Kelly's Thrifty Tips - Oomph Up the House

Today I thought it would be fun to talk about inexpensive ways to decorate your home. I am a huge follower of HGTV, and I just love seeing how homes can be staged and how by making small changes you can have a really awesome impact. Of course on many of those decorating shows, you will find people who just really know there way around a saw, drill and lathe. These options are for those of us who want to make some changes, and really making a few changes can just give us a whole new feeling about home.

- One of the most inexpensive things to do is simply rearrange your furniture. Simply moving pieces around a room or taking a piece from one room into another can change the look of your home without making a dent in your wallet. Better Homes and Gardens offers some amazing tips on rearranging furniture. One of the first is to pick your focal point and place furniture in front of it. Moving larger pieces into different locations can definitely change the dynamic of the room.

- Paint just the door. You can spend money on just a quart and the nice thing is, you aren't tied down to the color because it would be too hard to change.

- Wallpaper one wall. My mom was a big pro when it came to wallpaper. She was also a pro at saving money. She mastered the one wall technique back when I was a kid. In our bedrooms the one wall with paper was actually the window wall, but in her bedroom she papered just behind her bed. This is a definite time and money saver. - Hang some pictures. Whether you use family photographs or even frame some beautiful work from a calendar. Pictures can make a warm addition to a room. You can also get some pretty awesome art at 20x20.com which has original art for $20 and right now shipping is just $3 on 8 x 10 and 11 x 14 prints.

- You can also get designer samples from One Kings Lane. Membership is free and you can save up to 70% off!

LINK: One Kings Lane

- If you are curious what your rooms might look like with another color or even a piece of furniture. Check out the iPhone app Color Change. It costs $2.99, but all you do is take a picture with your iPhone and see what colors work. Read up on it though. Some people love it and some absolutely do not.

LINK: iPhone Color Change

- Purchase some pretty lap blankets or even nice material and place it on your couches and love seats for an update on older furniture. Or purchase some inexpensive pillows with a pop of color or again buy some pretty material and stitch them up. I am no seamstress, but even I have been able to stitch up a pillow fairly easy. Now here is a pretty cool link from Savvy Seams. I would recommend this for a teen's room, play room or game room. It is simply making a t-shirt pillow. This is a really awesome way to add even a little spice to your child's room. Best of all this is a great way to upcycle.

LINK: Recycled T-Shirt Pillow

- Never underestimate thrift stores, consignment stores, Freecycle.org and yard sales. You may be able to find a few pieces that can really pull a room together.

- The power of scent is also huge. You don't have to light a bunch of candles to get a nice sweet scent in your home. When my mom was a real estate agent, she made a habit of dropping a couple drops of vanilla extract into a pan and heating it up in the oven or dropping some cinnamon and sugar into a pan and heating on the stove (never leaving the stove unattended). Her homes always smelled like someone was cooking a treat. Of course you can always go for the candles.

With a little imagination and some exercise you can bang out a pretty nice new look.

FREEBIES

I love baking, and I have picked up some pretty awesome recipe books from Sun-Maid. Sun-Maid has some awesome recipe books for free right now. Some of them are available by downloading and some you can order and have them mailed to you. Check them all out at the link below.

LINK: Sun-Maid Recipe Books

If you are a Costco member, sign up for their Dove Daily Moisture sample. Dove has really brought up its game when it comes to their hair products. Get it while supplies last.

LINK: Dove Daily Moisture Sample

Free coupon for Waffle House for a free Cinnamon Apple Waffle Coupon. This coupon expires on 9/17/2010.

LINK: Waffle House

Have you seen the commercials for the little Shout Color Catcher? The idea is pretty awesome. You put it in the laundry with clothing items that may bleed and it will grab all those offensive dyes while leaving your laundry safe. Follow the link below to check it out and get your own sample.

LINK: Shout Color Catcher

In case you have missed the commercials definitely sign up for your choice of snack during the Kashi snack drive. Their snacks are absolutely amazing. You can choose from the TLC Cereal Bar - in Ripe Strawberry, TLC Chewy Granola Bar -Trail Mix or yummy TLC Crackers - 7 Grain. This snack giveaway is running until September 19th or until supplies last.

LINK: Kashi Snack Drive

If you missed out on this, you have another chance for a free sample of OXY Clinical. This is a great sample to try for those breakouts. You don't have to commit any cash and can get an idea of how it will work on you.

LINK: OXY Clinical

Get a free download of "Eden" by Phil Wickham at Free CCM! They also still have free music downloads from Sara Groves, Phillips, Craig & Dean, VOTA, The Choir and Heather Williams from The Catalyst Music Project. That is a lot of great music for not one bit of green.

LINK: Free Downloads

iTickets.com has a free download of Isreal Houghton's "Love God Love People." I don't know about you, but I love listening to Isreal Houghton. There are also free downloads from Karen Burkhart and the University of Toronto Gospel Choir. Remember you need to be a member for these downloads.

LINK: Free Downloads at iTickets.com


REBATE

Purchase $30 of CoverGirl, Olay, Venus, Pantene, or Secret Products and get $10 back. The items need to be purchased by 9/17/2010 and the rebate needs to be postmarked by 10/01/2010. Follow all the directions.

LINK: Rebate

Have a great week!