You would like to give your home a new look in time for the holidays. Since it is just before the holiday spending spree that can stress out your wallet, you don’t know where to begin. You might not have to dish out as much as you think; you might end up not spending any money at all! Sound like it might fit your budget? Redecorating a room or two can be as simple as reusing or recycling those abandoned items hidden down in the basement or out in the garage. First go “shopping” in your own home.

Yes, that’s right – many of us have three chests of drawers but none in the entryway by the back door where gloves and scarves are scattered from one end of the kitchen counter to the other. There are several magazine racks in the living room and family but you’re constantly tripping over piles of your son’s Guitar World every time you go into his bedroom. Does the front hallway look a little bare? Repurpose a bedroom dresser you no longer need by re-staining it and using it as a console table. Just by mixing it up and moving around some select pieces of furniture, you can give the rooms of your home a fresh lease on life without breaking the bank.

Pick a Room

Choose one room at a time to focus on. Pick the room that needs a makeover or the room in your home where you’ll be entertaining the most. Once you’ve decided which room you want to redo, look at the space carefully. Does the room seem too dark? Is the style a little outdated? You liked the color of the room once-upon-a-time, but not so much anymore. Decide what you like about the room the way it is now, and what you would like to change.

When you have a general idea of how you want the room to look, decide what stays and what goes. You can instantly give yourself more space to work with by removing any items that are broken beyond repair or so worn out that they really do need replacing. Also remove any pieces of furniture that will not fit in with your new design. For example, if you’ve decided on a more sophisticated look, the country style end tables with a scalloped apron will disrupt the flow of the room’s décor. 

Prep the Room 

Make a list of what needs to be done to make the room look the way you have visualized it. Remove any pictures or wall art. Before you move furniture around from one room to another, prepare the room you have chosen to redecorate. Repair that favorite accent chair, clean the carpets and shampoo the sofa before moving furniture around and adding more pieces.

What else needs to be done? If you have decided to paint the walls a different color, now is the time to do it while the room is relatively empty. You can greatly improve the appearance of the space by cleaning the windows and baseboards and laundering the curtains. Wipe down any built-ins like bookshelves, storage units and counters.

Stay Home and Go Shopping

Now you are ready to go “shopping.” From the list you made, walk through the other rooms of your home to see what will be useful to you. To save yourself time and effort, measure any potential furniture pieces to see if they will fit in the intended space in the room you are redoing. Don’t forget to examine the color of the furniture to ensure it will match. Stick to the plan. You may be tempted to include the bed bench from the bedroom that you ended up not using as often as you thought you would. But don’t recycle or reuse anything that doesn’t fit your original redecorating design. It will defeat the purpose of redoing the room if you end up with a look that isn’t balanced or doesn’t work. 

Making it Happen

Once you have prepped the room and chosen the furniture pieces that will stay in the room and the ones that will be moved from the other rooms of your home, you are now ready to place the furniture in the room. Before you actually begin to shift everything around, roughly map out on a piece of paper where you want each piece to go. Make sure that there will be enough lighting in the room to accommodate the new layout. Your new room won’t be much good to you if it just looks pretty; it has to be functional and practical, as well.

Take into account any pieces of furniture that need to be near a power source like the end tables or the TV stand. If you want the sofa in a different place from where it had been, measure the wall were it is to go to ensure that it will fit without blocking doorways. Also take into account the room’s traffic flow, heating vents, etc. If someone needs to get to the entertainment center, you won’t want to place a table or an armchair in the way. 

Get help. You want enough helpers to get everything moved, but not so many that you’re in each other’s way. Arrange a specific time that’s good for everyone to gather everything up and move it to its new home. Bribe them with pizza and sodas if you have to!

Finishing Touches 

When everything as been placed in the room according to your plan, you are now ready to add the finishing touches. You don’t want to spend very much, so prioritize the items you want to add. New accent pillows, decorative candles and picture frames don’t have to cost much if you get them on sale. If you do go shopping (in a store), make a list and stick to it. The whole purpose of the exercise is to give your room a new look – you don’t want to end up with it looking cramped or cluttered, even if the items are new.