Updating Your Living Room for Under $200

You do not need to invest a fortune to update your living room if you shop for the right items in the right place. You can experience amazing results for less than $200 in most cases. The first thing to do is planning. Many people get hung up and want to think about their plans for a long time. Just forget the extensive planning and come up with a simple plan within 1 week. Setting a time frame will assure that you get results fast. Your plan should consist of color schemes, furniture arrangement and deciding what area of the living room looks the messiest.

Once you have your plan, tackle the painting first. Painting is not really that difficult and you don't need to have a painter to get great results. I personally recommend using flat latex paint for all walls and semi-gloss paint for all trim. Use a very light color on the walls if possible and if you really have your heart set on a deep dark color, then only paint the dark color on 2 or 3 walls and paint the last wall a very light white shade. This will make your color pop out and look like a designer planned it for you. Paint your trim last and don't get any paint on anything except where you are intending too. If you have windows on only one wall, make that wall your white wall. Your paint can be chosen at any hardware store or Wal-mart and they have free sample sheets to take home to help you select your colors. Your paint and supplies for a living room approximately 14x20 will cost around $80.00

Next, buy some small to medium size throw pillows that match or are a nice contrast to your wall color. Also buy some thin material that is the color of your walls to act as a window treatment. It will bring the whole room together because your window is on the wall that is white, and the curtains will march the rest of the room. Put the throw pillows on your furniture around the room and it will tie in your current furniture to your new color. Wal-Mart has everything you need for less than $120 and you can also find deals on pillows online at the oxygentv.com Amazon store.

Lastly, give the room a good cleaning. Don't hold back, just plan on a day and clean every crevice of the room. Get rid of all trash, old magazines and hide remotes and anything that is not a decoration in a drawer or in a basket. Then, vacuum the place and dust all of the surfaces with a cloth. You will feel like you have a new room once you are complete. You can transform your entire living room in a single weekend and less than $200 and your friends will think that you hired a professional room designer.