Top 5 Decorating Shows Help Change Look of Home on a Budget

Off and on I watched various home improvement shows, with a range of interest from mild to loving it. I really got into the shows as they were about the only thing that seemed worth watching as I got up throughout the night to nurse our second baby. I didn't care if I had already seen the show earlier in the evening, I'd rewatch, learning more techniques and ideas. Little did I realize that watching all of these shows would come in handy some months later when we decided to put our house on the market! I immediately seized the opportunity to apply what I learned by trying to pick neutral colors in the house, going with less furniture, and concentrating on key areas like bathrooms and the entryway. Thus, here are my top five shows that have helped me re-vamp my home and on a budget.

Trading Spaces - two groups swap rooms in each other's houses and redecorate and redesign those rooms with the help of a professional designer and carpenter. Each team has a $1,000. This show airs on TLC; check local listings.

Inspiration: What I like about this show is that it gives you ideas of things you can try at home and cool pieces that you might either custom build yourself or look to purchase. In fact, we applied a painting technique from the show that was used to give a multi-layered and marble look. We were really pleased with the results and most of those who have come into our home have complimented the resulting look of the room.

Neat - an organizational consultant comes and works with a client to de-clutter their home. In the process of redesigning a space that is more organized, they get a total makeover of a room or two. This show used to air on the Discovery Home Channel - check local listings for availability and air times.

Inspiration:This show has some great organizational ideas and I appreciated the one-on-one counsel versus the fun and games of other organizational shows. I many of these ideas to help organize our home, particularly our kitchen since it is a galley kitchen. I also appreciated the organizational tips of making things work for you and your personality. If you are a visual person, organize so that you can see your things. Another useful technique is limiting what you keep and if you are getting rid of shirts and you have ten, get rid of five. We have used this technique when going through our stuff.

Designed to Sell - A team of a designer and contractors come to help someone put in $2000 worth of repairs and upgrades in hopes of selling the house that has been on the market for days. Usually a real estate agent will come to the home and point out things they would improve or change. Then, an open house is held and viewers get to hear the comments of those coming into the newly renovated space. The same real estate agent may come to provide feedback and the show usually wraps up by saying whether the changes resulted in the success of selling the house. This show airs on HGTV; check local listings.

Inspiration: This show provided a lot of useful tips if you are trying to get your house ready for the market and a lot of good advice on where to concentrate your efforts. Most of the time, you will be on a budget for what you can fix up and will need to prioritize what you will upgrade, repair, and change in your home prior to putting it on the market. We took this advice and applied it to our home. We wish we had followed more of the advice.

Deserving Design - Vern Yip picks a deserving individual or group and goes to redesign one room, but usually designs two rooms as a surprise. This show airs on HGTV; check local listings.

Inspiration:I like Vern and always have since I first saw him as a designer on TLC's Trading Spaces. He has a contemporary design that is appealing to a broad audience and he is respectful of the space and how it is used as well as to the person or person(s) that will use the space. His design ideas make you think "I wonder if we could do that." and in fact, we will be trying an idea of his when we redo our baby girl's room into her big girl room. Vern designed a room with three-dimensional circles hung on the wall to give texture and effect. We will try to copy that idea as we try to design a polk-a-dot themed room for my daughter.

Flip that House - follows a person or persons who have decided to by a house and greatly improve the home and sell it for a profit. Usually the home is nearly gutted and revamped. This show airs on A&E and TLC; check local listings.

Inspiration: This show provided a lot of ideas as to what to do if you truly want to revamp and gut your house. What I particularly appreciated was what they did in the kitchen. Many of the homes that got flipped had small kitchens and the real estate developer usually tried to maximize the most of that kitchen by providing high-quality appliances or counter tops and cabinetry. Or the developer would figure out a way to redesign the kitchen to provide more space or a better flow to the room. One of these days, we may try some of these ideas as we try to get more out of our galley kitchen.