. (You can even make the pillow stuffing out of shredded old clothes!) Toss some on the floor to cover bare spots too!

2. Books make any room look smarter. It's a trick of interior designers. Buy a box of books at a tag sale for just a few dollars. Stacking them makes an interesting "pedestal" for a treasured statue or photo or add a few boards and make a real bookshelf. Paint the covers to match your room for a look people will notice!

3. Plants dress up bare spots and add color. One of the best plant arrangements we have seen was a collection of different sized cans (labels removed) with clipped grass growing inside. See an overgrown philodendron or ivy nearly touching the floor? Ask the owner for a clipping. Often they don't know it's healthier to keep them cut. Clipping forces a plant to "fill out" and should be done regularly.

4. Ugly or cracked walls can be covered with a quilt, a pretty rug or torn grocery bags brushed with white glue! (The smaller the pieces the better the texture but the longer the job.) If you are hanging a quilt or rug, staple it onto a dowel or 1x2 before putting it on the wall for a straight edge that doesn't sag.

5. Reposition furniture. Sometimes moving your couch will help you discover a view you didn't even know you had. A five-minute extreme makeover for free!

6. Paint your floor. Even if you aren't an artsy type, it's easy. Make a template out of a piece of box cardboard. Checkerboard pattern, flowers, rocks spirals or dots all look great random or in a meticulous pattern. Use a string and a piece of tape to keep your lines straight if you are doing a pattern. Half a can of paint or three cans of spray paint will do most rooms.

7. Paint your furniture. Hate the coffee table you inherited from your aunt? Paint it! Stripes, plaids, and paisleys are not just for clothing! Fill in blank spots with different colored dots, hearts, stars...Your friends will think you got it at a boutique. The best part? If you mess up you can paint over it!

8. Holey walls? Hang several photos over them! The more photos the more impact! Photocopy your treasured photos for a cool black and white look. No photos? Get pictures from your computer. No computer? Ask a friend or go to the library. One brass tack in each corner will bring together several pieces and make it look like one big arrangement. Lay it out on the floor first and balance colors and sizes for the best look.

9. Hate your view? Make a new one. Tissue paper cut outs hanging from the windows allow the light to come in but keep the ugly out. Sheer fabric or mesh folded at the edges and stapled around the edges of the window work as well.

10. Curtains can be "dyed" with tea. Make a strong tea in a large pot and soak dingy or overly bright curtains overnight. For a crinkled, rustic look, dry them in a pile in the sun, turning occasionally until dry.

Bonus! A small can of gold or silver metallic paint can turn a frame, a figurine, a pencil holder, clock into a treasure. Placed strategically they trick the mind into "thinking rich".