Has your living room looked exactly the same for years, and now you are growing tired of it?  Without spending much, or any, money, you can perk up a tired room and give it a fresh new look.  A few simple changes will make your living room appealing and beautiful once again.  This article contains many simple fixes that will have you loving an entirely different look over the span of a weekend.

Furniture

To change things up a bit, rearrange the furniture!  If your furnishings are against the walls, pull them further into the room and create an intimate sitting area around an accent rug.  Arrange the sofa, love seat and chairs around a large coffee table, so that visiting with guests seems a bit more personal.

You may want to try a diagonal approach as well, especially if the room is longer and narrow.  Arranging your sofa diagonally adds a unique touch and makes the room look wider.  Try slipcovers if your upholstery needs an updated look.  Afghans and throws work well for covering up worn spots or tears.

Paint

Frequently, people think of paint as simply for freshening up a white wall or re-painting the ceiling.  Paint is actually one of the most affordable ways to dramatically change the look of a room!  Paint a single wall a bold, vibrant color that blends with the other colors in the room.  Consider painting baseboards and door facings a contrasting color to add depth and interest.

Once you have completed the wall, add beautiful artwork, a curio cabinet, or anything you love and make it the focal point of the room.

Add Accessories for Texture and Color

A few well-placed accessories can really bring your living room to life.  Add richly-textured throw pillows in bold patterns to the sofa, or throw an antique quilt casually over one corner if you decorate in a country theme.  Green plants, scattered accent rugs and unique floor or table lamps complete the look.

Lamps are the one item in your home that can make your living room look dated.  Most can be freshened up by replacing or painting the shade, or even stenciling it.  If the base is ceramic, stone or glass, consider giving it a coat of brightly colored paint as well.  Who knew paint could be so versatile?

Add a large mirror to a living room that is dark or small.  By placing it strategically so that natural light that comes in from a window is reflected, you can lighten up the room and make it appear more spacious.

If you have some favorite collectibles, place them in spots around the room in groups of 3 or 5.  Remove any clutter, as too many dust catchers tend to make a room look messy and unorganized.  Often, we don’t realize that newspapers, toys, too many knick-knacks and other items lying around take away from the atmosphere of the room.

Put these ideas to work for you, and you can have a completely refreshed and appealing living room over the course of a single weekend.

These days, more and more professionals are opting to work from home. Whether you work from home or just end up taking a lot of your work home with you, you probably need some sort of home office. Setting up an office in your home doesn’t necessarily have to be expensive. Whether you work from home or just want a home office for the family, there are plenty of ways to build a budget-friendly office space that will fit your needs.

Sectioning a Portion of a Room for Office Space
Setting up a home office doesn’t necessarily mean you need to designate a completely separate room. Certainly having your office in its own room is nice, but it isn’t at all necessary. Unless your business needs a lot of storage space, a home office can be set up in a closet or in a corner of another room, such as the dining room or kitchen. For work-at-home parents, having your office in a corner of a room or a closet can often work better, especially for those who need to keep an eye on young children or monitor their teenagers’ computer time.

Converting a Closet into a Home Office
Turning a closet into a home office is simple. Just take the doors off the hinges and remove the closet bar. Next you need to find a simple wood desk and comfortable chair that will fit in the space you have. The back walls of the closet can provide a place for shelving or any other organizational or storage options you might need. If you don’t always want your office to be in view, simply hang a long curtain over the front of the closet. If you’re looking for an inexpensive office solution that requires very little space, then this is definitely the way to go.

Adding Shelving and a Desk to Any Room
A home office can be as simple as a built-in oak bookcase or storage area, or perhaps a computer armoire. Whether it’s the dining room, the kitchen, or the bedroom, this type of inexpensive home office can be added to just about any room.

Even if you do have a separate room for your home office, your space can still be budget-friendly. Simply painting the room can make a big difference, whether you choose your favorite color or a mellow color like light green or blue.

This space can be easily decorated by simply adding photographs in frames to the wall. The photos might be of your family, or you could display some nature scenes that you took. Shelves or shadow boxes added to the walls for storage can double as decorative items as well.

Those books that you use for your business might also serve as decorative items, particularly if they are nice-looking. Try filling decorative boxes and trinkets with office supplies; this way they can be functional as well as stylish.

The great thing about a home office is, if you are just starting up your business and you don’t have many resources, you can easily build it up slowly. You can simply start out with a desk and a chair in the room. You can wait till you find deals or sales on decorative and storage items to use for the room. It’s not necessary to go into debt trying to create the “perfect” home office before you business is even making money.

Do you feel your kitchen is lacking something or is just totally out-of-date? There are several inexpensive ways to update the look of your kitchen while still being able to afford groceries for the month. You might be stuck with your floor plan, unless you have thousands of dollars to completely redo the entire kitchen. But there are ways to accentuate the positive and spruce up the kitchen you have.

Add New Cabinet Hardware
Adding new hardware might sound really simple, but it can really affect the scheme of your kitchen. By taking off old hardware (if you even have any) and adding new handles and pulls, you can turn an ordinary cabinet into something decidedly more stylish. For a more contemporary look, go with silver or brushed nickel handles. Cabinet pulls and handles vary in price, anywhere from $0.50 a pull to upward of $20. So be sure to set a budget ahead of time and account for all the hardware you’ll need.

Apply a Fresh Coat of Paint
Paint is inexpensive but can instantly change the look of a room. The low cost will be especially true if you have a small kitchen or not much exposed wall area. For those who have wallpaper, painting can give a kitchen an instant facelift. Be aware, however, that the project will be more time consuming than if you didn’t have the wallpaper to tear down. Choose a color that’s updated and fresh, but be sure it will still go well with the look and color of your cabinets. If you’re not happy with your cabinets, this may be a good time to stain or repaint them as well. If your ceiling is sporting those ugly yellow grease marks, consider repainting it as well.

Freshen Up Your Kitchen by Adding Some Green
The simple addition of a plant or flower arrangement to your kitchen can bring an element of freshness to the space. Be sure not to clutter the plants or flowers. One on top of a cabinet or one in the corner of the room will be enough to change the look of your space. If you go with a real plant or flowers, be sure to take care of them or you’ll be wasting your money.

Add a New Light Fixture
You can really spruce up your kitchen with a new light. Light fixtures vary in price, but you should be able to find a great light for your kitchen for under $100. If your kitchen currently contains recessed fluorescent lighting, that is definitely something to update. Consider something totally different such as a chandelier in the middle of the kitchen. Track lighting is another great option, as it gives you light in the areas of the kitchen, such as the stove, where you need it the most. A new light fixture is not only functional, in that it adds new light to the space, but it also can bring a sense of style to the room.

Put Your China on Display
Do you have beautiful china that’s hidden away in your cabinets or hutch? Why not put it to good use and display it? An easy option is to take one of your cabinet doors off the hinge and replace it with a glass cabinet door. Then you can arrange the china in the cabinet to show it off, and voilà, you have an instant attention-getter. Another great display idea is to put up a shelf on one of the walls and display your china there. Just be sure to fasten the china to the wall so it doesn’t fall.

It doesn’t take a lot of money to update your kitchen. By using your creativity and the resources you have, you can add instant style to any kitchen. Now that you’ve tackled the kitchen you should consider working on your dining room. In a a future post we’ll be be talking about getting beautiful dining sets and oak dining room tables to help enhance the look of your home and compliment your kitchen makeover.