Decorating quick tips

Gathering ideas
• Visit stores such as Pottery Barn, Target and Pier 1.
• Browse through catalogs.
• Check out decorating magazines such as Home magazine and Do It Yourself.
• Watch “HGTV,” TLC’s “Trading Spaces” and “While You Were Out” for decorating tips.
• Go on-line to Web sites such as: (www.hgtv.com), (www.bhg.com), (www.slipcovers.com) and (www.surefit.com).

Getting Started
• Keep eyes open for weekend garage sales to look for big items such as sofas, chairs and entertainment centers.
• Ask for hand-me-downs from friends and relatives. (Grandparents are usually willing to give students items to help them get started.) Remember, it doesn’t hurt to ask.
• Shop for a neutral colored slipcover to enable you to add life to an old sofa or chair.
• Purchase brightly colored pillows and silk flowers to create a color scheme in your room.
• Pick up inexpensive accessories such as picture frames, framed prints and candles.

Trash to Treasure
• Visit local antique stores and flea markets looking for inexpensive and unusual items to give your room personality and character.
• Hunt for things that are appealing to you or items you might want to begin collecting.
• See beyond an item’s intended use and envision other possibilities for it.
• Vintage suitcases can be stacked on top of each other and used as a coffee table or end table.
• Old books make for a great coffee table accessory and add an interesting flare to any room.
• Antique glass bottles grouped together can be put on a mantle or table top for decoration.
• Inexpensive dishes can be hung as a wall decoration.
• Metal bins and old crates and boxes can be used to store magazines videos or CDs.

Cheap Chic
• Bringing color into a room with painted furniture and fabric is a great way to give the room charm.
• Sheets or inexpensive fabric can be used for curtains or as tablecloths.
• When creating valences or window treatments, yardage can simply be wrapped and draped over a pole.
• Fabric draped over a sturdy cardboard box or homemade plywood table can pose as coffee table or end table.
• Draping fabric over a sofa or chair is also an easy method of changing the look of the furniture.
• Wood pieces can be painted white and sanded off on the edges to give it that “Shabby Chic” look.
• Decorate with inexpensive plants. Greenery often softens a room and adds warmth.

Price Comparisons
Jute rug (5x7)
Pottery Barn — $159
Pier 1 — $99
Target — $49

Wicker trunk for coffee table
Pottery Barn — $299
Pier 1 — $109
Target — $89

Wicker chair
Pottery Barn — $329
Pier 1 — $100
Target — $299

Cotton twill slip cover-sofa
Pottery Barn — $239
Pier 1 — not available
Target — $99.99

Cotton twill slip cover-club chair
Pottery Barn — $149
Pier 1 — not available
Target — $59.99

18” sq. throw pillows
Pottery Barn — $42 each
Pier 1 — $9 each
Target — $12.99

Floor lamp
Pottery Barn — $169
Pier 1 — $99
Target — $49.99

Wooden mirror 16x20
Pottery Barn — $199
Pier 1 — $23
Target — $129

Entertainment unit
Pottery Barn — $399
Pier 1 — $89
Target — $79