JOIN USHeading out to buy a new flower vase for your living room? Don’t! Home decor need not be an expensive affair. It just needs to be a marriage of creativity and minimalism, reckons Bindu Gopal Rao .
More often than not, people believe they need to splurge on decor items to pep up their homes. Naturally, they end up buying items that really didn’t need splurging on, or worse still, items they may never use! Home decor need not be an expensive affair. It just needs to be a marriage of creativity and minimalism. Read on to find out how.
Visualise your home
Knowing what you want your house to look like is the most important factor in sticking to a budget. The basic mantra is to keep the focus on the list of things that you want to change in your home. With interiors, the options available are so vast that it is easy to lose control and buy unnecessary things. Therefore, it is essential that you create a list of all the absolute must-haves.
Says Divyan Gupta, Founder and CEO, Artanddecors.com, “Irrespective of whether you are on a tight budget or not, it is always advisable to start off with a mental picture of what you want your home to look like. Is it theme-based? Do you want any particular colours? The more you visualise your home, the better you will be able to stick to the list of things that you really need, thereby sticking to your budget.”
No need to buy
You might assume that in order to give a new look to your home, you will need to buy decor items anew. Not really.
“Instead of buying new furniture, you can do wall art which adds newness to your home décor. Sometimes, just rearranging old furniture can give a new look to the room,” reckon Madhuri Balodi and Amit Singh, co-founders, Kavi - The Poetry-Art Project.
Even the smallest of changes can give your home a makeover. “Instead of repainting a whole room, just paint one wall or create a wall decal and the room is sure to look fresh. Else, make a gallery wall of family photos and other small pictures in matching frames, arranged in a collage,” suggests Bhakti Hegde, Director, Chartered Housing.
Be tactful
The biggest budget-buster is hiring others to do things you could do yourself! You could save a lot of money by taking on some relatively simple projects like painting, sewing curtain panels or throw pillows. Shop second-hand stuff and consider trying thrift stores, online auction sites and estate sales; look for furniture with solid construction and classic lines that you can revive with a new lining or a coat of paint.
DK Jairath, Deputy Managing Director, Zuari Stylespa Interiors suggests, “Instead of buying your furniture pieces separately, go for a quality bedroom set which will work out much cheaper, yet have all the essential pieces you may need.”
Flooring it right
The floor surface is a key element of interiors, and can be a strain on your pockets due to high maintenance. Try mouldable concrete flooring instead; it’s now a raging trend as well.
“A simple and functional option is to use mouldable concrete to beautify your home, while still keeping maintenance costs minimal. The final appearance resembles that of natural materials such as stone and wood, giving your home that rustic look. Mouldable concrete flooring is not only waterproof, but also low-maintenance,” explains Anil Banchor, Chief Executive, ACC Concrete Business.
All things fru fru
When you want to add a thing or two, just to oomph up your decor, don’t head to the store to buy. Parul Gupta, Partner, Kalikaar Designs Pvt. Ltd., has some interesting tips. “Don’t throw away glass bottles,” she says. “Cover them with colourful yarns, put an embellished bangle through its nose for some bling and use it as a flower vase to brighten up your coffee table. Damaged decanters can also be an interesting centrepiece. Stick moss to these decanters and let them dry; then, put flowers in them, and they are ready to adorn your home. Instead of painting the entire house, buy a small quantity of paint and create small and pretty designs or patterns on one or two corners of the wall; ask a friend to do it for you, if you’re not particularly artistic.”
Create a centrepiece
A unique way to draw attention to a space is to invest in a single décor piece like a chandelier or a beautiful artwork to add a touch of glamour to the room. The catch is to do a corner beautifully, rather than investing a bucket-full on every little thing. The current trend is to use a lot of DIY pieces, quirky prints, patterned and expressive cushions, etched lamps, hanging industrial light fixtures and an ‘almost unfinished’ look to both the room and the pieces of furniture.
“It’s where thrift meets vintage with a bit of understated luxe thrown in. Be it carved chests, assorted bowls or just the perfect textured chair, it’s all about adding that perfect bit of chic to a room,” says Suchi Mukherjee, CEO & Co-founder LimeRoad.com.
Keep it minimal
Redecorating a home on a budget is a good opportunity to let your creativity shine, and the best way to do that is to keep your home decor minimal. It will not only cut down your expenditure, but also make you get the best out of whatever is easily available. Each room at home may have its own visual bearing or theme. What is also essential is to go beyond the functional attributes, and consider the aesthetic profiling. Placing mirrors of different shapes and designs is a cost-effective way to create illusion of big rooms. Remove unnecessary furniture and other big items.
Narasimha Jayakumar, Chief Operating Officer, E-commerce, HomeShop18 suggests, “Clearing a room and creating a focal point can give each room a unique character. This can be done either by displaying a singular signature artefact or a collection of knick-knacks of varying heights placed to create an artful mess.”